Federal Drive with Tom Temin

You don't have to work decades for the federal government to have an impact. That's one idea behind the Presidential Innovation Fellows program … operated by the General Services Administration. Now the program has a new director. Rebeca Lamadrid joined the Federal Drive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress, the Justice Department and the courts continue to deal with the break-in at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Homeland Security Department is dealing with issues of its own. A report from its office of inspector general found that the department's Intelligence and Analysis office had threat information, but didn't tell everyone it should have. Joining the Federal Drive with more, DHS Principal Deputy Inspector General Glenn Sklar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress, the Justice Department and the courts continue to deal with the break-in at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Homeland Security Department is dealing with issues of its own. A report from its office of inspector general found that the department's Intelligence and Analysis office had threat information, but didn't tell everyone it should have. Joining the Federal Drive with more, DHS Principal Deputy Inspector General Glenn Sklar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three sailors committed suicide aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington last month. All in the space of one week. The rash of deaths seemed to highlight a serious and worsening problem for the military writ large: quality of life and mental health. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive with the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the numbers alone, the Defense Innovation Unit continues to prove its value. But beyond the numbers, DIU officials say they're meeting the goals the Pentagon laid out for them back in 2016, lowering the barriers for non-traditional companies to bring their advanced technology to DoD. Mike Madsen is the deputy director of the Defense Innovation Unit. He tells Federal News Network's Jason Miller about what he considers DIU’s 2021 successes and how they bring value to the warfighters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest haboob in Washington concerns whether the Supreme Court will overturn the Roe Versus Wade decision. Could that affect the federal workforce? It's not an outlandish question. We get the latest from WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If remote working, remote hiring, remote on-boarding are all here to stay, could virtual reality be far behind. That's what people at Accenture are trying to find out. For details, Accenture's executive director for global talent, Allison Horn. And Accenture Federal Services' chief innovation officer, Kyle Michl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Veterans Affairs Department hired tens of thousands of employees during this fiscal year. But it still struggles with staff shortages and high turnover. The VA is looking to Congress for legislative fixes, such as higher pay caps for health care staff. It’s also asking lawmakers to make permanent some of its COVID-era hiring flexibilities. For an update, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department is getting ready to test out version 2.0 of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification or CMMC initiative this summer. DoD revamped its approach to securing controlled unclassified information or CUI in February. It's now going through the federal rulemaking process. Federal News Network's Jason Miller joined the Federal Drive with why this test is an important step toward DoD’s goal of launching CMMC in 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Tom Temin's fourth installment of interviews from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, Temin explored two futuristic systems. Neither is ready for mounting on the deck of a Navy ship. But both work in laboratory test beds. First Temin talks with Ben Tritt, the chief of Dahlgren's high energy laser weapons systems. And then we'll hear Temin's conversation with Adam Jones, head of advanced hypersonics and guided munitions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Defense Department buys high dollar items under negotiated procurement rules, its supposed to negotiate. But the Army awarded a major contract without talking to any of five bidders. GAO dismissed a protest. So the company went to court. There it got interesting. The Federal Drive got details from Smith Pachter McWhorter procurement attorney Joe Petrillo. He talked with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like so many large government organizations, the Air Force is pursuing what it calls digital transformation. But what exactly is that, and what are the challenges to getting there. That question formed the basis for a series of workshops led by the National Academy of Science. Retired Air Force Lieutenant General Mike Hamel is the workshop co-chair. He talked about the details with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hypersonic projectiles, missiles moving at five times the speed of sound, have become a high priority across the Defense Department. You've got two basic ways of getting projectiles to go that fast. One is the electromagnetic rail gun. The other is the use of hat planners call air breathing engines, and those are the topic of a new effort at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Project manager Andrew Knoedler spoke with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has a new overtime policy aimed at ensuring employees are compensated for extra work. It follows a major settlement over unpaid overtime claims dating back to 2015. Current and former FEMA employees could be eligible for payment. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As agencies started implementing return-to-office plans, employee engagement and satisfaction both declined in the 2021 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. The "FEVS" also saw a drop in employees' response rate last year, in part because of the delayed and shortened version of the survey. The Office of Personnel Management, which distributes "FEVS", plans to get back to the typical spring timeline for 2022. But, OPM Director Kiran Ahuja tells Federal News Network's Drew Friedman there's still a lot options for agencies to use the 2021 data to improve the workplace. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices