Max Bluestein

Worth tracking. There may be a quiet but meaningful shift underway in how Inspector General oversight of foreign assistance is structured at the State Department. The State–Foreign Operations appropriations bill included language providing full-year funding to the USAID Office of Inspector General, which also oversees Millennium Challenge Corporation, U.S. African Development Foundation, and the Inter-American Foundation, to continue oversight of foreign assistance programs now administered by the U.S. Department of State. Notably, the House’s initial bill allocated $62.5 million to the State Department Inspector General for foreign assistance oversight. In the final bill passed by Congress, that funding was transferred instead to the USAID OIG account. That move appears to reflect congressional confidence in USAID OIG’s long track record managing complex overseas investigations involving grant and contract fraud. As oversight responsibilities continue to settle under this legislative framework, implementers would be well advised to continue reporting allegations of potential misconduct involving U.S. government foreign assistance funds to the USAID OIG hotline, which, as of last check, remains operational. Hoteline: https://lnkd.in/e2ibZFwP

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CENTCOM sustainment is rebalancing and it is not stopping. In this episode of The Future of GovCon podcast, former CENTCOM J4 Mike Siegl breaks down how sustainment posture in the Middle East continues to shift and why early collaboration with CENTCOM matters for industry. For government contractors, this is about understanding where sustainment is moving and aligning capabilities early across logistics, transportation, and maintenance. If you support or plan to support the Middle East, this episode provides a clear framework for what comes next. Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/dsufSWkV

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Echoing my colleague Jordan Burris - this is the kind of progress that helps strengthen digital trust. GSA’s passport-based verification is a major step, but more agencies need to follow through to truly combat fraud at scale.

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THIS IS A VERY BIG DEAL BURIED IN BEAUCRATIC FINE PRINT. The Administration is taking their fight against diversity to a whole new level. They backed away from recent lawsuits because they had a much bigger play in the works, and this is it. If finalized, it would essentially make every organization that gets any federal money agree to abide by....whatever they come up with. And if they decide you did something they don't like, they can sue you and prevent you from getting any federal funds ever again. This could have potentially devastating consequences for state departments of education, districts, colleges and universities, non-profits, researchers, etc., anyone who gets a federal grant or contract. All of the details are in our new FAQ. The proposal is open for public comments through the end of the month.

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Proud to share my latest piece in FedScoop. The rules that protect federal networks are still stuck in 2021. OMB’s M-21-31 was a big step forward for cybersecurity logging, but in today’s world of AI-driven attacks and hybrid systems, it’s not enough. Agencies need continuous logging and open standards so defenders can actually see what’s happening across their environments in real time. I wrote about why it’s time to update M-21-31 and how smarter, more open visibility can make government more resilient. Check it out here 👇 🔗 https://lnkd.in/evebXvUN #Cybersecurity #FederalIT #OpenStandards #DataVisibility #M2131 #Elastic https://lnkd.in/evebXvUN

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Earlier this week, our American Oversight team, alongside Democracy Forward, secured a temporary restraining order from Judge Cobb on behalf of more than a dozen members of Congress – affirming their right to access ICE detention facilities and again preventing DHS policies that restrict oversight. It’s worth stating plainly - unscheduled oversight visits are far more effective than scheduled ones, because they limit an agency’s (or contractor’s) ability to control what picture overseers get. (A lesson I learned time and time again while at Project On Government Oversight.) When visits are scheduled in advance, agencies can manipulate conditions, staff, and documentation to present a version of compliance that may bear little resemblance to day-to-day reality. Unannounced oversight evens the playing field. Efforts to narrow or choreograph oversight should concern anyone who cares about accountability. Transparency doesn’t solve every problem, but restricting it almost always makes those problems harder to confront. That’s why we push back, to protect the very basic conditions that make accountability possible in the first place.

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Highlights from CNN of Review Council recommendations: block grants to states for recovery, higher disaster declaration thresholds, lower federal cost shares, dramatic reduction in FEMA staff, agency renaming, and FEMA to remain in DHS. https://lnkd.in/eUaZfChV

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The VA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program has launched a new online resource to communicate with industry. See the below post/link for details and how to register for email alerts, etc.! #GovCon #IndustryPartners #GovernmentContracting #FederalProcurement #PublicSectorProcurement

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War Secretary Pete Hegseth is taking action to enhance integrity in defense contracting by reviewing the SBA 8(a) program to address fraud concerns. Transparent and fair processes matter in government contracts. Learn more: https://okt.to/S56Als

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