Page 5 - FCW, January/February 2021

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$16 billion
in DOD spending was approved under other transaction authorities in 2020
Court setbacks could put JEDI’s future at risk
The Defense Department is signaling that it does not have infinite patience with the lengthy court battles that are delaying its $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud program.
In an “information paper” sent in late January, the DOD CIO’s
office told Congress that the department expects a “sig-
nificant ruling” in the com- ing weeks regarding claims by Amazon Web Services that political influence by the Trump administration tainted the outcome of the JEDI bid process.
Microsoft won the JEDI
contract in 2019, but AWS challenged the award. DOD has been operating under a stop work order until the pro- test is decided.
The information paper stresses that the department’s need for enterprise cloud technology is urgent. “We remain fully committed to meeting this require- ment — we hope through JEDI — but this requirement transcends any one procurement, and we will be prepared to ensure it is met one way or another.”
DOD officials cautioned that allow- ing AWS to litigate claims of politi- cal influence means deposing former senior DOD and White House officials. Although it is not mentioned in the doc- ument, the statement raises the ques-
tion of whether those officials could include former Presi- dent Donald Trump.
According to court fil- ings from December 2020, the government’s position is that AWS waived its allega- tions of bias when it agreed to participate in a corrective action that allowed AWS and Microsoft to revise aspects of
their bids. Microsoft was re-awarded the contract after that review, and AWS resumed its lawsuit.
If the bias allegations are allowed to stand, the Biden administration’s Justice Department would be put in the position of having to defend the Trump administration’s conduct during the JEDI procurement process. Justice officials declined to comment about whether the department would do that.
Alex Sarria, a government contract
attorney at Miller and Chevalier, told FCW that if the court denies DOD’s motion to dismiss the allegations of political interference, the case would not be resolved quickly. “That result would require more factual develop- ment to substantiate the allegations of bad faith,” he said, and could raise high- ly sensitive questions about the public statements and conduct of senior White House and DOD officials. “That process would take time and could be extremely burdensome on the government.”
DOD’s information paper states that if the court dismisses the bias allegations, officials anticipate that the remainder of the litigation would be settled in a few months. If DOD wins the lawsuit under those terms, it is prepared to move for- ward with the JEDI cloud.
However, if the bias allegations are allowed to stand, the “prospect of such a lengthy litigation process might bring the future of the JEDI cloud procure- ment into question,” the paper states. “Under this scenario, the DOD CIO would reassess the strategy going forward.”
— Lauren C. Williams
Microsoft won the JEDI contract in 2019, but AWS alleged political bias.
FCW CALENDAR
2/19 Acquisition
U.S. Air Force Deputy CIO
Lauren Knausenberger, AFVentures Managing Partner Maj. Jason Rathje and David Rothzeid, program element monitor for the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System, will speak at this Washington Technology Power Breakfast.
Online
WashingtonTechnology.com/AirForce
2/24 Identity management Security and identity experts
from the General Services Administration, Small Business Administration,
Air Force and National Institute of Standards andTechnology will speak at this FCW Workshop on managing the tensions between data security, identity management and privacy.
Online
FCW.com/identity
3/3 Digital government Speakers at FCW’s 2021 Digital
Government Summit include DOD Chief Data Officer David Spirk, Department
of Housing and Urban Development Digital Services Officer Arthur Chin, Air Force CISO Wanda Jones-Heath and State Department Principal Deputy CIO Michael Mestrovich.
Online
FCW.com/DigitalGovernment
January/February 2021 FCW.COM 3