• The chance of a partial government shutdown increased with President-elect Donald Trump throwing a wrench into the Congressional machine. With the current continuing resolution set to expire at midnight on Dec. 21, Trump told House Republicans to renegotiate the funding extension that they introduced Tuesday. The president-elect wants lawmakers to combine the government funding bill with an effort to raise the nation's debt limit. Speaker Mike Johnson had negotiated with the Democrats a bill to keep the government funded at fiscal 2024 levels through March 14 and include $100 billion for disaster accounts.
  (Government funding plan collapses as Trump makes new demands - Federal News Network)
• The Senate has cleared the path to a final vote on the Social Security Fairness Act. The Senate voted Wednesday evening 73-27 to limit debate on the bill to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset. The Senate’s vote tees up the bill for a quicker floor vote in the coming days. If enacted, the legislation would repeal WEP and GPO, two provisions of Social Security that reduce or sometimes eliminate benefits for certain public servants, as well as their surviving spouses. The House previously passed the bill in November. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill by the end of the week.
  (Social Security Fairness Act - U.S. Senate)
• Service members are one step closer to getting a 4.5% pay raise next year. The Senate’s passage of the 2025 defense policy bill yesterday would also authorize a 2% pay raise for the Defense Department’s civilian employees. Junior enlisted troops in the ranks of E-1 through E-4 would get an additional 10 percent pay bump once the bill becomes law. The bill would also expand the income eligibility threshold for the basic needs allowance. The legislation was approved by a vote of 85 to 14 and is now heading to President Joe Biden who is expected to sign it into law.
  (Senate passes annual defense policy bill - Senate Armed Services Committee)
• Federal agencies are seeing more and more use cases for artificial intelligence. Agencies are telling the Office of Management and Budget they’ve identified more than 1,700 potential uses of AI in their own operations. That’s about 500 more examples than agencies came up with a year ago. The Departments of Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs are exploring more AI use cases than other agencies. OMB said government is generally seeing AI’s potential for internal agency support work, health and medical work and helping agencies provide customer service to the public.
  (2024 AI use case inventory - Office of Management and Budget )

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• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency offers some mobile security tips for senior officials being targeted by hackers. CISA’s mobile communications guidance released yesterday said using end-to-end encryption is among the best ways to protect from the Salt Typhoon hackers. CISA’s guidance also recommends phishing-resistant multifactor authentication, using a password manager and setting a pin to log into telecommunications accounts. The Salt Typhoon hack is ongoing as CISA and the FBI investigate. The China-linked hackers have targeted the communications of a select number of senior government and political figures.
  (Mobile communications best practice guidance - Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency)
• Agencies now have a template for incorporating cybersecurity standards into their grant programs. The Office of the National Cyber Director and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency jointly published the Playbook for Strengthening Cybersecurity in Federal Grant Programs this week. It provides program managers with model language they can use in their notices of funding opportunity. The playbook comes as agencies continue to manage major investments in critical infrastructure projects funded under recent legislation, like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
  (ONCD and CISA publish guide to strengthen cybersecurity of grant-funded infrastructure projects - Office of the National Cyber Director)
• More than 550 more vendors made the cut to be included on the OASIS-plus professional services contract from GSA. This is the second round of awards under the unrestricted pool of the governmentwide multiple award contract. GSA made the first set of awards on Dec. 6. Most companies won spots under two domains: One for management and advisory services and one for technical and engineering services. GSA also made awards in the summer for all of the OASIS-plus small business socio-economic pools.
  (GSA picks over 550 vendors for OASIS+ unrestricted pool - SAM.gov)
• The Space Force may be focusing too much on its operators to the detriment of its acquisition, training, and testing workforce. In a letter to Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, the House Armed Services Committee leaders said the service’s emphasis on developing its operational workforce may impact its efforts to build a healthy acquisition community in the future. The lawmakers said Saltzman’s remarks from a major space conference last week lacked detail about the service’s acquisition, training, and testing, which “has raised questions about the previous focus on maintaining alignment across these areas.” The lawmakers asked Saltzman to provide more information about the service’s recruiting, training and retention efforts and career paths for acquisition professionals.
  (Space Force too focused on operators, not acquisition professionals - Federal News Network)
• One of the deans of federal procurement is calling it a career. Lesley Field, the deputy administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, is retiring after 35 years of federal service. She spent the last 16 years at OFPP as the deputy administrator. During that time, Field served as acting OFPP administrator at least six times since 2008 for a total of more than 60 months. She was the longest serving OFPP administrator, permanent or acting in the last 20 years. During her tenure, Field played a role in nearly every major acquisition policy ranging from the implementation of category management to standardizing training of the workforce to the improving how agencies buy digital services. Field didn't say what her plans were after leaving OFPP.
  (OFPP's Field retires after 35 years - LinkedIn)
• A customer experience shop within the Department of Veterans Affairs is here to stay, if Congress passes a stopgap spending bill. The continuing resolution backed by House leadership includes a provision that would codify the Veterans Experience Office. The VA launched that office after a high-profile scandal over wait times for medical appointments. Congress has until the end of the day Friday to pass a short-term spending bill, to avoid a government shutdown.
  (Continuing resolution - House of Representatives )

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