GovLoop

Healthcare.gov Contractors Head to the Hill – Plus the DorobekINSIDER’s 7 Stories

Emily Jarvis

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

But up front: HealthCare.gov contractors on Capitol Hill

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

  1. Federal employees of the IRS and Customs and Border Patrol will receive today either a portion or all of their backpay from the recent government shutdown. The Washington Post notes that though Monday is the next regularly scheduled pay day for both organizations, IRS and CBP officials are attempting to pay their employees earlier, given that they had to work without pay during the shutdown.

  2. Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, the head of the U.S. Army Cyber Command, stated that an evaluation of the size and capabilities of the army cyber force should occur every two years given the rate at which technology is advancing and the growing threat of cyber attacks. Cardon further commented that evaluations every two years will help the army to improve its hiring processes and ability to procure the latest cyber defense technology, as reported by the Federal Times.

  3. A federal audit by the Treasury Department’s Inspector General this week found that 691 IRS contractor employees in 2012 owed money to the federal government. Specifically, these employees last year accumulated $5.4 million in tax debts. The Hill reports that the reason for this oversight is that the IRS more closely monitors the tax status of its employees, than it does its contractors, reviewing whether employees are up-to-date on their taxes three times a year, and contractors only once every 5 years.

  4. The CIA has filed classified documents with the U.S. federal courts describing the harm that IBM’s injunction against the CIA’s cloud contract with Amazon Web Services will have on U.S. national security. In addition to jeopardizing national security, the CIA states that further delay will create future challenges for the creation of a commercially developed cloud infrastructure for the intelligence community, which FCW reports the CIA has been attempting to obtain for the past two years.

  5. The Office of Management and Budget has shifted financial management systems from Circular A-127 to Appendix D in Circular A-123. Federal News Radio observes that the agency has also released new guidance for employees regarding the timely reporting of financial information and recommendations on how to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. These two efforts have slimmed down OMB financial system regulations from 500 to 70 employee requirements.

  6. The senior vice president of CGI Federal, Cheryl Campbell, stated today that though CGI was not responsible for the technology that allowed citizens to register for health insurance on Healthcare.gov, the organization does share some of the blame. Preparing for her testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Campbell shared that since the launch of Healthcare.gov, more and more users have been able to enroll in insurance plans. There remains, however, system performance issues caused by the high amount of traffic. The Federal Times notes that both the House and its Energy and Commerce Committee will be continuing with an investigation into the site’s functionality.

  7. Robert Luba, the owner and general manager of Allied Components in Sparta, New Jersey, has plead guilty to sharing sensitive data overseas without first receiving federal government approval. Luba has also admitted to violating his contract with the Defense Department by placing faulty aircraft parts in F-15 fighter planes. The Air Force has since had to ground 47 of its planes for inspection, costing the military approximately $166,000. The New Jersey Herald reports that Luba’s violations carry the following two sentences respectively: a maximum 20-year prison sentence and $1 million fine and a 5-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine.

DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder

Exit mobile version