{"id":12118,"date":"2020-03-18T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T17:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/18\/wh-asks-congress-for-funds-to-improve-stressed-federal-it\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:23:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:23:59","slug":"wh-asks-congress-for-funds-to-improve-stressed-federal-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/it-networks\/health-it\/2020\/03\/18\/wh-asks-congress-for-funds-to-improve-stressed-federal-it\/","title":{"rendered":"WH asks Congress for funds to improve stressed federal IT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The White House asked Congress March 18 for nearly $1.8 billion in funding for information technology improvements for several departments as agencies encourage federal employees to telework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the week, the Office of Management and Budget released guidance encouraging federal agencies to extend \u201cmaximum telework capabilities\u201d to prevent widespread infections in the government. That has led to an increased amount of federal employees to work from home, straining government networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the pandemic growing, resource needs have also grown,\u201d wrote acting OMB Director Russ Vought in a letter to Congress. \u201cThe unprecedented mobilization the administration has achieved has forced agencies to incur unanticipated costs. These costs must be met with a legislative response to ensure full operational capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t