Modernization
VA hopes to use next year’s EHR rollouts to gain momentum for faster deployments
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said VA is hoping to deploy its new EHR system at 20 to 25 new medical facilities in 2027 as it pursues an accelerated deployment timeline.
Sandia labs to undertake $5B construction effort over next decade
Sandia National Laboratories is growing its physical infrastructure to help advance its core national security research efforts, notably radiation environment testing and power source capabilities.
Consolidating IT systems can lead to over $100M in cost savings, GAO finds
The Government Accountability Office’s latest duplication and overlap report said improved federal IT portfolio management could achieve such savings “by reducing duplicative IT investments and halting or terminating investments, when appropriate.”
Trump administration unveils multi-billion dollar plan to modernize air traffic control system
“To do it in three or four years, we need all of the money up front,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said about the White House’s push to upgrade antiquated air traffic control technologies across the U.S.
Some Republicans question Trump’s IRS budget cuts
The administration has proposed a $2.5 billion cut to the tax agency.
VA must ‘put onus back on Oracle’ to right EHR deployment, secretary says
VA Secretary Doug Collins told lawmakers he’s focused on addressing internal problems “that really caused the initial problems in the rollout.”
GSA pushes full repayment for the Technology Modernization Fund
President Donald Trump first signed the fund into law in 2017.
VA tech panel’s top Democrat worries layoffs will harm EHR rollout
Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., is concerned that staffing vacancies, coupled with the department’s reduction in force plans, will put “more pressure onto the VA to execute on an expedited calendar for implementation” of its new EHR system.
House lawmakers diverge on DOGE but point to bipartisanship on federal tech
Many of the witnesses opted not to discuss DOGE’s high-profile, controversial work on government tech and data during a Tuesday hearing.
VA names 9 medical facilities that will receive new EHR in 2026
The department said it plans to deploy the modernized electronic health record at a total of 13 sites next year following a pause on most rollouts of the software that was instituted in April 2023.
GSA launches FedRAMP revamp
One major goal of the changes is to speed up the timeframe for agencies to get access to the latest technology quickly, “not months or years down the road,” the agency’s acting administrator said.
FedRAMP to announce major overhaul next week
The initiative would seek to automate much of the cloud security program’s approval workflow and shift more control to the private sector.
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IRS is evaluating its tech investments and modernization
The agency has been trying to update a tax processing system that uses an outdated programming code for over a decade.
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SSA weighs axing payments to 170,000 beneficiaries
The move to cease making payments to people without Social Security numbers would imperil the benefits of thousands of immigrants’ children with disabilities.
VA needs updated cost estimate and rollout schedule for EHR, watchdog says
The Government Accountability Office said VA is making “incremental improvements” to its new electronic health record system during an operational pause on additional deployments but added that “much more remains to be done.”
VA plans to deploy new EHR at 13 medical facilities in 2026
The department said it will be adding nine sites to its 2026 deployment schedule, although it added that it will announce the specific facilities later this year.
Lawmakers want VA to nail down total EHR modernization cost
Estimates for how much it would cost VA to fully deploy its new electronic health record system have ranged from $16.1 billion to almost $50 billion.
Employees helming the U.S. nuclear stockpile among those terminated
Probational employees at Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration were fired on Thursday as concerns over DOGE access to sensitive information mounts.
PSI wins $156M Veterans Affairs testing recompete
Planned Systems International conducts tests and manages projects related to the rollout of the new Oracle Cerner electronic health record.
DHS watchdog investigating TSA’s use of facial recognition
The review comes after a bipartisan group of senators previously called for the watchdog to look into TSA’s use of biometric tools “from both an authorities and privacy perspective.”
