FCW Insider: Sept. 12

Dale Cabaniss was confirmed by the Senate to lead the Office of Personnel Management on Sept. 11. The former Federal Labor Relations Authority chairwoman steps into a tough job – taking over a department poised to merge into the General Services Administration over the objections of congressional Democrats and many Republicans. Adam Mazmanian takes a look.

Years after the Office of Management and Budget began pushing the idea of soft paternalism in federal programs, a GSA office is quietly leading cutting-edge efforts. Steve Kelman explains in his latest blog post.

The DOD's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification framework could have a negative impact on small business and startups because of compliance costs. Lauren C. Williams reports.

Much of the underlying architecture that supports the internet is under threat -- and it's not clear who in government or industry can or should take the lead to protect it. Derek B. Johnson has more from Capitol Hill.

Quick Hits

*** The Defense Appropriations Subcommittee marked up the Senate version of the Pentagon's funding bill on Sept. 10. The bill calls for $694.8 billion in overall spending, divided between $622.4 billion in base funding, $70.7 billion in contingency funding and $1.7 in emergency funding. The bill also seeks $341 million in additional cybersecurity spending and $436 million for the DOD's 5G efforts.

*** The U.S. Senate confirmed James Byrne to serve as deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs by a vote of 81 to 11. As deputy secretary, Byrne is the senior official in charge of the $16 billion, 10-year project to modernize the agency's homegrown electronic health record system by implementing a commercial solution based on Cerner's software. Byrne has been acting in the deputy role since August 2018.