OMB looking for new way to track federal grant and contract awardees

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive. The Office of Management and Budget says it looking for b...

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on the Federal Drive.

  • The Office of Management and Budget says it looking for better ways to keep track of companies that win federal grants and contract awards. Most agencies have used the DUNS number through a contract with Dun and Bradstreet for decades. The General Services Administration’s 18-F is said to be working on an alternative code agencies could use to track federal grantees and vendors. (Federal News Radio)
  • Keeping track of finances related to certain property is still a challenge for the Defense Department. In a new report, the Government Accountability Office says DoD’s financial reporting for certain key categories of Property, Plant, and Equipment remains inadequate. In order to become audit ready, GAO says the military services need to improve their internal controls. (GAO)
  • One congresswoman wants to make sure one of the president’s creations lives on after his term ends. Rep. Suzan DelBene’s new legislation would reauthorize the U.S. Digital Service for a 10 year term. She says the service is helping government technology become more efficient. The 2014 creation is made up of private sector tech specialists contracted by the government. (DelBene’s website)
  • The Navy says it’s recompeting the Next Generation Enterprise Network contract for work on the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, the Marine Corps Enterprise Network, and the worldwide OneNet. This time around, Navy officials are considering making it a multi-source contract so different companies can run parts of the whole IT system. The contract is currently worth $3.5 billion. It hopes to award it by June of 2018. (Federal News Radio)
  • Three current and former Navy officers are indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges. The Justice Department says the charges stem from the three officials’ relationship with Leonard Francis, the former CEO of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, saying they provided him sensitive information, and special treatment of GDMA ships in exchange for vacations and prostitutes. 13 people have been charged so far in schemes connected Francis and GDMA. (Justice)
  • Sgt. Shelby Atkins, a member of the Wyoming National Guard, becomes the Army’s first female enlisted infantry soldier. Army Times reports Atkins graduated late last week with 32 male soldiers at a training center in the cowboy state. This makes her the first non-commissioned officer accepted into the infantry branch. More are coming as the Army said last month it approved requests from 22 female cadets to enter in the infantry and armor branches. (Army Times)
  • The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has had so much success with predictive analytics that it’s ready to expand these capabilities. CMS says it’s developing a next generation fraud prevention system to increase usability and efficiency. Since 2010, the Fraud Prevention System has used a big data approach to identify more than 4-point-5 million claims on a daily basis, prior to payment, that could be considered or is fraud. CMS says the program has helped recover more than 1-point-5 billion dollars in inappropriate payments. CMS says for every dollar it spends on the fraud prevention system, it gets back 11 dollars and 60 cents. I’m Jason Miller.(CMS)
  • The Senate version of a massive defense bill holds a provision that will require women to sign up for selective service, but a group of Republican senators are trying to remove the language from the bill. Senator Mike Lee of Utah has introduced an amendment to strike the female requirement for the draft from the bill. Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and leaders of the military services are all in favor of making women eligible for the draft. Last year, Defense Secretary Ash Carter made all combat roles open to women. The House version of the bill does not have a draft requirement. (Senator Mike Lee’s Website)
  • The Transportation Security Administration is making a concerted effort to get people to sign up for it’s Pre Program. For $85 for 5 years, pre-cleared flyers go through expedited lines at airports. The program never caught on as TSA had hoped. It’s using the last month of long screening times and congressional criticism to market Pre. Several airlines agree to also market Pre to their regular customers. Pre is free to uniformed service members.

 

 

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