Defense Deputy Secretary Ashton Carter said for every dollar lawmakers add to the military's budget or for every program they continue that the Pentagon wants to cancel, it requires cuts elsewhere. He also called sequestration irrational and said DoD is not planning for it.
The Industry Botnet Group — coordinated by the White House Cybersecurity Office and the Departments of Commerce and Homeland Security — has posted nine principles, including coordination of cyber responsibilities across sectors and reporting lessons learned.
In an exclusive interview with Federal News Radio, White House Cyber Czar Howard Schmidt said a majority of the senior leaders in government understand the importance of securing agency, contractor and critical infrastructure systems. He said among his office's biggest accomplishments is moving the day-to-day cyber authority of federal civilian networks to DHS. Michael Daniel will replace Schmidt, whose last day is in early June.
The federal government now faces a fork in the road with regards to IT investment. George DelPrete, leader of Grant Thornton's federal government information technology, offers his insight. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) talks about legislation he introduced to increase contracting opportunities for small businesses. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) was one of the sponsors of a bill to help military families facing foreclosure.
A Heritage Foundation report said of all the cybersecurity bills before Congress right now, the most important issue is the government would regulate activities in both the public and private sector.
Senate panel rejects Air Force's proposed decreases to National Guard aircraft and personnel, orders cutbacks in DoD civilian and contractor personnel and imposes contractor salary caps.
On this edition of the Capital Impact show, BGOV Trade Analysts Caitlin Webber and Ken Monahan evaluate trade tensions facing the U.S. Plus, Congressional Analysts Melissa Avstreih and Loren Duggan look at legislation to reduce or eliminate duties on imported goods.
House lawmakers are still skeptical about what they see as wasteful spending to build green buildings in the Defense Department. Language in the 2013 defense authorization bill the House passed last week continues a prohibition on using any budget money to certify a DoD building as LEED Gold or LEED Platinum. The highest level allowed would be LEED Silver.
In a letter to Acting Administrator Dan Tangherlini, a bipartisan group of senators called for an evaluation of the structure of GSA's Public Buildings Service, tying it to the wasteful spending of the Las Vegas scandal.
Retired Air Force Gen. Lester Lyles said new legislation calling for diversity benchmarks in the military would codify the recommendations of the commission he led in 2011 and would make for a better armed forces.
Two high-ranking senators requested information about conference travel and spending in all GSA regions in a detailed letter on Friday.
State and local investigations make it difficult for investigators to probe possible Hatch Act violations by federal employees, said Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner. The Office of Special Counsel is asking Congress to remove OSC's duty of policing state and local issues, so it can focus on federal cases.
As cybersecurity-specific bills stall in Congress, Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I) has suggested amending the defense bill to get the biggest cyber initiatives passed.
Two senators have introduced a bill that they said addresses concerns raised by a recent Defense report.
Congressman Mick Mulvaney and Coalition for Government Procurement Chairman Bill Gormley will talk the challenges that small businesses face when trying to do business with the government. May 15, 2012