• Two new bills from Senator James Lankford are aimed to recovering improper payments from two large programs. The first bill, the 'Fraudulent COVID Funds Recovery Act,' would extend the statute of limitations for all pandemic-era programs for five extra years. The new statute of limitations would let law enforcement officials go after fraudsters through 2030. The second bill, the 'Eliminate Fraudulent Unemployment Insurance Benefits Act,' would require states to withhold payments from any claimant it deems ineligible and fraudulent. It also creates new definitions to help states appropriately classify fraudulent activity. COVID era programs and the Unemployment Insurance benefits faced higher than normal levels of fraud, federal auditors found. Lankford is expected to be the chairman of the Government Operations and Border Management Subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
  (Lankford's two new bills take aim at waste, fraud - Sen. Lankford (R-Okla.))
• President-elect Donald Trump tapped Elbridge Colby to serve as undersecretary for policy at the Defense Department. Colby previously served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development during Trump’s first administration. He played a key part in developing the 2018 National Defense Strategy. President-elect said Colby will work closely with Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth to “restore our Military power and achieve policy of Peace through Strength."
  (Trump names defense undersecretary for policy - Federal News Network)
• The Intelligence Community is taking a closer look at anomalous health incidents better known as Havana Syndrome. The CIA is tracking more than 100 anomalous health incidents where employees sought out medical care. Congress passed a law in 2021 that made federal employees and their family members eligible to receive a lump-sum payment if affected by cases of Havana Syndrome. But the CIA report said access to these payments is inconsistent. The CIA has stopped gathering clinical data on these anomalous health incidents. But the Defense Department continues to conduct research. Federal employees overseas have reported cases of Havana Syndrome since 2016.
  (Review of CIA’s efforts to provide facilitated medical care and benefits for individuals affected by anomalous health incidents - CIA)
• Federal agencies are cutting down on duplicative reports to Congress under a new law. The Eliminate Useless Reports Act signed by President Joe Biden requires agencies to list out all their annual reports and come up with a plan to streamline them. That includes eliminating any reports that repeat the same information or are outdated. Agencies can recommend to end, modify or consolidate reports and justify the changes to the relevant House and Senate committees.
  (Eliminate Useless Reports Act of 2024 - Congress.gov)

        Gain valuable insights and take your warehouse operations to the next level in our new ebook, sponsored by Zebra Technologies.

• The Navy has a new plan to rationalize its software development infrastructure. Officials said they want to reduce duplication in software development efforts and help encourage enterprise-wide tools. The effort will be led by a new Software Modernization and Innovation Organization. The new office will issue more guidance within the next 60 days. One key component will be a newly-defined “software factory ecosystem” across the Department of the Navy.
  (Navy looks to reduce duplication in software development - Department of the Navy)
• The Pentagon’s multi-billion dollar household goods moving contract is facing yet another legal challenge. A new lawsuit by at least three of DoD’s incumbent moving companies asks a federal judge to invalidate the Global Household Goods contract and order the department to start over. The suit is unusual in the world of federal bid protest litigation. It comes more than two years after DoD awarded the contract to HomeSafe. The plaintiffs claim DoD violated the Competition in Contracting Act by making substantial changes to the contract long after it was awarded.
  (DoD's multi-billion dollar moving contract faces another legal challenge - Federal News Network)
• Several key provisions aimed at streamlining the acquisition process made its way into the 2025 defense policy bill. The fiscal 2025 defense bill codifies the middle tier acquisition pathway into law under Title 10. The provision also introduces a significant change it eliminates the requirement for creating and transitioning between multiple middle tier acquisition programs to deliver product iterations. Similarly, the bill codifies the software acquisition pathway. It also addresses the confusion about how the software pathway is applied when hardware is fielded alongside it.
  (2025 NDAA codifies middle tier, software acquisition pathways - Federal News Network)

Copyright © 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.