The Office of Federal Procurement Policy issued a long-awaited set of guidelines that clarifies what government functions “must always be performed by federal employees” and when it’s appropriate to turn to contractors to for a variety of services.
In a 75-page final policy letter, OFPP and Office of Management and Budget Officials lay out a new set of terms, guidelines and examples concerning government contracting. Keep reading →
Herndon, VA-based GeoEye captures the damage, the reconstruction, and the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon in a series of images from its IKONOS and GeoEye 1 satellites traveling 423 miles above the earth’s surface at a speed of 17,000 miles an hour.
This photo gallery can be better viewed by clicking the gray square in the lower right corner of the picture framed below, which opens the gallery in a larger viewing window. Keep reading →
While cyber-criminals operate in a world without borders, the law enforcement community does not, making a proposed update to computer fraud and abuse laws more essential than ever, a senior Secret Service official told a Senate banking committee today.
“The increasingly multi-national, multi-jurisdictional nature of cyber crime cases has increased the time and resources needed for successful investigation and adjudication,” said Pablo A. Martinez, deputy special agent in charge, Criminal Investigative Division of U.S. Secret Service, in testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Keep reading →
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has faced a great deal of scrutiny, both from the public and from Congressional leaders since its creation in 2003. Some have accused it of being dysfunctional, ineffective, and mismanaged, going so far as to call for the dissolution of the Department. While we should ask a great deal of the agency designated to protect us against terrorism and other threats, much of this criticism is misguided, as are recommendations to close the department.
We must face the reality that working to improve DHS is our only option. From a purely practical perspective, DHS is unlikely to be disestablished. We have no track record of closing cabinet departments, and it is unreasonable to expect Congress to assume the political risk associated with pursuing the elimination of the organization designed to protect the homeland. Most importantly, we must acknowledge that, strategically, DHS is too vital to simply do away with. Keep reading →
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski (pictured) 
has appointed David B. Robbins to be the FCC’s new managing director, effective September 12, 2011. He will succeed Steve VanRoekel, who left the agency earlier this year for a post at USAID before being named U.S. chief information officer earlier last month.
Robbins joins the FCC from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), where he served as associate administrator for the Office of Management & Administration, leading a number of the SBA’s core functions, including human capital management, facilities management, security, records management, executive secretariat, administrative services, and grants management, according to an FCC statement. He also served as director of the Loan Management and Accounting Systems Modernization Program. Keep reading →
This article is the first of several commentaries appearing courtesy of Breaking Defense this week examining what America’s leaders should do next to secure our national security, 10 years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The White House submitted its revised financial outlook and budget priorities to Congress for fiscal 2012 and beyond, predicting that the federal deficit for 2011 will be 20 percent lower, at $1.316 trillion, than projected in February, but acknowledging a number of economic hurdles lie ahead.
Citing a combination of lower outlays and higher-than-anticipated receipts, the 2011 deficit is projected to equal to 8.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), down from 10.9 percent projected in February, the President’s “Mid-Session Report” said. Deficits are also expected to be lower in each of the next 10 years than estimated in the President’s February budget. Keep reading →
The federal government’s centralized job site, USAJobs.gov, is in the final stages of a sweeping overhaul that will reduce a chronic complaint by applicants–the need to re-enter profile data–and give federal manages a better picture of potential candidates.
When it debuts officially October 13, the new version of USAJobs.gov will also represent a significant step forward in data security and integration, according to Angela Bailey, associate director of employee services, at the Office of Personnel Management, which maintains the jobs site. Keep reading →
Last week’s 5.8 magnitude earthquake along the east coast and the subsequent battering by Hurricane Irene unleashed not only a heavy dose of nature’s fury, but also a torrent of social media messaging.
And perhaps more than ever before, the federal government played a prominent role in the dialogue. While figures for this past week’s activity are still being gathered, a snapshot of social media use by federal agencies in mid-August, assembled by Breaking Gov, shows its no longer just the White House that is gaining a growing social media following. Keep reading →
The Federal Disaster Relief Fund, the pot of money used to help communities and individuals hit by disasters, is nearly depleted. That’s bad news for victims of both Hurricane Irene and other disasters like the tornadoes that hit earlier this year.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate said Monday that the agency’s fund has fallen to less than $800 million. With less that $1 billion on hand, the agency is only authorized to pay for emergency repairs. That means that long-term projects, like rebuilding roads, schools and other damaged structures in the tornado-ravaged southeastern states and Joplin, Mo., will have to wait. Keep reading →