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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: April 17, 2026
GAO Urges Navy to Address Gaps in Navy Financial System Migration, Audit Readiness
(Executive Gov) The Government Accountability Office said the Department of the Navy has made progress in modernizing financial management systems but needs to strengthen planning practices to meet audit objectives. According to the GAO report published Tuesday, the Navy began efforts to modernize and consolidate financial IT systems after acknowledging in 2020 that it had spent billions maintaining outdated platforms. The initiative has led to the termination of at least 11 legacy systems and generated more than $100 million in savings. The service also reported completing the migration of remaining commands to its Navy Enterprise Resource Planning system, which serves as its financial system of record. Read More
Artificial Intelligence Acquisitions: Agencies Should Collect and Apply Lessons Learned to Improve Future Procurements
(U.S. Government Accountability Office) Federal agencies use AI for facial recognition at airports, analyzing veterans’ benefit claims, and more. They often work with private sector companies to acquire and support AI. We talked with many agency officials about challenges acquiring AI. For example, some said there was difficulty accessing AI technical experts, like data scientists, to evaluate contractor proposals. Officials also said it was hard to understand AI-related costs. But the agencies we spoke with didn’t regularly collect and share lessons learned from acquiring AI. Doing so could help them better prepare for using AI in the future. Read More
‘Paradigm-shifting’ $1.5T defense budget to enable multiyear contracts: OMB director
(Breaking Defense) The Pentagon’s historic $1.5 trillion budget request for fiscal 2027 is necessary to allow the military to make “paradigm-shifting investments,” with the money slated to bankroll multiyear contracts, the head of the Office of Management and Budget said today. Speaking in front of the House Budget Committee this morning, OMB Director Russell Vought acknowledged that the defense budget contains a “sizable increase,” which he said is critical for increasing production of ships, planes, drones and munitions. “For the industrial base to double and triple capabilities, and build more facilities — not just add shifts — it requires multi-year agreements to purchase into the future,” he said in opening comments. “That cost has to be booked in the first year.” Read More
OPM cuts degree requirements for government tech jobs in new standards
(NextGov/FCW) The Office of Personnel Management released new classification and qualification standards for technology employees on Monday that make it easier for those without higher education degrees to get government jobs. The update is meant to move the government from relying on strict requirements for higher education and years of experience when hiring and promoting workers to using assessments meant to actually test for the skills needed for a given job. The new standards for technology employees no longer include degree requirements, an OPM official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Nextgov/FCW. The goal is to make higher education and experience at prior jobs one — but not the only — way to show competency as the government shifts more to relying on testing for actual skills. Read More
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