Federal Drive with Tom Temin

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Nursing homes reveal a need for CDC to improve a national data reporting site. The hardware side of artificial intelligence is the latest security risk. How acquisition hinders national security. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Very few topics raise the temperature of federal employees as much as changes to their office space. The loud talker next to you. The person’s whose daily tuna sandwich smell permeates the office. The traffic, the cost of gas or the metro, and the overall hassle of having to make your way into the office after many people realized the benefits and enjoyment of telework. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can it get any more chaotic in Congress? This week will tell, as we might see another try at impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alexandro Mayorkas, foreign aid, and federal telework. It's a broken record and you are the needle. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zero trust cybersecurity is on everyone's mind these days, who is responsible for an information system. For an update on what is going on at the Defense Department, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with Randy Resnick, Director of the Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office in the DoD's office of the chief information officer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has settled a religious discrimination lawsuit, over claims it gave a Jewish applicant only Saturdays to complete steps in the hiring process. NGA reached a settlement last month with Jeffrey Podell, a Sabbath-observant Jew who applied for several NGA police officer jobs in April 2021. As part of the settlement, NGA agreed to give Podell pre-employment testing options Monday through Thursday. His attorney Clifford Rieders, said his client completed the test on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The Defense Department is dead serious about cybersecurity. Congress ponders new discrimination protections for older employees. The world is a piñata and Congress keeps swinging and missing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Retirement is supposed to mean you don't work any more or at least only work because you want to. Most people wonder, how much income is enough for me to retire? For some answers, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with federal retiree Abe Grungold of AB Financial Services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is not every day the Veterans Affairs Department comes up with a new insurance program. In fact, last year was the first time in 50 years. For a progress report and what it took to launch it, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Dan Keenaghan, the executive director of the insurance service at the Veterans Benefits Administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: A year in, the VA is calling its new insurance program a success. How to avoid wearing a Walmart greeter's vest after you retire. A progress report on federal use of artificial intelligence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Relative to other recent presidents, White House staff turnover during the Biden administration has been low. Turnover reached 35% 2022 and dropped to 23% last year. With some thoughts and perspective, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with the observer who came up with those numbers: Katie Tenpas, senior fellow in governance studies at Brookings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In developing policies and programs, federal officials need to integrate their constitutional and statutory underpinnings. And they need research and evidence on how the eventual program will perform, as well as what work might already have occurred at another agency. For how agencies can best do this, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Beth Martin, a Digital Services Expert with the Office of Personnel Management and with Basil White, Senior Informaticist with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thirteen academic and corporate thinkers have received awards from NASA in order to develop ideas for transforming future missions. It is part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program. For details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the program's Deputy Executive John Nelson and the program's Acting Executive Mike LaPointe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices