Jennifer Franks, director of information technology and cybersecurity at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), is calling on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop a standardized definition of what the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) costs and how government agencies should evaluate costs when moving their services into the cloud. […]

Ross Nodurft, executive director of the Alliance for Digital Innovation and former chief of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) cybersecurity team, gave positive reviews to the final version of OMB’s zero trust security directive to Federal agencies, but also noted agencies’ ability to find funding to implement the strategy in the near term remains somewhat cloudy. […]

Today, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published the final version of its strategy that directs Federal agencies to migrate to zero trust security architectures. […]

Bipartisan leaders of the House Oversight and Reform Committee today introduced their version of legislation that would update the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), which sets cybersecurity requirements for Federal civilian agencies. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said in its annual report on governmentwide improper payments – defined as payments that shouldn’t have been made or were made for  incorrect amounts – jumped to 7.2 percent in Fiscal Year 2021 with the increase driven in part by soaring rates of unemployment insurance fraud during the coronavirus pandemic. […]

The year 2021 has played out as a non-stop whirlwind of activity for the Federal IT community – one unprecedented in recent memory for new policy direction, funding pushes, and urgency to improve network security. […]

The Alliance for Digital Innovation (ADI), a technology trade group that aims to help shape government innovation, is asking the Biden administration to increase both funding to the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) and collaboration with industry stakeholders to best execute the vision outlined in President Biden’s customer experience (CX) executive order (EO). […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued updated guidance this week to agencies in order to ensure compliance with currently applicable court orders that bar the enforcement of the vaccine mandate for Federal contractors in any U.S. state or outlying area. […]

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expects to have a final conference agreement for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, with votes potentially taking place into the weekend, Schumer wrote in a Dec. 6 Dear Colleague letter. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released guidance on Dec. 3 encouraging Federal agencies to cooperate and support their agency inspectors general (IGs). […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 6 issued new Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) guidance to Federal agencies for Fiscal Years 2021-2022 that promotes agency action on several items in the Biden administration’s Cybersecurity Executive Order issued in May, and that also aligns with aspects of current Senate legislation on FISMA reform. […]

In a new memorandum from the Biden administration, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Jason Miller detailed how the White House would like to direct $100 billion in Federal contracting opportunities to small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs). […]

The Biden Administration announced this week that agencies should not enforce penalties for Federal employees who remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 until after the holiday season. […]

About 96 percent of the Federal government’s 3.5 million employees have complied with President Biden’s vaccine mandate, which means workers have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, or have a pending or approved exception request. […]

President Biden nominated two women of color to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today, tapping Shalanda Young to serve as the permanent director of OMB and Nani Coloretti to serve as OMB’s deputy director. […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are set to release their four-year strategic plan later this month, according to OPM Director Kiran Ahuja, who previewed what the Federal government can expect to see in that plan. […]

The Department of Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have made progress in validating data received from Federal agencies, but both of the agencies need to improve how that data is reported online, according to the Government Accountability Office. […]

Jordan Burris – who serves as chief of staff for Federal CIO Clare Martorana, Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat, and Federal Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Chris DeRusha – will leave the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) November 12, he announced in a LinkedIn post. […]

The Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building submitted its first-year report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), pursuant to the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, detailing its findings and making a list of recommendations including establishing a permanent Federal Chief Statistician role to help improve agency data use. […]

Five months after the debut of the Biden administration’s sweeping Cybersecurity Executive Order, Federal agencies are “highly engaged” in grappling with the order’s mandate for migration to zero trust security architectures, both on the planning and funding fronts. […]

The Office of Management and Budget has released a 2021 action plan for Federal agencies to make progress on a list of goals under the Federal Data Strategy published in 2019, but given there are little more than two months to go in 2021, OMB characterized the year-end goals as “aspirational.” […]

The President’s Management Council, in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and General Services Administration, launched the first government-wide pulse survey to gain a better understanding of how Federal employees feel about employee engagement, inclusion, and return to their offices. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will soon be without Acting Director Shalanda Young for a little, as she is expecting to give birth in the next few weeks, an OMB spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk. […]

For nearly two years, the Federal government has gone without a Federal chief statistician, but the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is looking to change that. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is giving Federal agencies a three-month deadline to make initial strides at identifying the current state of endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities on their networks and to start undertaking additional work with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to quicken the pace of deploying those capabilities. […]

The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee have unveiled their long-awaited legislation to update the 2014 Federal Information Security Modernization Act that provides cybersecurity marching orders to Federal civilian agencies. […]

The American Rescue Plan (ARP), passed in March, included an additional $1 billion for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). Last week, Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha said the first round of awards was coming soon. Today, Federal CIO Clare Martorana said the TMF board sent the first seven project awards to Congress for final approval. […]

Federal chief data officers (CDOs) are seeking more guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) when it comes to the Federal Data Strategy, despite deadlines passing for many key deliverables. […]

In its annual update to Circular A-11, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) made significant changes to section 280, which focuses on customer experience (CX) and service delivery.

The new changes provide a new expanded definition for customer experience – one that includes equity and designates CX as a priority instead of a nice-to-have. […]

With the FY2021 budget set to expire on Sept. 30, the Biden administration is urging congressional leaders to approve a continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown. […]