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IGs: Budget cuts could put cybersecurity at risk
28% of federal IT leaders (GS-15
Inspectors general fear that the steep budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration could force civilian agen- cies to decide between spending on pro- gram operations or cybersecurity.
The White House’s budget guidance calls for a $54 billion increase in military spending that would be offset by cuts at civilian agencies.
If those reductions are approved, programs would experience a “dramat- ic decline in services,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the Appro- priations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Relat- ed Agencies Subcommittee, at a March 9 hearing. He added that cuts would not yield “all the savings right upfront because there is a lot of cost associated with closedown.”
Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the sub- committee’s ranking member, said, “The chairman and I agree. You can’t balance the budget on the back of nondefense discretionary funding.” She added that such cuts would inhibit critical activities.
A group of agency IGs testified that the affected critical activities could include oversight, cybersecurity and IT modernization.
“One area I would really worry about...is IT security,” said Kathleen Tighe, the Education Department’s IG. “It’s been a management challenge since 2006. You can’t fix that on the cheap. Money has to be put in.”
In addition to the ongoing challenge of IT security, Tighe said steep budget cuts would further constrain the Educa- tion Department’s employees. “It’s fair
“You can’t balance the budget on the back of nondefense discretionary funding.”
— REP. ROSA DeLAURO (D-CONN.)
to say that cuts to the department...will reduce staff available, who are already challenged” by tight budgets and person- nel shortages.
Gale Stone, acting IG at the Social Security Administration, said that even without budget cuts, IT modern- ization presents a huge challenge for government.
“Reduction would force the agency to make some very tough decisions
or above) are women, according to CEB research
between ‘do we modernize so we can sustain our business process and service to the community in the future or do we just try to make it to the next step?’” she said.
SSA, which is charged with protect- ing the Social Security accounts of hun- dreds of millions of Americans, is in the middle of a wide-ranging IT infrastruc- ture modernization project that includes overhauling the agency’s Disability Case Processing System.
Stone also said budget cuts would increase the wait times for customers and impair the agency’s ability to make data-driven decisions.
Daniel Levinson, IG at the Depart- ment of Health and Human Services, said budget cuts present “an enor- mous challenge for employees to be able to do their jobs,” which include ongoing efforts to modernize health care and make medical center systems interoperable.
The IGs also testified that the federal hiring freeze has forced them to scale back their oversight work. DeLauro said the impacts of the hiring freeze would be compounded by further budget cuts.
— Chase Gunter
FCW CALENDAR
4/5 Innovation
NASA CIO Renee Wynn, NIST Senior Fellow Ron Ross and
FDA CIO Todd Simpson are among the speakers at FCW’s Power Players Summit.
Washington, D.C. FCW.com/powerplayers
4/19 Mobile
GSA Program Manager Jon Johnson, NIST IT Security
Specialist Joshua Franklin and DHS Program Manager Vincent Sritapan will discuss “enabling mission with mobility” at an AFCEA Bethesda breakfast. Bethesda, Md. is.gd/FCW_AFCEA_mobile
5/2 Acquisition
ACT-IAC’s Small Business Alliance hosts a half-day training
conference on agile acquisition and contracting, with reports on the early efforts at DHS, HHS, GSA and other agencies.
Washington, D.C.
is.gd/FCW_ACTIAC_agile
March 2017 FCW.COM 3
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