Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
IRS

Melanie Krause, who currently serves as chief operating officer at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), has been named the tax agency’s commissioner – the title that heads the agency – on an acting basis.   […]

Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the United States and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), told lawmakers this week that his agency is preparing to potentially take President Donald Trump to court over his efforts to freeze Federal funding for programs that Congress has already approved. […]

Karen Evans

Long-time Federal government IT and cybersecurity leader Karen Evans has been named executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a CISA official confirmed to MeriTalk. […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is instructing Federal agencies to consider reclassifying “career reserved” Senior Executive Service (SES) positions as “general,” giving them until March 24 to review and revise a list of SES positions. […]

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told most civilian Federal agencies today to get their Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans (ARRFs) wrapped up by March 13, and instructed that those plans should feature a “significant reduction” in full-time employees achieved by eliminating positions “that are not required.” […]

EHR, electronic health record

Officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Government Accountability Office (GAO), and VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) told lawmakers on Monday afternoon that it will be “impossible” to complete the VA’s Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program on its current timeline. […]

CISA

Troy Edgar, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told lawmakers today that he backs the administration’s decision to disband the Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB), adding that the board will be reinstated “at the right time.” […]

Biometrics

Former top Federal officials and travel leaders are calling on Congress and the White House to create an interagency task force to oversee national travel policy and increase the rollout of biometric security screening and other technology-driven capabilities across U.S. airports.  […]

Treasury

The president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) employee union decried employee layoffs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as “dangerous,” and broke down in an interview with MeriTalk how the job cuts impact technology and safety-related positions. […]

 Ron Ross, a computer scientist and fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is retiring from government service, an official from NIST confirmed to MeriTalk. […]

Department of Transportation

The Department of Transportation (DoT) has named Pavan Pidugu as its new chief information officer (CIO), according to the agency’s website. […]

Democratic members of the Senate Appropriations Committee have asked the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for more information on what the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is doing at the agency after reports that DOGE has been granted access to veterans’ personal records.  […]

Labor

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Labor, promised at a Senate nomination hearing on Feb. 19 to take a “deeper look” into how the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is approaching the agency and impacting its workforce. […]

EHR

Paul Lawrence – President Trump’s nominee to serve as deputy secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) – pledged to lawmakers today that, if confirmed, he will work to get the VA’s Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program “back on track.” […]

GSA General Services Administration

The General Services Administration (GSA) announced two new class deviations to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) today to comply with executive orders that President Trump has issued since taking office on Jan. 20. […]

A Federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled in favor of the Trump administration on Monday, allowing the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to continue accessing student data at the Department of Education. […]

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is fishing for tips from the public on Federal agency “waste, fraud, and abuse,” according to a social media post the organization made on Feb. 16. […]

Five Federal employee unions filed a lawsuit on Feb. 13 challenging President Donald Trump’s Feb. 11 executive order (EO) calling for “large scale” reductions-in-force (RIF) and the administration’s “deferred resignation” program. […]

State Department
Coast Guard

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended this week that the U.S. Coast Guard update its oversight standards and cybersecurity protections for vessels and facilities within maritime transportation system (MTS) which include waterways, ports, and land connections. […]

The Department of Commerce is implementing artificial intelligence (AI) processes in use cases across the agency to maximize efficiency and integrate human resources, management, finance, and IT processes across various platforms, according to a department official who spoke at the ServiceNow Federal Forum on Feb. 12. […]

IRS, taxes, tax season,
Department of Education logo

The nonprofit University of California Student Association (UCSA) filed a complaint in Federal district court against the Department of Education on Feb. 7 seeking to halt the agency’s provision of “sensitive personal and financial information” to the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). […]

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