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A group of Democratic lawmakers is calling on the NSA to explain its part in developing a flawed encryption algorithm that was used and subsequently exploited through Juniper Networks security products, citing the supply chain hack involving SolarWinds Orion.

The latest news and analysis from FCWs reporters and editors.

The Government Accountability Office says the State Department failed to justify the scope and organizational placement of a new office that was greenlighted in the final days of the Trump administration.

The Defense Pricing and Contracting Agency recorded more than $16 billion in other transaction agreements in 2020 in the Defense Departments response to the pandemic.

Alternative hiring assessments show promise for improving the yield of successful applicants from federal job postings.

By Adam Mazmanian   Leading Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform are pushing $9 billion in technology refresh money as part of the larger $1.9 trillion pandemic relief and recovery package being pushed by the Biden administration. In a Jan. 27 letter led by Oversight Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), lawmakers stressed the importance of expanding the Technology Modernization Fund – a pot o...

By Lauren C. Williams   The Defense Department issued new policy to streamline and expand due process procedures for those with and seeking security clearances to handle sensitive information. The Defense office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA) will handle security clearance eligibility-related hearings, appeals, denials, and revocations, aligning with policy drawn from an executive order issued in 1960 on safeguarding classified information in private industry . "In order to simplify, centrali...

By Natalie Alms   Thrift Savings Plan participants used special withdrawal options passed into law in the first pandemic relief package at relatively steady rates in the final months of last year before the program ended in December. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed last March, provided TSP participants to make a one-time withdrawals of up to $100,000 without meeting age or the usual financial hardship qualifications. Instead, participants had to meet one ...

By Natalie Alms   Reps Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), chair of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, are asking nominee for Attorney General Merrick Garland to "take all necessary actions" to protect the ability of immigration judges to unionize. A decision made by the Federal Labor Relations Authority in November 2020 made immigration judges ineligible for union representation, effectively invalidating the Na...

By Natalie Alms   Federal agencies are under orders to rethink workspaces and employee and visitor activity to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Office of Management and Budget issued new safety principles Jan. 24 in a memo that implements an executive order requiring masks and physical distancing on federal land and by federal employees and contractors. OMB is instructing agencies to continue to maximize the use of telework and to take other measures to implement safety measures like enhanced...