GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (9/12–16)

This week's Weekly Debrief covers NDAA supply chain amendment, lawmakers' push for more transparency in IC commercial imagery, spending, IRS modernization, SBIR program, and GSA's inflation ease for contractors.

Capitol Hill

FedScoop – Industry groups criticize ‘vague’ software supply chain amendment to House NDAA

• "Industry groups have written to lawmakers, warning that software supply chain proposals included in the House version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act are “vague” and “internally inconsistent.”"

BreakingDefense – Lawmakers push IC for more commercial imagery acquisition, transparency

• "House lawmakers want to know more about how much the Intelligence Community is spending funds on commercial satellite imagery and imagery-derived analytical products, according to a senior House staffer. Frank Garcia, a long-time Republican staffer on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HIPSCI), on Thursday told the 2022 Intelligence and National Security Summit, cosponsored by INSA and AFCEA, that making National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s commercial operations budgets clearer would not just improve oversight but also help the commercial remote sensing industry."

IRS

Treasury chief: IRS modernization is coming soon

• "Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pledged to improve customer service for taxpayers by increasing the IRS workforce and modernizing obsolete technology in a speech to agency employees in Lanham, Maryland on Thursday. Yellen said the tax agency plans to tap $80 billion over the next 10 years included in the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law last month."

Small Biz

NextGov – SBIR: Venture Capitalism for Social Entrepreneurship

• "The Small Business Innovation Research—or SBIR—program is set to expire at the end of this month, unless Congress reauthorizes it. The delay in the reauthorization is rooted in concerns that the program is a waste of taxpayer dollars. We disagree. The program as it was intended is critical to advancing innovation and improving digital services for the benefit of Americans who access them, and therefore, should continue."

GSA

FedNewsNet – GSA makes inflation adjustments a bit easier for contractors

• "With nationwide inflation still at 8%, federal contractors are getting some additional relief from the General Services Administration. GSA updated its guidance for how quickly contracting officers can raise prices on the schedule."

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