Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Veterans Health Administration is looking to raise workforce productivity, after a record year of hiring, and increase the number of health care appointments available to patients. “We now have the end-strength to be able to increase productivity across the system, and provide more care out of the direct care system,” VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal told reporters in a briefing on Monday. VHA hired more than 61,000 employees last year, far exceeding some of its workforce goals for fiscal 2023. “Because of that, the goal this year is not going to be to increase total employees on board except for very critical staffing areas like mental health,” Elnahal said. “But pretty much for every other category of staff that we have, we think we have what we need to meet that demand. It’s on us to increase productivity commensurate with our staffing level, to make sure that we are able to provide accessible care.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Sort of lost in all the other activity in the last few months, is a Biden administration proposal to create a new Office of Management and Budget circular. The circular describes a centralized data management strategy to help agencies with acquisition decision-making. One industry group has questions, so Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with Stephanie Kostro, the Executive Vice President for Policy at the Professional Services Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. Geological Survey has turned to quantum technology to help it with the next generation of challenges in geological science. It established a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with a quantum company called Q-CTRL. For details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Jonathan Stock, the Director of the USGS National Innovation Center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Still time to show off your cybersecurity muscles in the annual President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition. The U.S. Geological Survey brings new technology to an old mission. Can a data environment actually improve federal procurement? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Interior Department is the latest agency to gain attention from members of Congress over its telework and return-to-office policies for federal employees. Mark Green, Interior’s chief human capital officer, defended the department’s stance on telework during a House Natural Resources committee hearing Thursday. “We believe the hybrid workforce model that we’re operating in now is one that works for the department,” Green told lawmakers during the hearing. “In fact, for the department to remain competitive for the talent we need in the future, especially in mission support occupations, we believe it’s essential that we continue to offer telework and remote work.” But several Republican committee members pressed harder on Interior’s telework posture, saying that it was leading to performance issues and preventing the agency from fully meeting the public’s needs. Members, for instance, blamed increased telework for what they said was a “massive” backlog of projects at the National Park Service, a component of the Interior Department. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jen King has worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency since 2000. She joined NGA out of college and immediately excelled as an analyst, but within the first few years, she found herself struggling with the social aspects of an office job. King had no reason to suspect there was any particular reason for that until a member of her church handed her a book by Rudy Simone called “Aspergirls,” which describes the experiences of women and girls with autism spectrum disorder. King said the book sat at the bottom of her desk for six months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Ron Swecker took on the role of records officer at the Department of Transportation in 2012, he had little background in records and information management. Swecker had managed information systems and worked on several e-gov initiatives. But in order to learn more about his new role, he attended trainings offered through the National Archives and Records Administration, as well as industry conferences and seminars on records management. After meeting other records specialists at other agencies, Swecker and his colleagues realized they lacked a central community where they could discuss best practices, training, and more about the federal records management profession. So they decided to start one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

That proverbial battered can. Well Congress has once again kicked it down Constitution Avenue. The latest continuing resolution keeps the government going until March 1 for some agencies and March 8 for others. For what has to happen next, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Loren Duggan, Bloomberg Government's deputy news director. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An organization that supports active duty service members has launched an initiative to make it easier when changing duty stations. The Military Family Advisory Network has partnered with some large retailers to give families a little something when they arrive at the new location. For the details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Shannon Razsadin, the network's president and executive director. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For better or worse, the Postal Service will replace its old local delivery trucks with a combination of gasoline and electric ones. It's a huge acquisition at nearly $10 billion. The program includes the acquisition of electric chargers, which require testing and evaluation. The USPS Office of Inspector General took a look and Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked about it with Deputy Assistant IG Amanda Stafford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: With electric postal trucks, logistics are all about charging stations. Military families on the move can look forward to a welcome box. Once again, Congress kicks the can down the road. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an emergency directive after software firm Ivanti discovered vulnerabilities in two widely-used products. “This emergency directive directs all federal civilian agencies to immediately take specific actions and implement vendor mitigation guidance to these Ivanti appliances,” CISA wrote in a release. “Last week, Ivanti released information regarding two vulnerabilities, CVE-2023-46805 and CVE-2024-21887, that allow an attacker to move laterally across a target network, perform data exfiltration and establish persistent system access. CISA has determined an emergency directive is necessary based on the widespread exploitation of these vulnerabilities by multiple threat actors, prevalence of the affected products in the federal enterprise, high potential for compromise of agency information systems and potential impact of a successful compromise.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the government needs something made, it is supposed to look for a small business to make it. If no small business exists, an agency can get a waiver from the Small Business Administration to have it made by any domestic company. But there is a problem with waivers. For details on that, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Blank Rome procurement attorney Justin Chiarodo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Armies in other parts of the world have called on the U.S. Army, and other armed forces, for platforms and ordnance. This as the U.S. military ponders its own supplies, readiness, and the overriding question of the capacity and resilience of the defense industrial supply base. For an update on what's going on at the Army Materiel Command, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Deputy Commander, Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices