The Wrap: EXCLUSIVE VA Tech Talk; GAO Raps PMA; AI for DoD Cyber

Welcome to The Wrap for Tuesday, April 4!

From the newsroom at MeriTalk, it’s the quickest read in Federal tech news. Here’s what you need to know today:

VA Deputy CIO Interview

If you care at all about the Department of Veterans Affairs, big-agency tech, and how to improve health and other benefits for veterans, we have someone that you need to meet. MeriTalk recently sat down with Dewaine Beard, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS) in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Information and Technology (OIT), and the agency’s Deputy CIO, to talk all things IT modernization and workforce, and a long-haul look at the agency’s technology journey. And that’s before we get into talking about snowboarding and trail hiking. Seriously, just hit the link and thank yourself later.

GAO Raps PMA

A report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) today found that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has failed to develop complete, timely, and fully transparent goals for the President’s Management Agenda (PMA). The main gripe in the watchdog agency’s April 4 report is that the PMA goals set by the OMB cover only three of the five required management areas – with no goals for managing IT. GAO made five recommendations to the White House agency – and while OMB?expressed some support for the findings, it also pushed back against the specifics of the recommendations, saying that its broad set of PMA goals does enough to cover those areas that GAO cited.

Tapping the Brakes on EHRM

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, is leading a group of Republican senators with legislation introduced last week that would stop the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from deploying the Electronic Health Records Modernization (EHRM) program until it makes system improvements. The program’s challenges?are well known, along with related?patient care issues. The senator’s bottom line: “Veterans seeking help at VA medical centers should receive nothing but exemplary care,” he said. “Testimonies from VA staff and veterans as well as numerous troubling IG reports have made it clear that the EHR system is putting veteran patients at risk and creating significant challenges for VA staff.”

Feds’ $240 Billion Payment Problem

A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that over $240 billion was improperly distributed by the Federal government during fiscal year 2022. That doesn’t necessarily mean that $240 billion has been lost or stolen, but it does represent the tally of payments that either should not have been made, or were made in the incorrect amount. Over half of that amount traces back to Medicare and Medicaid payments, with lesser amounts for COVID relief and unemployment insurance.?The problem is neither new, nor apparently close to being solved. “Specifically, we note that the federal government is unable to determine the full extent to which improper payments occur or to reasonably assure that appropriate actions are taken to reduce them,” GAO said.

AI for Pentagon Cyber

Reps. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., have introduced legislation to ensure better security of Department of Defense (DoD) computer systems through AI-enabled cybersecurity programs. Currently, there is ambiguity as to whether DoD can procure AI-based endpoint security tools to improve the cyber defenses of its systems, and the AI for National Security Act would clarify and codify the DoD’s ability to use AI-based endpoint security tools to improve the cyber defenses of its systems. The bill’s sponsors argue that since DoD attackers are often AI-powered, then so too should be the Pentagon when it defends against them.

Once again, let’s “call IT a day,” but we'll bring you more on tomorrow. Until then please check the MeriTalk breaking news website?throughout the day?for the latest on government IT people, process, and policy.

And finally, please hit the news tip jar (with leads, breaking news, or simply your two cents) at?[email protected].