Maryland Among Top States Affected by Shutdown

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Personal finances website WalletHub released a report ranking the states most affected by the partial federal government shutdown, reports the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The District of Columbia ranked the top most affected state (No. 1), followed by New Mexico (No. 2), and Maryland (No. 3). Alaska came behind Hawaii at No. 5, and Minnesota was at the bottom (No. 51).

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, and Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letter to President Donald Trump and congressional leaders calling for them to end the federal government’s partial shutdown, reports The Baltimore Sun. “The national capital region is home to well over 360,000 federal workers, many of whom are employed by departments and agencies affected by this lapse in appropriations,” the letter states. “Hard-working federal employees and those who depend on them should not have to suffer because of this partisan standoff.”

A top Pentagon official announced Saturday he would step down from his role, following the resignation of DefSec Jim Mattis and President Donalds Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, reports Business Insider. RADM Kevin Sweeney, who has served as chief of staff to the secretary of defense since January 2017, said he is moving to the private sector.

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander ADM James Stavridis said that several former generals have left President Trump’s administration because their advice and many years of military experience did not make a difference in swaying the White House on key national security issues, reports Military Times. “In the end, each of them had to ask himself, at what point does my serving in this White House become less a guardrail and more an enabler?” Adm. Stavridis wrote in a Time magazine piece.

A Chinese admiral said the key for China’s domination in the South China Sea could lie in the sinking of two US aircraft carriers, reports Navy Times. “What the United States fears the most is taking casualties,” China’s RADM Lou Yuan said, before adding that such an attack on two of the US Navy ships would claim upward of 10,000 lives.

Vietnam could be the site of the next summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, reports The Hill. The June 2018 meeting between the two leaders was held in Singapore.

Three distinct signals thought to be from the flight data recorders from a Marine Corps KC-130J and F/A-18D that crashed off the coast of Japan in December have been detected, reports Military Times.

US Navy personnel returned home from South America after practicing a two-ship pairing exercise with the USS Somerset and the USS Wayne E. Meyer for future use by amphibious squadrons and ground troops, reports UPI.

Navy Times reports a future Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be named after Jeremiah Denton Jr., a naval aviator prisoner of war in Vietnam who later became a senator. The Navy also will name a new destroyer after former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, reports Anchorage Daily News.

A federal appeals court Friday overturned a lower court’s ruling blocking President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military from taking effect, reports The Hill. The policy still cannot take effect because of other court injunctions.

The Marine Corps is the only branch of service that had not fully integrated male and females together at recruit training, reported Marine Corps Times, but that changed Jan. 5 when a female platoon integrated with male platoons at the recruit depot at Parris Island, SC.

Harold Brown, defense secretary in the Carter administration, died Friday at 91. He championed cutting-edge fighting technology during a tenure that included the failed rescue of hostages in Iran, reports PBS.

Contracts:

General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., (NASSCO)-Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $91,477,172 undefinitized contract action as a modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-16-C-4306) for USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) fiscal 2019 Dry-docking Planned Incremental Availability. A Dry-docking Planned Incremental Availability includes the planning and execution of depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications that will update and improve the ship’s military and technical capabilities. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by February 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $45,738,586 will be obligated at time of award and $45,738,586 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, Norfolk, Virginia, is the administrative contracting activity.

Clark Nexsen Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded a maximum amount $60,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineering contract for multi-discipline architect-engineering services in Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for comprehensive architect-engineering services required for planning, design, and construction services in support of new construction, repair, replacement, demolition, alteration, and/or improvement of Navy and other governmental facilities. Facilities may include, but are not limited, personnel housing facilities, (bachelor enlisted quarters and bachelor officers quarters, hospitality); office facilities (medical, training, secure facilities); training facilities (operational, maintenance, and classroom), and industrial maintenance facilities (vehicle maintenance ships, shore intermediate maintenance activities, aircraft maintenance hangars, public works ships, and warehouses). Projects may involve single or multiple disciplines, including, but not limited to, architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, landscape design, fire protection, commissioning and interior design. Task Order 0001 is being awarded at $528,950 for preliminary design authority to validate planning requirements and develop preliminary design deliverables in support of P1035, corrosion control and paint facility. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by March 2019. All work on this contract will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic AOR including, but not limited to Norfolk, Virginia (27 percent); Portsmouth, Virginia (27 percent); Virginia Beach, Virginia (26 percent); Yorktown, Virginia (15 percent), and other facilities within the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic AOR (5 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date January 2024. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $528,950 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); and operations and maintenance (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 12 proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-19-D-9041).