July 31 2023

Huge Buy America waiver, USCIS pushed to the brink, Medicare data breach, drone races, DHS talks election and cyber threats, space launch contractor worried about competition

QUICK HITS

  • Army general dies in plane crash near Aberdeen Proving Ground: Maj. Gen. Anthony Potts had led PEO 3CT, was close to retirement.

  • ULA CEO worried about a third competitor in national security space launch: To compete with it and dominant player SpaceX.

  • Paperwork problems drive surge in people losing Medicaid coverage: 715,000 dropped from Medicaid since April in 18 states.

  • Inside the FY24 Senate NDAA: All the tech and cyber goodies, like AI, UFOs, crypto, security, intelligence.

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

RFI: Navy pings industry while scouting for new tech to help Pacific Fleet counter China.

The Office of Naval Research-Global is hunting for new capabilities that could bolster the Pacific Fleet, and the sea service just released a sources-sought notice for its Pacific SCOUT initiative. The Navy is looking to move fast with the effort, and it isn’t keen on systems that will require long development timelines. It wants to examine capabilities currently at technology readiness level 6 or greater that could be fielded in the next one to three years, according to an RFI. Read more | SAM link

UFO Congressional hearing was insulting to U.S. employees, a top Pentagon official says.

A top Pentagon official has attacked last week’s congressional hearing on UFOs, calling the claims “insulting” to employees who are investigating sightings and accusing a key witness of not cooperating with the official U.S. government investigation. Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick’s letter, published on his personal LinkedIn page, criticizes much of the testimony from a retired Air Force intelligence officer that energized believers in extraterrestrial life and produced headlines around the world. Aliens aren’t funny! Read more

A big waiver gives the “Buy America” a big workaround.

A new waiver allows the defense secretary to bypass the “Buy America” requirements in a variety of situations, such as “to expand sourcing” to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The defense secretary can waive the requirement if the cost of the overall acquisition might be increased by “more than 25 percent,” the schedule would suffer “unreasonable delays” or if the measures needed to be in compliance are “inconsistent with the public interest.” That’s a big loophole. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

  • Drone races! Air Force’s new pro league aims to boost recruitment.

  • Better, but still ‘whack-a-mole’: IT industry adapts to supply chain problems, for now.

  • North Korea's cyber-enabled sanction evasion requires tougher response, including enforcement of sanctions and crypto regulations.

  • Army acquisition chief sees “competitive environment” for IVAS alternatives….if Microsoft’s system doesn’t satisfy.

  • Japan forecasts large boost to defense spending over next five years.

Defense Contract Awards

Defense Job Openings

  • The Army Training and Doctrine Command is hiring a deputy to the Commanding General.

  • DLA is seeking an Executive Director, Contracting and Acquisition Management.

  • NASA Johnson Space Center is hiring a Systems Engineering and Integration Office Manager.

DAILY FUNNY

INTEL COMMUNITY

Microsoft Azure OpenAI service approved for use on sensitive government systems.

Microsoft’s recently launched Azure OpenAI service received Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program high authorization, giving federal agencies and those who manage some of the government’s most sensitive data access to powerful language models, including ChatGPT. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

  • It’s not federally legal, BUT….a new bill would bar agencies from denying security clearances, job applicants, over weed use.

  • Senator demands probe of Microsoft’s cyber practices after Chinese hack.

  • Lawmakers request select committee immunity after UFO whistleblower testimony.

  • NSA warns about web app vulnerabilities.

  • DHS secretary discusses election, cyber threats at House hearing.

CIVILIAN

POTUS launches cancer tumor removal technology program through ARPA-H.

The White House launched a new program to fund the development of technologies that will help doctors remove cancerous tumors as part of its “cancer moonshot” efforts to fight against the disease. The Precision Surgical Interventions program will be funded through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which was established last year to fund breakthroughs in the biomedical and health spaces. Read more

Maximus data breach may have exposed information of 612,000 Medicare recipients, CMS says.

A data breach that hit federal contractor Maximus earlier this year may have exposed the personal information of as many as 612,000 Medicare recipients, according to the CMS. The HHS agency said in a statement it is working with the company to notify by letter any individuals who may have been affected by the breach, because, yeah, a letter about cyber breaches going out to the elderly, who are all technologically sophisticated, is definitely going to help. Heck, CMS, why not email all those affected? Read more

How Agricultural Department is hardwiring customer experience in its work.

Simchah Suveyke-Bogin has a big job. She’s been the Agriculture Department’s chief customer experience officer since 2020, leading the department’s office that is formally in charge of supporting a policy of “hardwiring, scaling and sustaining CX capabilities at USDA now and in the future,” per the 2022 permanent authorization of the office. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

  • The world is reentering 'an era of strategic competition,' cyberspace ambassador says.

  • As POTUS boosts legal immigration pathways, USCIS is pushed to the brink; 842,000 pending asylum cases are an all-time high.

  • GAO investigates Coast Guard’s Merchant Marine credentialing process.

  • GAO wants NIST to better assess the performance of its cybersecurity workforce program.

  • IBM’s tech and business agenda leads with AI, hybrid cloud.

  • Webcast: Why you should care about the newest entrants to the federal market.

Civilian Contracts Awards

  • State Department awards GDIT $320M in Consular Services task orders.

  • Energy Department awards $11.7M for quantum computing research options.

Follow Civilian Leaders

Civilian Job Openings

  • USDA Rural Development is seeking a Director, Human Resources.

  • National Nuclear Security Agency is hiring a deputy associate administrator for Defense Nuclear Security.

  • OMB is hiring a Branch Chief Financial Management Mission Delivery.

M&A CORNER

On Day 1 of ownership, L3Harris pledges to invest in Aerojet Rocketdyne.

On its first day as owner of Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris Technologies pledged to make investments in what is now the company’s fourth business segment and to keep selling rocket motors to other firms. “We'll continue to invest internally over the next few years, as some of the key businesses and programs ramp up,” Ross Niebergall, who was named Aerojet Rocektdyne’s president on Friday upon closure of the $4.7 billion acquisition, said in an interview. Read more

Boeing defense unit logs over $500M in losses for Q2, though KC-46 deliveries resume.

Boeing’s numerous fixed-price contracts with the Pentagon continue to drag on its defense sector, which recorded a loss of $527 million in the second quarter of 2023, the company disclosed in its earnings call. Read more

SHOWER THOUGHTS 🚿

Gliding, not searching: Here’s how to reset your view of ChatGPT to steer it to better results.

ChatGPT has exploded in popularity, and people are using it to write articles and essays, generate marketing copy and computer code, or simply as a learning or research tool. However, most people don’t understand how it works or what it can do, so they are either not happy with its results or not using it in a way that can draw out its best capabilities. (Note: It’s not a search engine.) Read more

Opinion: How federal agencies can address the cyber talent gap.

As geopolitical tensions rise and the federal government places a greater emphasis on shoring up national critical infrastructure and modernizing cyber defenses, having a fully staffed cyber workforce that is up to the task is paramount. But despite the various hearings, reports, and strategies we’ve seen over the years aimed at addressing the federal cyber workforce shortcomings, the talent gap persists. Read more

How the U.S. economy is sticking the soft landing.

To see what an economic soft landing looks like, search no further than business hiring. Parts of the economy are cooling, just as the Federal Reserve would like to see to combat inflation. Freight railroads, for instance, are seeing shipping volumes decline. Construction firms are cutting back on equipment purchases. A vending-machine company’s customers are negotiating prices downward. Read more

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