Nearly two dozen companies were awarded spots on the General Services Administration’s Connections II telecommunications contract, GSA announced last week. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a ceiling of $5 billion and will provide agencies with the products and services to integrate telecommunications and networking. Apptis, Inc., BAE System Information Solutions, Inc., General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. and Science Applications International Corp. were among the 21 companies selected to compete for business on the contract.
Browsing: Agencies
In the context of the U.S. Postal Service’s zillion or so other problems, this one doesn’t loom very large, but the mail carrying agency has struck out in its bid for a stay in proceedings on the exigent rate case that began last year. In an order released today, the Postal Regulatory Commission said the case is “now ready to proceed,” and rejected the Postal Service’s request for the stay until Dec. 15. This case dates back to July 2010, when the Postal Service sought approval for a package of rate increases that would have boosted the price of a first-class…
One of the oddities of this summer’s partial Federal Aviation Administration shutdown was that the agency would never say exactly how many employees were furloughed as a result. “Nearly 4,000” was the stock phrase used by FAA officials, who refused to provide a more precise figure. Not clear why they were so coy (this is supposed to be the most transparent administration in American history, after all), but FedLine’s curiosity was piqued, a Freedom of Information Act request was filed and the answer came back late last month: 3,750. The estimated cost in lost payroll for the two-week furlough (and…
Redacting sensitive information in agency documents used to be a 15-step process at the Transportation Security Administration. That was until a poorly redacted document was posted online in 2009. The incident prompted Emma Garrison-Alexander, TSA’s assistant administrator for information technology, to create standard document redaction tools and procedures agencywide. The feature is now an automated tool also available to private users of Adobe Acrobat Professional software. “We have to ensure that we’re securing data and networks,” Garrison-Alexander said after being honored at ISC2’s Government Information Security Leadership Awards. Garrison-Alexander was among several federal employees and contractors honored last week. Read more about…
A review of federal information technology investments found that agencies spend far more than the $79 billion reported on the government’s web-based IT tracking system, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. The IT Dashboard only provides investment data for 26 agencies, the report noted. The website does not include spending data for 61 other agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Central Intelligence Agency and legislative and judicial branch agencies. OMB encourages small agencies to use the IT Dashboard, but they choose not to, according to the GAO report released Wednesday. While administration officials often quote…
The Transportation Security Administration has initiated disciplinary action against an employee who told a female passenger to “Get her freak on” in a handwritten note placed inside her bag. The passenger tweeted a picture of the note – which was written on a “Notice of Inspection” form that TSA places inside checked bags that are going to be searched. The employee has been removed from screening duty and is awaiting further disciplinary action. According to the TSA blog: “The handwritten note was highly inappropriate and unprofessional, and TSA has zero tolerance for this type of behavior. Agency officials have also…
You know things are getting bad when even fictional jobs are no longer safe. Congress was given until Oct. 14 to make recommendations to the Super Committee tasked with finding at least 1.2 trillion in savings over the next 10 years. What Congress sent their way was a veritable cornucopia of suggestions ranging from cuts to the federal workforce to opening up federal land to oil drilling. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia offered a wide array of possible spending cuts – including…
The U.S. Postal Service has seen the future and it looks even worse than expected just 17 months ago. In a USPS-commissioned report released in March 2010, Boston Consulting Group predicted that total mail volume would slide from 177 billion pieces in 2009 to 150 billion pieces in 2020. But that mid-range forecast may have been overly rosy, according to updated numbers contained in a Government Accountability Office overview this week. The Postal Service now expects mail volume to drop to 127 billion pieces by 2020, the overview says. Profitable first-class mail use will fall by half and standard mail…
Contrary to what recent experience might suggest, the Senate can occasionally get something done. Witness yesterday’s approval of two Obama administration picks whose nominations had been dangling for months. Around noon, the Senate confirmed Heather Higginbottom on a 64-36 vote to become deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget. Later that evening, lawmakers also signed off 74-26 on the nomination of John Bryson to be the next Commerce Secretary. Both nominations had been stalled by Republican objections. Higginbottom, who had been policy director for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, more recently served as the number two person at…
House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves today issued subpoenas to four federal agencies seeking answers for why they refuse to put senior leadership in charge of small business contracting activities, a committee spokesman said. The Treasury, State, Justice and Agriculture departments have said they believe they are in compliance with the spirit of a law that requires agencies to put their Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization in direct contact with the agency’s secretary or deputy secretary. Each agency is required to have an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) under the Small Business Act to ensure contracts…