GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (12/21–25)

This week's Weekly Debrief covers cloud moves in the defense and intelligence community, the SolarWinds hack, IT modernization, a contractor's $11 million settlement with DoJ for a kickbacks probe, and GAO's bid protest annual report.

Defense

NextGov – Defense, Intelligence Agencies Made Major Moves in Cloud in 2020

• "Despite a pandemic that forced hundreds of thousands of personnel to remote offices and an assortment of legal actions involving some of the major cloud procurements, the Pentagon and intelligence community made major moves in cloud computing adoption in 2020."

C4ISRNET – Wide-reaching hack has defense firms on their toes

• "Experts say there simply are not enough skilled threat-hunting teams to identify all the government and private-sector systems that may have been probed. FireEye, the cybersecurity company that discovered the intrusion into U.S. agencies and was among the victims, has already tallied dozens of casualties. It’s racing to identify more but already, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, and Booz Allen Hamilton have acknowledged they use SolarWinds products."

Modernization

FedScoop – More attention from Congress could lead to smoother EIS transition

• "The House Oversight and Reform Committee recently added a new category under its biannual FITARA Scorecard: It grades agencies’ progress in transitioning to the $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) network modernization contract — and away from predecessor vehicle Networx."

FNN – 2021 spending bill: Cyber, federal buildings are winners, IT modernization is a loser

• "For the third year in a row, Congress isn’t buying the White House’s request nor Democrat lawmakers’ pleas for more money to help agencies move away from legacy systems more quickly. The fiscal 2021 omnibus spending bill, which the House unveiled today, reduced two key funding mechanisms."

Justice

Justice.gov – Government Contractor Admits Scheme to Inflate Costs on Federal Projects and Pays $11 Million to Resolve Criminal and Civil Probes

• "Schneider Electric Buildings Americas Inc. (Schneider Electric), a nationwide provider of electricity solutions for buildings and data centers with its principal place of business in Carrollton, Texas, will pay $11 million to resolve criminal and civil investigations relating to kickbacks and overcharges on eight federally-funded energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs), the Department of Justice announced today. Under the contracts, Schneider Electric was to install a variety of energy savings upgrades, such as solar panels, LED lighting, and insulation, in federal buildings."

GAO

GCJ – 4 Takeaways: GAO Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for FY 2020

• "Yesterday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") published its Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2020. Notably, GAO's annual report is required under the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 ("CICA") and provides good insight into GAO's bid protest function."

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