GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (4/26–30)

This week's Weekly Debrief covers IT modernization, the JEDI cloud saga, the Army's biometric plans, defense budget delays, Biden's EO on minimum wage for contractors, and Biden's impending EO on software security.

IT Modernization

NextGov – GAO: Only 2 of the 10 Most Critical Legacy IT Systems Have Full Modernization Plans

• "Among federal agencies operating the 10 most critical aged IT systems in government, only two have fully developed plans to modernize. Nearly two years after the Government Accountability Office identified 10 legacy federal systems most critical to the respective agency’s mission and most in need of updating, eight of those agencies have yet to produce workable modernization plans."

Defense

FedScoop – The JEDI saga continues: Court denies motion to dismiss AWS protest of political interference

• "The Court of Federal Claims issued a sealed decision Wednesday denying a motion by the Department of Justice and Microsoft to dismiss Amazon’s protest of the Pentagon’s $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract."

FedNewsNet – Army wants to lock soldiers’ biometrics in with machines to create sci-fi-like effects

• "Have you ever been watching a sci-fi movie and a drone comes to the rescue just in the nick of time, or a technology deploys right when a character needs it most? The Army wants that, too — and it’s working with the nascent technology now to improve situational awareness to better team with robots, drones, other humans and anything else that may come along the way."

Budget

Defense News – Biden budget delay blows up Hill defense schedule

• "Senate work on the annual defense authorization bill will be delayed until midsummer because of the ongoing wait for President Joe Biden’s federal budget outline, a delay that could complicate a host of military personnel policy and procurement plans."

White House

NBC News –Biden signs executive order raising federal contractors' minimum wage to $15 an hour

• "President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday that raises the minimum wage for federal contractors and tipped employees working on government contracts to $15 an hour. The raise from $10.95 an hour will begin in January, and agencies must implement the measure no later than March. Biden has signed a separate order to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal employees."

LawFare – The Biden Administration’s Impending Executive Order on Software Security

• "Last year’s revelation of the infiltration of federal agency digital supply chains—via the information technology (IT) contractor SolarWinds—revealed gaping holes in America’s cyber defenses. The White House recently attributed this intrusion to the Russian foreign intelligence service, further highlighting the sophisticated nature of malicious cyber actors targeting the United States. "

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