GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (12/30–1/3)
Happy New Year! The first Weekly Debrief of 2020 covers a variety of topics, including the modernization of grant reporting data, DHS/GSA's centralized vulnerability disclosure platform, DoD's audit of smaller weapons systems, DoD's MTA guidance for rapid acquisition, and GSA's eRulemaking modernization effort.
Grants
Federal Times – New law calls for more transparent grant guidance
"President Donald Trump signed a bill into law Dec. 30 directing federal agencies to modernize grant reporting data. Under the legislation, called the Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency Act of 2019, the Office of Management and Budget will work with the department that doles out the most federal grants every year to establish governmentwide standards for information submitted by recipients and create guidance for other agencies on applying those standards."
Cyber
FCW – DHS, GSA propose centralized vulnerability disclosure platform
​"The Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration want to know what it would take to develop a cloud-based centralized vulnerability disclosure platform for the federal government. In a request for information released late December, the agencies asked industry for feedback on how to set up a system that could serve as a primary point of entry for security researchers warning about bugs in their internet-accessible systems."
DoD
​"When the Pentagon’s big, multi-billion dollar acquisition programs run into trouble, they tend to make headlines. But a new examination by DoD’s inspector general says the department faces pervasive problems in accounting for the smaller systems that dominate its budget.Among other problems, according to auditors, DoD literally does not know how many of those it has in its portfolio."
Defense News – Too many cooks in the DoD: New policy may suppress rapid acquisition
​"In 2015, Congress passed middle tier acquisition, or MTA, authorities for rapid prototyping and rapid fielding. Lawmakers expected detailed guidance to follow shortly after. By June 2019, the Government Accountability Office found little clarity on documentation and authority. Congress reacted by threatening to withhold 75 percent of MTA funding in 2020 until the Pentagon released guidance. Dangle the purse strings and compliance follows. The undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, or USD(A&S), released Department of Defense Instruction 5000.80 on Dec. 30, 2019. The MTA guidance, however, is more likely to pump the brakes on rapid acquisition than propel it forward."
GSA
NextGov – GSA Wants Public Feedback on its eRulemaking Modernization Effort
​"Almost three months into its new role as managing partner of the federal electronic rulemaking program, the General Services Administration now aims to engage stakeholders on its plans to modernize the government’s eRulemaking management process."
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