Federal Drive with Tom Temin

It's that time of year once again, the season to honor those who serve the country with distinction. The Partnership for Public Service has announced finalists in the Service to America Medals, or Sammies, program. This year there's a special category for Covid-19 response. For more, the president and CEO of the Partnership, Max Stier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Army is changing its policies for soldiers who are pregnant or just delivered a baby. The move continues the Army’s push to put its people first with better the work-life balance. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive with more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The General Services Administration is doing much of the work for the Biden administration’s goal to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by federal operations. GSA's Public Buildings Service is furthering energy policy through its procurement and design standards. It’s also spending billions of dollars to modernize land ports of entry with sustainability in mind. For an update, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with Public Buildings Service commissioner, Nina Albert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies are ramping up recruitment for 8,000 new federal positions, as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The departments of Transportation, Energy, Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, among others, are all looking to hire for those jobs. To help create better pathways to federal service, the Office of Personnel Management is offering solutions for agencies to get new employees in the door. In an exclusive interview, OPM Director Kiran Ahuja told Federal News Network's Drew Friedman, there's a lot of work to do behind the scenes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some big changes are underway at the nonprofit group that represents the federal government’s career executives. The Senior Executives Association hired Gregory Brooks to fill a new executive director role. Brooks and a new team of contractors will manager SEA’s day-to-day operations. Meanwhile, Bob Corsi, who’s served as the association’s president for the past two years, is stepping down. Corsi joined Jared Serbu on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk about those changes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic squashed international travel and that cut the State Department's passport and visa revenues by more than 41%. The fees basically fund the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Congressional auditors said the bureau has a carryover fund, but that's also in jeopardy. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin got the details from the Director of International Affairs and Trade issues at the Government Accountability Office, Jason Bair. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a weapon on the gun line of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division fires, you hear a thud and seconds later see a splash out in the Potomac River. It sounds and looks rough, but in fact each trigger-pull is the subject of detailed measurement and analysis. For the third installment of our series on Dahlgren, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with the division's integrated engagement systems chief, Daniel Ross. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense industrial base faces a lot of long-term challenges – many of which have been well documented in studies generated both inside and outside the government. But here-and-now concerns like inflation and the war in Ukraine have introduced a lot of new ones – ones that need to be dealt with this fiscal year. David Berteau is president of the Professional Services Council. He testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week on the health of the industrial base, and he joined the Federal Drive to share some of those insights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new initiative from the Justice and State Departments looks to support women in leadership roles in counterterrorism. The Engaging Multinational Police Women on Equality and Rights or EMPoWER project, recently conducted its first ever symposium last month in Croatia. To learn more about the program, and some of the advantages of having more women to fight terrorism, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke to Laurie Freeman, Deputy Director for the State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau, and Heather Rauch is the Acting Assistant Director for Europe/Eurasia, with the Justice Department's International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division works to ensure the reliability, safety and effectiveness of Navy ship-board weapons. All but a handful of its nearly five thousand federal employees are civilians, aided by several thousand contractors. For the second installment in this week's series looking at Dahlgren activities, Federal News Network's Tom Temin spoke with the division's technical director, also a member of the Senior Executive Service, Dale Sisson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The federal shared services effort is about to undergo yet another revival. The 20-plus year initiative to get agencies to move to common, back-office systems for financial management and human resources will, once again, try to convince agencies they have the cure to the legacy system disease. In his weekly feature, the Reporter’s Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller writes about why agency leaders believe this time will be different. Jason joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With an aging federal workforce and rising inflation rates, 62 legislators urge the House Committee on Appropriations to add a pay bump to the fiscal 2023 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill. The latest push for a federal pay raise of 5.1% comes from this year's iteration of the "FAIR" Act, sponsored by Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly. He tells Federal News Network's Drew Friedman, even though inflation's at 8.5%, his 5.1% is a more realistic goal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

The company is called Ditto. Not a household name in defense contracting. But if just got an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract from the Air Force, worth a potential billion dollars. Here with the Air Force requirement it's hoping to meet, Ditto CEO and co-founder Adam Fish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices