Page 27 - FCW, August 2020

Although all 24 agencies received passing grades on the latest Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) scorecard, some agencies had cybersecurity and reporting challenges.
Ahead of an Aug. 3 hearing, the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee released its 10th FITARA scorecard, which evaluates how 24 large agencies have managed their IT over the past several months. The subcommittee issues scorecards twice a year.
Although the subcommittee said all the agencies received an overall passing grade for the first time, four saw a decline in their scores while 13 maintained their scores from the previous report in December and seven showed improvements. None of the agencies received lower than a C-minus in overall scores.
The Agriculture Department, the Commerce Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Social Security Administration all went from a C-plus to a B-plus in overall scores. The State Department and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) both moved up from a D-minus to a C-minus, while the Treasury Department wentfromaCtoaB.
The agencies with declining scores
Biannual FITARA scorecard results
NOV MAY DEC JUNE 2015 2016 2016 2017
were the Education Department, which went from an A-plus to a B-plus; the Department of Homeland Security, which went from a B to a C; the Department of Veterans Affairs, which went from a B-plus to a C-plus; and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), whichwentfromanAtoaB.
Measuring progress on the grades is complicated by the fact that the FITARA scorecard is a moving target, with new items added as IT legislation progresses. The latest scorecard added agencies’ progress on transitioning to the General Services Administration’s next-generation Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract. Despite its overall C-minus, NRC had the highest mark of 86% on the EIS transition, while NASA had the lowest at 20%. Six agencies had percentages under 30%, while six were at or above 50%.
USAID’s top marks from the previous report were brought lower by Bs in the PortfolioStat review and modernization categories, as well as a C in cybersecurity.
Similarly, the VA’s D grade in the PortfolioStat review category helped drag down its overall score, as did an F in data center optimization and a D in modernization.
13,400 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees remain at risk of being furloughed
No failures but some declines in latest FITARA grades
due to funding challenges
USCIS postpones planned furloughs
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed that it would delay furloughing 13,400 employees in the hopes that lawmakers would arrive at a funding fix.
“This delay is intended to allow Congress enough time to act and provide USCIS with the funding needed in order to avert the administrative furlough altogether,” agency spokeswoman Jessica Collins told FCW. The furloughs were scheduled to last from Aug. 3 to Aug. 30.
In May, USCIS announced that it was facing a funding shortfall due to declining fees
from immigration
applications during
the COVID-19
pandemic. Those
fees fund much of its
officers’ wages, and
officials had asked
Congress for $1.2
billion in emergency
appropriations to
cover the shortfall.
The agency is still
seeking emergency appropriations. In June, the Office of Management and Budget told appropriators that USCIS anticipated a 60% drop in fees for the remainder of fiscal 2020.
News of the furlough delay came three days after top Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee asked Department of Homeland Security leaders to intervene. At press time, lawmakers in the House and Senate were in talks on a new round of pandemic relief, which could include help for USCIS.
Collins cited “recent assurances from Congress and an uptick in application and petition receipts” as reasons behind the decision to hold off on furloughs.
—LiaRussell
USDA D C C- C- C- D- D- C- C+ B+ Commerce B B B+ B+ B+ C+ C+ C+ C+ B+
Education F D C+ C+ B+ B+ B+ B+ A+ B+ DHS CCB-B-C-D-C-D-BC
State DDD-C-C-D-C-C-D-C- Treasury D D C- C- C- D- D- C- C B
VA CCB+B+B+C+ B+ B+/C+ B+ C+ EPA CCB+B+C+C+C+D+/C+C+B+
NRC CCC-C-C-D-D-C-D-C- SSA DCB+C+C+C+B+B+/C+C+B+ USAID D D D- A- A- C- B- B- A B
NOV MAY DEC 2017 2018 2018
— Mark Rockwell
JUNE DEC JULY 2019 2019 2020
“This delay
is intended
to allow Congress enough time to act and provide USCIS with
the funding needed.”
— Jessica Collins, USCIS
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