Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Department of Veterans Affairs is looking to grow its human resources staff to meet its hiring, onboarding and retention goals for its health care workforce. To meet its HR staffing needs and encourage new hires, VA’s Veterans Health Administration is giving its HR workforce about a 15% pay increase. VHA approved a Special Salary Rate for HR professionals at the end of last year, and covered employees will see the pay bump appear in their paychecks, starting this week. VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said Wednesday that the SSR covers VHA HR specialists (GS-0201) and HR assistants (GS-0203) in grades GS-4 through GS-15. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2024 Defense authorization bill caused a sigh of relief in parts of the Pentagon. Why? Congress decided not to impose new rules and requirements for using other transaction authority, an increasingly popular way to streamline acquisition of new technologies. And anyhow, DoD recently updated OTA guidance on its own. For more, Federal News Network's Jason Miller spoke to the director for contract policy in the Office of Defense Pricing and Contracting, Mary Kathryn Robinson.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lots of people make financial resolutions early in a calendar year. Here's one that's east to follow through on: Life insurance. How much do you really need and where do you find the best deal? For advice and answers, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talks with the well-insured Abe Grungold of AG Financial Services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Several years in, and still no national guard component for the Space Force. What Space Force got in the most recent Defense Authorization bill is a feasibility study. For what that means, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno from the Colorado National Guard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Improper payments, fraud in nearly every major federal program, contracting irregularities and false claims. These problems roll on and on, year after year. Whistleblowers who point these and other problems out need several legal reforms, according to Federal Drive Host Tom Temin's guest, leading whistleblower attorney, Stephen Kohn of Kohn, Kohn and Colapinto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: What whistleblowers will need from Congress in 2024. Will the Space Force ever get its own national guard? It's never too early in the year to think about life insurance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As another continuing resolution looms, agencies are in limbo as they consider starting new projects. Then you have some unfortunate protest rulings. No wonder federal contractors are nervous about calendar-year 2024. For one take on the the situation, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veterans who want to start businesses often turn to the Small Business Administration for loans. The SBA is obligated to give them special consideration. But the Government Accountability Office found that SBA doesn't really have procedures in place to deal with veterans. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Daniel Garcia-Diaz, GAO's Managing Director for Financial Markets. GAO Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A small federal agency has launched an initiative to strengthen a highly specialized class of museums in the United States. The Institute pf Museum and Library Services is taking in internship applications from American Latino museums to, in its words, strengthen their institutional capacity. For details on the program, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Laura Huerta Migus, the Institute's Deputy Director for Museum Services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: A tiny agency aims to help libraries and museums everywhere. Veterans get lip service when it comes to small business loans. Contractors can be forgiven if they're grumpy this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first few months of the new year, the Office of Personnel Management is bracing for a surge in federal retirement claims. The annual uptick in claims is typical for OPM’s retirement services division. Throughout 2023, close to 89,000 federal employees filed for retirement. About 12,400 of those claims were processed in January alone, the month with by far the highest number of claims. The approaching surge comes after OPM made significant strides in paring down its backlog of unprocessed retirement claims from federal employees in the back half of 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The IRS is calling on Congress to avert a partial government shutdown to avoid any disruption to the start of this year’s tax filing season. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told reporters on Thursday that a potential government shutdown wouldn’t keep the agency from starting the tax filing season on Jan. 29, as planned. Under the current “laddered” continuing resolution, funding for some agencies will run out on Jan. 19. The IRS and other agencies are funded through Feb. 2. But Werfel said a lapse in funding would “increase the risk that we don’t have as smooth a filing season as we intend to have.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The continuing resolution funding the government runs out Friday at 11:59 p.m. So far the spending limits Republicans and Democrats agreed to, a week or so ago, have not translated into bills for full 2024 appropriations. That means neither a long-term continuing resolution nor a shutdown is off the table. For the latest, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest must-read, issued by the Pentagon last week, is the first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy. It acknowledges that America's manufacturing might isn't what it used to be. And that it's not really up to the task of supporting great powers competition. For one reaction, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the executive director of the Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, Dr. Jerry McGinn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence has grown too big for anyone to ignore. Now the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in south-central Washington state, has established a center for artificial intelligence. To find out more about it, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the lab's chief scientist for artificial intelligence, Dr. Court Corley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices