In response to a sharp spike in IT services and cybersecurity demands for a dispersed workforce, President Joe Biden made Federal technology modernization one of his early priorities, citing the need to upgrade Federal IT as “an urgent national security issue.” […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., on Feb. 11 reintroduced the Chai Suthammanont Remembrance Act, a bill which is designed to protect Federal employees who must return to the workplace from COVID-19 by requiring government agencies to publish safety plans to guide their return. […]

The road to better cybersecurity for government and the private sector looks like a long, uphill climb, with no concept of a finish line. […]

Negotiations between congressional offices on President Biden’s proposal for a $9 billion funding increase for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) angled toward a compromise in the range of $5 to $6 billion of new funding before senators moved to drop the funding measure altogether from their consideration of the White House’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., reintroduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act on Jan. 21, to give Federal employees a 3.2 percent pay raise for 2022. […]

A bill introduced in the House by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Ryan Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., on Jan. 13 aims to invalidate a controversial executive order issued by the Trump administration in October 2020 that created a new “Schedule F” classification for Federal employees in policy-making positions and makes it easier to hire and fire them. […]

Following the 11th hour exclusion of his bill to codify the Federal Risk Assessment and Management Program (FedRAMP) into law from must-pass defense legislation, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said he’s interested in giving the measure another push after the 117th Congress begins in January 2021. […]

As the coronavirus pandemic hits the nine-month mark in December – and infection rates soar across the United States – telework remains mostly in place for most of the Federal government workforce whose jobs can be done offsite. […]

House and Senate leaders have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to provide multiple briefings to members of Congress on how the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is going about implementing President Trump’s controversial executive order to create a new “Schedule F” classification for Federal employees in policy-making positions. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., welcomed news reports today that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was ceasing efforts to pursue its proposed merger with the General Services Administration (GSA) – a Trump administration proposal that the congressmen has opposed since it was first floated in 2019. […]

Tasked with distributing stimulus checks during the pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been hobbled by decades of insufficient funding and legacy IT causing agencywide inefficiencies at a time when Americans rely heavily on the agency’s services. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., an official from the Government Accountability Office, and the IRS commissioner all agreed today that sustained modernization funding is necessary to bring the agency up to date and meet mission critical objectives. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said today that the $1 billion funding increase for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) included in the slimmed down HEROES Act pandemic relief legislation is probably not big enough to spur Federal agencies to undertake widespread IT modernization, but agreed that winning approval for the huge funding increase would be a good first step. […]

A majority of the largest Federal agencies will have their inspector general (IG) offices involved in monitoring how agencies plan for and proceed with office reopening plans amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said today. […]

With the billion-dollar Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) investment in the HEROES Act stalled in Congress, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is saying “so far Congress, frankly, has failed” to provide agencies with the capital needed to overhaul legacy IT systems. […]

House Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerry Connolly, D-Va., asked Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Acting Director Michael Rigas in an August 12 letter to explain the continuing postponement of the 2020 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). […]

Ten report cards deep into its five-year history, it’s clear that the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) Scorecard has succeeded in its overarching mission – helping to shape Federal agency IT performance for the better. […]

Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat, who began in her current position eight weeks ago after serving as CIO at the Small Business Administration (SBA) during the hectic initial upswing of the coronavirus pandemic, discussed the fast pace of modernization efforts at Federal agencies in recent months, and how critical funding is to keep those efforts going. […]

As crunch time approaches in Congress on a new round of pandemic relief legislation, a group of Democratic lawmakers including leaders of the House Oversight and Reform Committee urged House leadership in a July 24 letter to include in any bill at least $1 billion of additional funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., chairman of the House Government Operations Subcommittee and a leading voice in Congress for IT modernization, emphasized today that the effectiveness of Federal and state IT systems carries tremendous weight in government’s ability to help the nation through the coronavirus pandemic. […]

Witnesses at the House Government Operations Subcommittee’s July 20 hearing on Federal IT modernization will call for swift action by Congress and agencies to modernize IT infrastructure and services. The witnesses will offer a host of recommendations to clarify and simplify funding and policy inputs that can spur faster modernization. The hearing – entitled “Federal […]

House Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is helping to lead the charge for a 3 percent Federal pay raise in Fiscal Year 2021 budget legislation. […]

The latest COVID-19 relief legislation being prepared by House Democrats – the HEROES Act – proposes $1 billion for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) to help Federal agencies improve their information technology systems. […]

We’re all looking for guidance in these uncertain times. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., will join MeriTalk for an online Town Hall Meeting this Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. to discuss Federal workforce, telework, and IT modernization issues in the COVID-19 pandemic. Connolly will speak to all Federal employees and contractors – so tune in and bring your questions. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and other Washington-area House members are questioning the Federal government’s decision to remove the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) building operation authority, and claiming that action is part of the Trump administration’s plan to move forward with an OPM-General Services Administration (GSA) merger. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., along with 56 other House members, pressed ahead today with a demand to President Trump for an executive order mandating telework for all eligible Federal employees and contractors. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is hosting a roundtable discussion for private sector companies to discuss what challenges they face when seeking Federal security clearances on Feb. 24 at George Mason University. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., chairman of the House Government Operations Subcommittee, and Federal CIO Suzette Kent said Thursday night at MeriTalk’s FITARA Awards (LINK) ceremony that they are looking forward to considering ways to further evolve the FITARA scorecard that tracks Federal agency IT performance and accountability.  […]

The FedRAMP Authorization Act, sponsored by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., passed unanimously in the House by voice vote on Feb. 5. […]

Thursday at the FITARA Awards ceremony, a powerful group of government, Hill, and industry leaders will launch the public-private FITARA Forward Initiative. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced a bill Jan. 28 to give Federal employees a 3.5 percent pay raise in 2021. […]