Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Significant shortcomings. That's the word the Government Accountability Office is using to describe how pandemic relief agencies applied their financial controls. The government spent trillions of dollars. No one knows how many went out has improper payments. Now GAO has a long list of recommendations for Congress. Joining the Federal Drive with the rundown, Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you participate in Thrift Savings Plan, heads up. Congress is tinkering with the system in a way that's likely to change your decision on how and when you retire. The House passed legislation that pushes out the age at which people must make their required minimum distribution age. Joining the Federal Drive with more, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Office reentry plans for federal employees are starting to gel. Among other, the Commerce and Housing and Urban Development departments plan on opening the doors April 25. Meanwhile House and Senate members are pressing the administration for a faster return. For an update on the latest, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration exceeded the record of its two predecessors in one respect. Namely, the number and estimated costs of the regulations issued in the first year. That's according to a tally made by my next guest. He's a senior regulatory policy analyst at the right-leaning American Action Forum, Dan Goldbeck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Remember way back last September, horse-mounted Border Patrol Agents were accused of whipping border crossers. The Biden administration expressed horror and launched an investigation through the Border Patrol Office of Professional Responsibility. If there was a report, it never came out. Now the National Police Associated has launched a freedom of information act request on everything connected with the incident. More now from spokeswoman Betsy Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. financial system and the way it's regulated, are fast moving to obsolescence. And the government is unwilling and unable to adopt the technologies to modernize them. That's according to my next guest. He spent more than three years trying, as the first chief innovation officer at the FDIC. Sultan Meghji left the agency last month, and joined the Federal Drive with why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Science Foundation has established a new directorate, the first new one in thirty years. It's called the Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, directorate. For what it's all about, here's NSF director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan and the NSF assistant director for technology, innovation and partnerships, Dr. Erwin Gianchandani. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House’s 2023 budget proposal includes a big pay raise for employees at the Transportation Security Administration. It’s part of a long-running effort by unions and some members of Congress to secure better pay for TSA’s frontline workforce. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Air Force has been struggling to hang on to its pilots. The shortage reached 2,000 airmen at one point. The service says it's making headway, but it may be decades before the issue is resolved. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke about it with the Air Force Director of Training and Readiness Operations. Major General Albert Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal contractors have high confidence for the future of their businesses, especially if they're selling cybersecurity services and anything with the word infrastructure in it. That's according to a new index, which purports to be the first of its kind. For how they developed it and what it says, the Federal Drive turned to Alan Chvotkin, a partner at the law firm Nichols Liu and a co-author of the study. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The House and Senate are working to reconcile two bills that would in part move along the cause of cybersecurity in the United States. Both bills, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act and the America Competes Act, passed the Senate and House respectively. For some of the good potential fallout, the Federal Drive turned to the senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To ride herd on a federal department, you need a plan. In the case of the Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, a five year strategic plan. Not surprisingly, it emphasizes concentrating oversight on the high-risk and mission critical areas. For a more in depth look, the IG herself, Rae Oliver Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Marine Corps has come a long way toward rationalizing its IT holdings into a consolidated enterprise network, a major precursor to moving to the cloud. And to start making those migrations at scale, the service is creating a new task force structure to guide things along, and remove barriers. For more, Federal News Network's Jared Serbu spoke with the Marine Corps’ assistant director for C4I and chief information security officer, Renata Spinks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A week after the General Services Administration released the first two solicitations for the much anticipated Polaris small business contract vehicle, the first of what could be many protests landed at the Government Accountability Office. GSA made a last minute change to the solicitation requirements. That's causing heartburn among many small businesses planning to bid. The vehicle potential 10 year life has a $10 billion ceiling. In his weekly reporter's notebook, executive editor Jason Miller writes about why GSA's change, about what's required from mentor-protégé joint ventures, is causing so much concern. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House is dusting off plans to move the FBI out of downtown Washington, D.C. In its latest budget request the Biden administration is calling on the FBI to move its headquarters to suburban Maryland or Virginia. The idea’s been around since 2014 but was scrapped by the Trump administration, which proposed building a new FBI headquarters on the site of the existing one in downtown D.C. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman had the latest on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices