• In the aftermath of hurricanes Helene and Milton the Federal Emergency Management Agency has set a new record. FEMA took in more than 250,000 disaster assistance applications on Saturday alone. The most new registrations the agency has ever received in one day. The Biden administration has approved $825 million dollars in disaster relief assistance so far. More than 9,600 federal personnel are deployed across the southeast United States, including 4,100 FEMA staff.
  ( Biden-Harris administration approves $825 million to Helene survivors and communities - FEMA)
• The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is taking a more direct approach to fostering early-career federal talent. Over the past week, OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver has been making stops at colleges and universities across Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. He’s engaging directly with current students and talking about career opportunities in the federal sector. Throughout the federal recruitment tour, Shriver has also been meeting with various Federal Executive Boards (FEBs) to discuss broader workforce trends and challenges.
  (Federal recruitment tour - Office of Personnel Management)
• Soldiers who go on operational deployments for more than 60 days will now receive 240 dollars per month. Called operational deployment pay, the benefit is specifically for operational deployments and does not apply to soldiers participating in training exercises. The benefit amount is the same for all soldiers, regardless of their rank. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said the benefit is meant to “recognize the hardship of being away from families but also the rigors of deployment.”
  (Soldiers on operational deployments will get $240 monthly - Association of the U.S. Army)
• The Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program takes another step forward. Go to the Federal Register this morning and you’ll see it — the 470-page final CMMC program rule. It formally establishes the cyber certification program into federal regulation after more than five years of development. The Pentagon still has to finalize another rule that would establish a CMMC contracting requirement. DoD plans to start putting CMMC into contracts by the middle of next year. But defense officials expect it will take about three years to scale the certification requirements across all contracts.
  (Pentagon releases final CMMC rule, paving way for implementation - Federal News Network)

        Learn how DLA, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service and the State Department are modernizing their contract and acquisition processes to make procurement an all-around better experience for everyone involved.

• NATO plans to publish its first-ever commercial space strategy to better leverage commercial and improve resilience of its space operations. Maj. Gen. Devin Pepper, the deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and policy at NATO, said the document will be aligned with the recently-released Pentagon’s commercial space strategy. The plan, however, will reflect NATO’s different requirements for commercial space systems. Despite the differences, the document will focus on similar capabilities, including communications, domain awareness and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The United States currently provides the bulk of NATO's space capabilities.
  (NATO to publish commercial space strategy - Mitchell Institute)
• The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency is set to publish an implementation strategy for its National Background Investigation Services program. Once fully implemented, NBIS will serve as a “one-stop shop” background investigation system, The NBIS program, however, has faced cost and performance issues — the Defense Department indicated earlier this year NBIS was not on track to meet key milestones. The new implementation plan is a crucial step in getting the long-delayed initiative back on track. The system is also critical to implementing the federal government’s “Trusted Workforce 2.0” initiative. The implementation plan, along with all the milestones associated with the strategy, will be published on performance.gov.
  (DCSA to publish implementation strategy for background investigation system - Federal News Network)
• The White House and the Small Business Administration (SBA) are warning Congress that the SBA's disaster loan program will run out of money after Hurricanes Helene and Milton all but exhausted its funding. In a letter to lawmakers, President Joe Biden said the need is more urgent today than when he requested new funding for the program several weeks ago. SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman said if funding lapses, all new offers will be held back and delayed until program funding is replenished. Through the disaster relief fund, SBA provides financial relief to small business owners, nonprofits, homeowners and renters with long-term, low-interest loans.
  (SBA disaster loan program risks running out of funding amid Hurricane Helene response - Small Business Administration)
• The White House and the General Services Administration (GSA) are teaming up to help contractors meet federal sustainability requirements. Federal contractors have the chance to hear from agency experts on Biden administration climate and sustainability initiatives. Over the next two weeks in webinars, GSA, the White House Council on Environmental Quality and other agencies will provide details about federal resources and tools that vendors to take advantage of to meet federal climate and energy programs goals. The topics include tax credits for on-site renewable energy, efficient buildings and clean vehicles and on buying carbon pollution-free electricity more rapidly and effectively. Speakers at the webinars will also include experts from the departments of Energy and Treasury, the Environmental Protection Agency and supplier organizations.
  (GSA, CEQ's three-part supplier accelerator webinar series - General Services Administration)
• Delays in presidential transition planning could lead to “real risks” for government operations. Vice President Kamala Harris recently signed an agreement with the White House to access to personnel and documents and prepare for a possible presidential transition. But so far, former President Donald Trump has not reached the same agreement with the White House. The Biden administration said it’s “actively working” to reach an agreement with the Trump presidential campaign to offer transition planning resources. The Partnership for Public Service is urging the Trump team to sign an agreement to avoid risks of worsening government operations under a potential new administration in January.
  (Trump campaign’s delays in transition planning pose ‘real risk’ - Federal News Network)

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