GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (5/11–15)

This week's Weekly Debrief covers several interesting topics, including a satellite maker's bankruptcy filing, Space Command's new home, legislation to expand CISA's powers, IRS wants to automate its grants management system, GSA's tool to track spending, and DOJ's recent PPP fraud charge.

Defense

• NextGov – Air Force Leaders Fret As Another Satellite Maker Declares Bankruptcy

• ​"The self-congratulatory tone in Intelsat’s Wednesday press release — a restructuring “for long-term success” and “No change in our momentum, just enhanced resources to grow” — evaporated in paragraph four, which announced a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. It was the second major satellite company to declare bankruptcy amid the pandemic, a trend that worries the U.S. Air Force’s chief acquisitions executive."

• DefenseNews – Want to be Space Command’s new home? Here’s the criteria.

• ​"The U.S. Air Force has officially reopened the competition for cities that want to become the home for the new U.S. Space Command, with a self-nomination process that could allow dozens of localities to throw their hat in the ring."

Cyber

• FCW – Senate panel tees up cyber legislation with expanded powers for CISA and a new White House role

• ​"The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is moving closer to developing legislative proposals for a number of Cyberspace Solarium Commission recommendations, and Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) signaled in a May 13 hearing that they could start with a proposal to create a new White House Cybersecurity Directorate."

IRS

• FederalTimes – Tax agency wants to automate its grants management system

• ​"The Internal Revenue Service released a request for information May 12aimed at modernizing the tax agency’s grants managements system. The RFI is part of the agency’s Pilot IRS program, an IRS initiative aiming to improve the agency’s acquisition speed."

GSA

• FederalNewsNetwork – GSA releases tool for monitoring agency spending to contractors

• ​"Vendors have a new data source to find out where agencies are spending contract dollars. The General Services Administration makes its governmentwide category management awards exploration tool publicly available. This database lets users find information at the award level such as by contract name and spend under management tier."

DoJ

• Justice.gov – Engineer Charged in Texas with COVID-Relief Fraud

• ​"An engineer has been charged in the Eastern District of Texas with allegedly filing bank loan applications fraudulently seeking more than $10 million dollars in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act."

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