Federal Drive with Tom Temin (Federal News Network | Hubbard Radio)

If you wonder why federal employees worry, along with everyone else, consider: mini financial crises, a stubbornly bear stock market, no breakthroughs on Social Security solvency, and the debt-ceiling debate dragging out. For one point of view, Federal Drive host talked with John Hatton, Vice President for Policy at the National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: HUD has work to do, to stop duplication of benefits. How exporting weapons becomes risky for contractors who make the exports. Here's one element of good government the political appointees often overlook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The State and Commerce departments are both launching strategies to maximize the use of their data. But they've got different goals in mind. State wants to build up data skills in its workforce. Commerce is looking at ways to help under-served communities. For more on these documents, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), part of the Transportation Department, must oversee spending of some $350 billion from the infrastructure bill. Now the FHWA has a new executive director. Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the 20-year veteran of the agency, Gloria Shepherd. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Winning coaches have a game plan, then work like the devil to make sure players can execute the plan. The federal government has a plan for disaster response, but sort of falls short when it comes to execution. That's the essence of a detailed report heard by a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee. It was created by a group called Business Executives for National Security, or BENS. The Federal Drive got more now from its president and CEO, retired Army General Joseph Votel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alarmed by ransomware, the White House has been telling the private sector to get serious about cybersecurity. Just this month, a letter to corporate executives and business leaders, urged companies to do what amounts to basic cybersecurity. It told companies they have a key and distinct responsibility. For what it all could mean, Federal Drive's Tom Temin talked to partner and information security group practice leader at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, Michael Borgia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

House Oversight and Reform Committee members were more engaged this past Thursday on federal IT management issues than we have seen in some time. Not only were the questions relevant, but the lawmakers did not stray into the silly, non-sequitur or totally unrelated world that could’ve easily happened during the 14th iteration of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) scorecard hearing on July 28. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Coast Guard’s failure to provide Congress with sufficient information regarding the service’s handling of sexual assault cases points to a “continuing culture of cover-up,” lawmakers said Tuesday during a highly-anticipated congressional hearing on the Coast Guard’s investigation of sexual misconduct at the service’s academy. Last year, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee requested all records related to Operation Fouled Anchor, the Coast Guard’s internal investigation of sexual assault cases at the Coast Guard Academy. Lawmakers said the records provided to Congress are highly redacted and include a large number of duplicates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The National Weather Service - part of the Commerce Department - has been acting on a reform initiative since 2017. It's trying to become more responsive to extreme weather events. And, the Government Accountability Office has found, it mostly done a good job at using best practices for reform. For more on what it still needs to do, the GAO's Acting Director for Natural Resources and Environment Issues, Cardell Johnson, spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you want to help change the world, the State Department isn't a bad place to start. And if you want to get a foot in the door at the State Department, a paid internship isn't a bad way to go. This fall, the State Department launches a new paid student internship program. Here with the details, the director of recruitment in State's Bureau of Global Talent Management, Mica Schweitzer-Bluhm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2020 census has withstood a pandemic, hurricanes, and wildfires. To say nothing of politics. Through it all, the Census Bureau has seen some of its IT innovations meet or exceed expectations. After field operations end later this month, the Bureau will look at ways to modernize its portfolio of more than 100 statistical surveys. For details, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with the deputy division chief of the bureau’s communications directorate, Zack Schwartz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After nearly 30 years at the IRS, including three years as head of its criminal investigations division, you learn a thing or two. My next guest decided to see how life looks from the private sector point of view. He's now the director of investigations at the law firm Kostelanetz and Fink, Don Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Contractors trying to develop artificial intelligence applications for the government face a challenge. Namely, a good data set for training the algorithms. Now a big, new, federally-oriented dataset is coming from an unlikely source. The Federal Drive got the details from Bloomberg Government reporter Josh Axlerod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In one of the most significant reorganizations in recent history, the Air Force is reshaping its service’s structure in an effort to meet the security challenges of an increasingly complex global landscape. Among the biggest changes is the creation of a new command center, which will play a crucial role in centralizing the planning process for the service’s future requirements and capabilities. The Integrated Capabilities Command will allow other command centers to focus on daily operations rather than independently determining their own requirements or planning for the future. “It’s just what the name infers,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Allvin said at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air Warfare Symposium Monday. “They will design and they will put the requirements in and test one Air Force, not some of our functional Air Forces and then we have to put them together later.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Coast Guard’s transition to a new Department of Homeland Security financial management system is under the microscope at the Senate Appropriations Committee, where lawmakers are seeking more information about delayed payments and cost increases.The committee, in the report on its fiscal 2023 spending bill, is directing DHS’s chief financial officer and chief information officer, along with the Coast Guard, to brief the committee on the delays once the annual spending bill becomes law. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A recent cockroach infestation at a Camp Lejeune barracks in North Carolina is forcing the Marine Corps to move some of its troops out of the building. Meanwhile, enlisted Marines have been putting up with cold or lukewarm showers for the last couple of months at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California. “Infrastructure across the department and the services continues to age, and the deteriorating conditions at military facilities obviously have broader effects,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) said at the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) panel hearing Wednesday. “I don’t think anybody on this committee or any of you are expecting our service members to live in the Taj Mahal. I don’t think that’s their expectation, but this is disgusting. This is unsatisfactory.” Despite high agreement that deteriorating conditions of military facilities affect recruitment, retention and overall national security, Defense Department officials acknowledge there is a lot of work ahead to address the underlying problems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From rattlesnakes to bison, the wildlife are part of the attraction in places like the Grand Canyon National Park. But it's 2021, not 1821, and the bison herd must be controlled. That's why the National Park Service has initiated what it calls a lethal reduction. Joining the Federal Drive to explain how it works, spokesman Kaitlyn Thomas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Members of Congress continue their interest in seeing the curtailment of animal testing for drugs and cosmetics. Now some members are urging the Food and Drug Administration to develop guidance for industry on how to avoid animal testing for products requiring FDA approval. For more, Nevada Rep. Dina Titus (D) joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rulemaking. The government does lots and lots of it. But because the power to regulate is the power to destroy, rulemaking has rules. And like all agency activities, it requires congressional oversight. The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress asked the Government Accountability Office for ideas on how to improve rulemaking oversight. To find out what the committee came up with, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Yvonne Jones, GAO's director of strategic issues. GAO Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elections are operated by local officials. So methods vary all over the country. At the federal level, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission encourages innovation each year with a program called the Clearinghouse Awards. Nominations are now open for 2022. With more on how the commission looks at elections, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with EAC Chairman Thomas Hicks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One member of the Technology Modernization Fund board would like to see agencies lean into artificial intelligence and automation projects, especially those that have a “customer experience” angle. “One of the things that I would love to be able to see more of . . . is more artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, machine learning,” Sheena Burrell, chief information officer at the National Archives and Records Administration, said during an event yesterday hosted by Venable to celebrate the TMF. Burrell is on the seven-member TMF board that provides funding recommendations and monitors the progress of projects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IRS officials expect to issue faster tax refunds once the agency goes paperless by 2025. The agency is planning to digitally process all the tax returns it receives by the 2025 filing season, thanks to billions of multi-year modernization dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRS struggled to keep up with its paper workload at the height of the pandemic. And that led to long wait times for taxpayers to hear back from the agency. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has the latest.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Management of new information technology: It's always been a challenge in the federal government. Now a new course at the University of Maryland's business school aims to fix that. Many federal career mangers have voiced a need for such a course. Joining me with more about it, professor and assistant dean Joe Bailey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Federal sales boomed during the fiscal 21, with General Services Administration buying vehicles reporting sales records. That shouldn't be a surprise given record appropriations in response to the pandemic. My next guest says that despite the strength of the market, dark clouds hover over contractors. Larry Allen is president of Allen Federal Business Partners and he joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) does all of its work overseas. It engages with local grantees and contractors to do the work in a particular country. Now USAID is launching a new strategy for what it calls A-and-A, acquisition and assistance. For details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Paloma Adams-Allen, USAID's Deputy Administrator for Management and Resources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of the biggest concerns among cybersecurity people is the advent of quantum computers. The theory is, quantum will be so powerful it will easily crack encryption algorithms conventional computers would take thousands of years to crack. Now, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued four cryptographic algorithms researchers believe are quantum resistant. Joining the Federal Drive with details, NIST mathematician Dustin Moody. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

House lawmakers are calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs to shed more light on an investigation of alleged sexual harassment in its office that normally deals with these types of claims. The House VA Committee on Thursday voted 22-1 to approve a subpoena demanding more documents and records from the VA’s internal investigation. Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) said VA employees contacted the committee in September 2023 with allegations of alleged sexual assessment and misconduct from leaders within the Office of Resolution Management, Diversity & Inclusion (ORMDI). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Like so many projects, sequencing human genomes has gotten harder the closer the work came to completion. A National Institutes of Health team spent seven years heading up a worldwide consortium assembling the last 8% of the human genetic code. For its work, the team has made the finals of this year's Partnership for Public Service's Service to America Medals program, aka "the Sammies." Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Dr. Adam Phillippy, who is part of the NIH team, which also included scientists Sergey Koren and Arang Rhie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is sending a strong signal, namely that the Pentagon can expect a flat budget next year. At least Adam Smith thinks he can make that case to Congress after four years of rising budgets. Details are in this week's DOD Reporters Notebook with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu and Scott Maucione. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin An update coming to accessibility rules for federal buildings A bill with the potential to improve federal spending transparency Congress returns to town...and we hope that's a good thing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So many people have been teleworking for so long, many leaders of industry and government are starting to presume this is, pardon the cliché, the new normal. They're rethinking how much office space they'll need permanently. My next guest cautions, not so fast. There are good reasons to retain office space with people in it. He's the president of PM Consulting Group, Walter Barnes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Washington's ticker tape of controversy has wrapped around several agencies and departments. Republicans in Congress would fix things by cutting their budgets. But is that the best way to cause reform? Not according to the guest of Federal Drive Host Tom Temin: Former American University Professor Bob Tobias. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Members of Congress know the budget process, their primary mission in life, is a mess. But some efforts are brewing that at least some members hope will get the 2023 budget process under control. The Federal Drive got the latest now from Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The IRS workforce is in the news again. Now the agency says it expects to keep growing its staff through at least 2029. The agency is counting on billions of dollars from its multi-year modernization fund to make pay for the people. And, its asking Congress for more money to sustain this level of staffing for the long term. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman joined the Federal Drive with more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congress has passed just one of 12 bills needed to fund the government next fiscal year. When members return early next month, the question of further funding for Ukraine in its war with Russia will enter the funding debate. For what that could mean, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin turned to WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the last five years, agencies have increased their spending on cloud services, through the General Services Administration, by 60%. In 2016, agencies spent about $1 billion through the assorted GSA contract offerings. By 2021, that number grew to $1.6 billion. For what's behind that growth, Federal News Network's Jason Miller spoke with the GSA's deputy assistant commissioner for Category Management in the Federal Acquisition Service, Alan Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3-D printing is helping the Defense Department manufacture body armor, vehicle parts and other important stuff. But now the DoD inspector general has revealed holes in the cybersecurity of the military’s 3-D printers. For what it all means, the Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday spoke with Joe Veranese, the business systems manager at America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The Veterans Health Administration wins a big award for a surgical safety program. A look at the Justice Department's new whistleblower program. Contractors wonder which of two procurement systems applies to them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can hardly swing a cat these days and not hit somebody talking about the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program. The Defense Department's strategy for buttoning up the Defense industrial base. My next guest says the CMMC approach is good in theory, but lacks anywhere near the resources to get it done. He's not only director of information security at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, but also a founding member of the CMMC Accreditation Body, Chris Golden joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: NIST updates crucial guidelines for protecting sensitive information. Years of negotiating, and now a VA nurses union has a new contract. Regular business, like your agency's budget, is coming back to life in Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Attention federal contractors, the Justice Department has put you on notice. That newly formed Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative means more aggressive pursuit of cybersecurity related fraud by government contractors and grant recipients. They'll use the False Claims Act or the Qui Tam whistleblower incentive provision of the law. Federal News Network's Jason Miller joins me with what vendors need to know. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To fight and win the nation's wars, the Defense Department needs the best possible armaments. The National Armaments Consortium brings together contractors, researchers and academics in the development of new armament technologies for the military to acquire and test. Now the consortium has a new vice president of customer engagement, retired Army Brigadier General Al Abramson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The COVID-19 pandemic made a hash out of the Census Bureau's plan for field operations. Ultimately, it had less time to do the work following up in person with people who didn't mail in their questionnaires or answer online. And now it has less time than planned to do the data processing in order to deliver the final count on time. That means the data quality might be at risk. Federal Drive with Tom Temin got more insight from the Managing Director for Strategic Issues at the Government Accountability Office, Chris Mihm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: New Homeland Security cyber incident reporting rules are nothing if not comprehensive. Echoes of the 2013 government shutdown still reverberate. What's on the agenda as Congress returns to Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Homeland Security Department is closer to having more of its component headquarters in one location. It's moving ahead with plans to build a new headquarters for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on the former Saint Elizabeths campus in Southeast D.C. The CISA headquarters advances a project that dates to the George W. Bush administration. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman joined the Federal Drive with the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Defense Department is testing out an artificial intelligence tool to help the agency write contracts and speed up the federal acquisition process. DoD’s Chief Digital and AI Office is prototyping an AI-powered contract-writing capability, called "Acqbot" as part of its Tradewind initiative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Budget reconciliation, administration nominations, and the looming appropriations deadline to get past a long continuing resolution. Those are all on the table for Congress. But both chambers are in recess though. We get more from Bloomberg Government deputy news editor Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is something of an odd duck. It has 50-50 party membership. Members of the two parties sit among one another. They don't seem to bicker. Now the committee has held detailed hearings on its agenda in the 117th Congress. Joining the Federal Drive with an update, committee chairman and Washington representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once touted as almost a miracle communications technology, 5G has run into trouble. The Federal Aviation Administration worries strong signals near airports will interfere with certain aircraft systems essential to safe landings. Verizon and AT&T say it's not so. Just before yesterday's agreement was reached, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke to the President and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, Hassan Shahidi, for insight into what's actually going on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Biden administration's budget proposal for 2023 would give magnificent, double-digit increases to some large agencies, notably Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, and Commerce. But can Congress deal with it in any meaningful way by October 1? The Federal Drive got analysis from Bloomberg Government congress reporter Jack Fitzpatrick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, known as the DFC, is only about two years old. It grew out of a Congressionally ordered merger of two older agencies. It mostly funds itself with fees and interest on the loans it provides overseas. Recently it got a new chief operating officer. Former Carlyle Group managing director and presidential transition expert David Marchick told the Federal Drive more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Army is just weeks away from finally letting a significant cadre of soldiers and employees use personal mobile devices to connect to government systems. It’s part of a much larger endeavor to create a “unified network” that relies much more heavily on cloud technologies, zero trust principles and commercial solutions.The Army has been engaged in serious testing of technologies to underpin a bring-your-own-device strategy (BYOD) since at least last year. Now, officials are ready to roll it out to an initial user base of potentially thousands of soldiers and Army civilians.The pilot project should be underway within the next 45 days, said Lt. Gen. John Morrison, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for command, control, communications, cyber operations and networks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Air Force is setting up a new management structure to ride herd over its Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), the Air Force’s contribution to the Pentagon’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) project. Officials say ABMS has demonstrated progress in some key technical areas, but those advancements haven’t always been coordinated with one another. At the top of the new management structure for what Air Force officials have previously termed the “internet of military things” will be a brand new program executive office: The Air Force calls it the PEO for Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management, or PEO-C3BM. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Navy is energetically pursuing the field of energetics, an emerging type of weapons that don't necessarily use gunpowder. Now's there's a new program called Naval Energetic Systems and Technologies, or NEST. It's a collaboration among the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, Advanced Technology International, and the National Armaments Consortium. Joining the Federal Drive with details, the consortium's executive director, Charlie Zisette. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Army camps and bases often feature architecture worth preserving. One example is Camp Dodge, an Army National Guard training facility in Iowa. Its construction and facilities management staff won a Pentagon award earlier this year for restoration of its 1907 gate house and perimeter fence. For more details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Col. John Perkins, the Facilities and Management Director at Camp Dodge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Army may operate primarily on the ground. But it relies on space communications to maintain freedom of movement and situational awareness, as well as to guard against known and emerging missile threats. At the Association of the U.S. Army Conference, AUSA, Federal Drive host Tom Temin got an update from the commander of the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Energy Department has a backlog of nuclear waste clean up responsibilities, with material dating back to World War II. But continuing turnover in program leadership means things just aren't happening. For more, Government Accountability Office natural resources and environmental team Director Nathan Anderson spoke with the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Department of Homeland Security last year completed a big project in Manhattan — Manhattan, Kansas, that is. Construction finished, the Science and Technology directorate cut the ribbon to the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility there. And it came in under budget, which has produced a sort of financial echo. For a review of what it is and why its important, National Bio and Agro Defense Facility Program Manager Tim Barr joins the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cybersecurity teaching will take place right alongside mechanical and many other types of engineering at a planned new facility at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It promises to modernize the academies approach to these important fields. Joining the Federal Drive with what's going on, professor of civil engineering, and the Dean's executive agent for design and construction, Ledlie Klosky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new Biden administration spent its first few days in office pumping out new executive orders - a lot of them. Now agencies are charged with implementing them. The Office of Management and Budget is out with new guidance on the president's mask mandate for federal employees and contractors. OMB wants agencies to revisit their pandemic plans and submit new ones by the end of the week. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain what's different about the approach from OMB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We now know, with ever-mounting evidence, that pandemic relief spending resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars in wasted spending. The same could happen with infrastructure spending unless agencies tighten up their oversight. That's the view of Project on Government Oversight senior policy analyst Sean Moulton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A proposed interagency council would look around the world for companies and products to banish from the federal supply chain. As it did with Kaspersky Labs and Chinese telecom gear, the government would base future bans on national security grounds. It all promises to make things tougher for contractors. For one view, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turn to law firm Jenner and Block partner, Cindy Robertson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As federal pandemic response lumbers along, the lessons learned are piling up. That's thanks to the work of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, fondly known as the PRAC. For an update, the PRAC Executive Director Bob Westbrooks spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of the best things a politically appointed agency head can do, but too often he or she does not, is what this guest will address. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bob Tobias, professor of good government and long-time labor-management observer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Exciting as it might seem to join the staff of Congress as a young person, disillusion sometimes sets in fast. One reason, according to Michael Beckel, is low pay. For details of Congressional pay research, the research director at a think tank called Issue One spoke to the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Postal Service is probably the biggest public face for the government’s efforts to supply Americans with at-home COVID tests. But behind the scenes, it’s actually the Defense Department that’s doing a lot of the heavy lifting, specifically the Defense Logistics Agency. The agency’s DLA Distribution arm has been in charge of storing and moving those test kits to their final destinations, and tracking the supplies all the way through the process. To talk more about DoD’s role, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke to four individuals from DLA Distribution: Commander Maj. Gen. Keith Reventlow, Deputy Commander Perry Knight, Col. Todd Walker, the director for current operations, and Steven Forster, a supply management specialist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new audit looks at how one agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) manages its cloud computing assets. The HHS inspector general looked specifically at the Administration for Children and Families. To learn more, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke to the Assistant Inspector General for Cybersecurity and IT audits, Tamara Lilly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The prices of spare parts have long been a bugaboo for the military. Now the Senate version of the 2023 defense authorization bill (NDAA) contains something called a Progress-Payment Incentive Pilot program. For how it works and what the benefits would be, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Julia Gledhill, a defense analyst with the Project on Government Oversight or POGO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The State Department has several annual fellowship programs designed to bring in new talent. We've been bringing you their stories here on the Federal Drive. Today we're talking about the William D. Clarke, Senior Diplomatic Security Fellowships. Joining the Federal Drive with the details, the assistant secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, Gentry Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency hired hundreds of people last year and it plans to hire even more in 2023, as it works to stem attrition and burnout amid its mounting cybersecurity responsibilities. CISA hired 516 people in fiscal 2022, and it’s on track to hire 600 people in 2023. Director Jen Easterly hold the House Appropriations Committee’s homeland security subcommittee Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The omnibus appropriations bill enacted last year, contains something called the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act. Federal Drive host Tom Temin's guest on this podcast, calls it the most important transnational anti-corruption whistleblower law since the Dodd-Frank law in 2010. In fact, Stephen Kohn, a partner at the law firm Kohn, Kohn and Colapinto, helped get it passed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This agency has given out more than $1 billion in grant money under the Cares Act passed last year. And it gets another $3 billion under the American Rescue Plan. If you're thinking Small Business Administration, think again. It's the Economic Development Administration. Tom Temin talked about pandemic relief with the Deputy Assistant Commerce Secretary for Economic Development, and the Chief Operating Officer of the EDA, Dennis Alvord. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A newly proposed rule by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, tasks those operating in critical infrastructure sectors to report cyber incidents within 72 hours and to report ransom payments within 24 hours of making a payment. These new requirements would significantly lengthen the To-Do List of these entities. For analysis on what the impact could be, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke to Beth Waller, Principal at the law firm Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In November, the Defense Department’s chief information officer’s office received 39 zero trust implementation plans from the military services, defense agencies and combatant commands. It took 35 full-time staff and nearly four months to review those plans, provide tailored feedback and receive final versions with all recommendations incorporated. Randy Resnick, the director of the Zero Trust Architecture Program Management Office in the DoD CIO’s office said the lesson they learned about the process is that they can’t repeat it again. “It was a tremendous effort. We really can’t repeat this process, it is untenable. 35 people across almost four months full time, you start adding up the resource costs of that and that’s not something that we could do on an annual basis. So it became apparent to us that we need to automate this process. We need to put it in electronic form where we could actually apply AI tools to actually ask questions and to achieve answers based on the submissions. That’s where our head is going right now,” Resnick said during the DoD Zero Trust Symposium Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Election years tend to dampen contracting. If an incumbent loses re-election, policy shifts and new people can put contracts on hold. For how contractors should prepare for whatever might happen this year, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the President and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A last-minute modification to the request for proposals for a signature governmentwide acquisition contract has left industry a little shellshocked. We're talking about the long-awaited CIO SP4 program from the NIH Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center. NITAAC officials seemed to neutralized small business partnerships many would-be prime bidders had developed. Joining the Federal Drive with one reaction, the executive vice president for policy at the Professional Services Council, Stephanie Kostro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Defense Logistics Agency has just rolled out its mentor protégé program. It's designed to help small companies navigate federal contracting and improve their business and even technical skill. The types of reimbursable assistance available to small businesses range from business development itself to human resources training also obtaining quality certification, even machine set up. For more, Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis spoke to the DLA’s Office of Small Business Program's Daniele Kurze. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: There's a new Hatch Act and whistleblower retaliation sheriff in town. Part 2 with Hampton Dellinger What exactly does make a good place to work in the government anyhow? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nearly 80% of the trillion dollar infrastructure bill is slated for grants. Only a sliver is destined for federal contracts. That's all according to a detailed analysis by Bloomberg Government. For details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with BGov senior data analyst Paul Murphy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let me riddle you this: When it comes to government contracting, if you are not a small business, what are you? The answer, of course, is “other than small.” Not much of a riddle, except if you are a “medium-sized” business in the $34.1 million to $250 million revenue range (feel free to argue for that end range to be closer to $500 million) over the last year, specifically under NAICS Code 541512 — computer systems design services. Then the riddle clearly is how to compete in a market that favors small and very large firms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The debate over federal telework has sharpened. Congressional Republicans passed a bill earlier this year to get feds back in their offices. They're calling for more data on the impact of telework. Now the American Federation of Government Employees finished a survey with three thousand responses. A majority say telework works. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman spoke with AFGE Deputy Legislative Director Daniel Horowitz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The question of who should get access to the so-called “lower three,” or the part of the broadband spectrum ranging from 3.1GHz to 3.45GHz, has the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and industry in a stand-off with the Department of Defense. A new report due to be released next month could be the key to ending the stalemate.Congressional authority to auction off parts of the broadband spectrum to industry expired in March, and while telecommunications companies and the FCC continue their push to renew the auctions, leaders in both the Pentagon and Congress say the lower three is vital to national security interests. The lower three is used for some of the Pentagon’s radar capabilities. Both sides are waiting for the results of a report due to be released in September about the risks and capabilities of the lower three. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is trying to free its data. Despite an explosion in the availability of overhead imagery and other geospatial information, much of NGA's data remains locked in organizational silos. NGA’s new data strategy calls for scaling data access and analytics across the agency. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday, at the GEOINT Symposium in Saint Louis, spoke with NGA’s chief data officer, Deepak Kundal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ongoing question of whether federal employees with offices in the District of Columbia will return four or five days a week, is not just a matter of restaurants and retail stores. The commercial real estate industry, which houses all of these elements, is also looking at a cloudy crystal ball. To get that point of view, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Howard Traul, the Senior Managing Director of the commercial real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last year the federal government deputed a three-digit suicide prevention hotline phone number. 988. It replaced a 10-digit number. The new number is thanks to the work of a team at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Team members are now finalists in this year's Service to America Medals Program. Two of the finalists, James Wright and Dr. Richard McKeon joined the Federal Drive to tell their story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following weeks of return-to-office announcements, yet another agency has made its plans clear to currently teleworking employees. But this time, the National Science Foundation has drawn negative attention from its union. NSF leaders made a return-to-office announcement to staff members Friday, prior to negotiating or reaching an agreement on telework with the American Federation of Government Employees, the federal union said. Starting in October, all telework-eligible NSF employees and Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) employees stationed at agency headquarters will have to work in the office at least four days per two-week pay period, NSF leaders said in an all-staff email, obtained by Federal News Network. The changes do not apply to employees eligible for remote work or those with an approved remote work agreement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An influential panel says a lack of quality data is the number one barrier to making up the cybersecurity workforce shortage. The Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0 is recommending Congress direct agencies to generate better estimates of how many cyber and IT personnel they need. It’s also suggesting the National Cyber Director take the lead on a whole-of-government cyber workforce strategy. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday, spoke with the director of the solarium commission, Mark Montgomery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Department of Veterans Affairs saw record hiring last year. Now it’s looking to manage the size of its largest-ever health care workforce, while continuing to hire more staff to process benefits claims. VA officials say the department this year is focused on increasing veteran access to VA care using mostly the health care workforce it already has, “rather than on nationwide growth in total employees.” The Veteran Health Administration exceeded many of its hiring goals in fiscal 2023, and now has its largest-ever headcount. VA’s major hiring last year allowed it to set an all-time record for providing health care and benefits to veterans. The VA has been staffing up to handle increased demand under the PACT Act. The 2022 law expands VA health care and benefits eligibility for veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming back from its holiday recess, both chambers of Congress have a lot of business to take care of before their next one. With nominations and appropriations on the agenda, Federal Drive Executive Producer Eric White spoke with Bloomberg Government's Loren Duggan, to get all the details.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Theaters, opera halls and concert venues were all hit hard by the pandemic. People didn't want to gather in close quarters. To get a gauge on how and where people might be participating in the arts again, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) focused on that topic in its most recent five-year survey. For more on the methodology and how the results guide NEA activities, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with the agency's director of research and analysis, Sunil Iyengar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congress did manage to get some big bills passed last week. But, it made little progress on normal appropriations for fiscal 2023. In fact, another continuing resolution come October 1 is looking inevitable. Federal Drive host Tom Temin gets the latest from WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A bill in the House would boost protections against discrimination of older workers, protections that were weakened by the Supreme Court back in 2009. It is called the Protecting Older Workers Against Age Discrimination Act (POWADA). For specifics, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with Tully Rinckey attorney Michael Fallings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the first few million COVID-19 vaccines start to circulate, it's clear the nation still faces a tough winter. People who face hardships as part of daily life, like members of the armed services, have had extra challenges. Now the USO has received a $3 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to support its Combat COVID-19 initiative. Joining the Federal Drive with details, the USO president, J.D. Crouch II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Office of Personnel Management is making preparations ahead of a pending pay raise for civilian federal employees in 2024. Agencies have one month to submit any requests to OPM where they want to offer higher salaries for typically hard-to-fill federal positions. Every fall, OPM sets a deadline for agencies to submit special salary rate (SSR) requests to take effect the following year. If they choose to, agencies can recommend positions to receive an SSR outside of the likely, but not yet official, pay raise for most civilian federal employees on the General Schedule (GS). OPM can then decide whether to authorize those special salary rates for certain roles, grades or locations where agencies find it particularly difficult to hire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin Protecting military space technology from bad actors It's never to early to make sure your life's paperwork is in order Industry's take on the latest CMMC rules Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board rolled out a new system for managing the T-S-P back in 2022...it didn't go well. Account holders encountered a web site that barely functioned and long wait times for help. Now the Government Accountability Office has released findings on what went wrong even as most … but not all … of the problems are fixed. The director of information technology and cybersecurity at the G-A-O, Jennifer Franks, joins me in studio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A bipartisan bill in the Senate would make the National Guard cybersecurity mission more available to state and local governments. Especially as the threat to critical infrastructure. Federal News Network's Scott Maucione describes the bill in more detail in his latest DOD Reporter's notebook, and he joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the new Defense Secretary is confirmed, he'll face an old problem. How to get clean financial audits of the department. One seemingly intractable issue is how to account for intra departmental transactions. There is a plan though. It's one of several developing topics in this week's DoD reporters notebook. Joining the Federal Drive with what you need to know, Federal News Network's Scott Maucione and Jared Serbu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin This bill would spur Veterans Affairs to increase contracting with women-owned small business. The Thrift Savings Plan Web site … a mid-year review of functionality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One in four active duty military members has some level of food insecurity according to numbers reported by a recent RAND Corporation study. While it may not be a new problem, senior enlisted military leaders who testified on Capitol Hill last week said economic challenges over the past year have added to food insecurity. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin commissioned the RAND study after the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act directed the secretary to provide a report on food insecurity among members of the armed forces and their dependents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices