The Border Wall Faces Another Barrier
The Atlantic looks at President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, and some of the barriers it faces in coming to fruition. The article focuses on the federal government’s need to acquire land from private landowners, and the legal trouble that could create. Legal advocacy groups in states along the border have already begun to prepare for the eminent domain cases that would be required to acquire the land from citizens who did not want to sell.
Court Issues Temporary Injunction Against Department of Education Award
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has granted a temporary injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Education from awarding a contract for the “collection and administrative resolution of debts resulting from non-payment of student loans.” The protesting company, Continental Services, filed a protest after not winning the contract, and being granted a debriefing. The court stated there are four factors it considers when weighing a debriefing: “(1) immediate and irreparable injury to the movant; (2) the movant’s likelihood of success on the merits; (3) the public interest; and (4) the balance of hardship on all the parties.” The court found in Continental Services’ favor in all four factors.
DISA Issues RFI for New Background Check System
The Defense Information System Agency (DISA) has issued an updated request for information (RFI) for the National Background Investigation System(NBIS). DISA was tasked with acquiring the NBIS after a 2015 hack of the Office of Personnel Management exposed the personal information of more than 21 million federal employees and dependents. According to the RFI, DISA expects the NBIS to be “system of systems software solution created from a complex portfolio of components. These envisioned components include a mix of government-owned solutions (GOTS), modified GOTS, customized and modified commercial off the shelf (COTS) solutions and potentially new software components.”
Defense Contracting Up, but That May Change, Claims Report
A new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that while defense contract spending rose 7% in fiscal 2016, the “pipeline” of new programs is dwindling, meaning there may be less money obligated going forward. “There is no end in sight to the trough in the pipeline for weapon systems,” said Andrew Hunter, a former Pentagon acquisition official now with CSIS, speaking about a lack of new major weapons programs.
GSA Seeks Input on New MRO SIN
The General Services Administration (GSA) has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking input on the creation of an enhanced special item number (SIN) for maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) tools, materials, equipment, containers and other products. The new is intended to help GSA streamline and simplify some of its contracts and catalog management.
Taser Offers “Freemium” Model to Law Enforcement
Route Fifty reports that Taser International, which has renamed itself Axon—the name of its body camera cloud storage and analytics platform—”plans to give away its cameras and services for a year in hopes of persuading more police departments to eventually pay for its enterprise system for cataloging and analyzing camera footage.” Axon is one of the largest suppliers to law enforcement at every level of government, and is hopeful governments will take to their “freemium” model. Axon hopes to eventually have an automated system of police reports “derived from cataloging and analyzing footage from the body-worn cameras.”
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