Quick Hits

*** The General Services Administration announced in a Jan. 15 contracting notice that a draft solicitation in the $8 billion back-office cloud procurement it is conducting on behalf of the Defense Department will be issued by Jan. 31, with a final solicitation coming in late February or early March. The Defense Enterprise Office Solutions procurement, known as DEOS,  was shifted from the Defense Information Systems Agency to GSA in October. The solutions -- covering business software, email, calendar, content management, collaboration tools and communications including voice and video -- will be available to DOD customers via a blanket purchase agreement on GSA's Schedule 70.

*** The Department of Education scrapped a longstanding solicitation for a NextGen Financial Services Environment -- a new system for borrowers and lenders to process and maintain the more than $1 trillion in student loans overseen by the Office of Financial Student Aid. The cancellation notice was issued on Jan. 15 and was accompanied by a replacement solicitation.

*** Democratic control of the House of Representatives this Congress brings a new cadre of Appropriations cardinals -- subcommittee chairs responsible for bills covering huge swaths of the federal budget. New names on the roster include Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) on Defense, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) on Veterans Affairs and Military Construction and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) on Financial Services and General Government, including responsibilities for federal pay and procurement hubs at the Office of Management and Budget and GSA.