Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Burn pits, they're the agent orange of the most recent generation of veterans. Veterans who were exposed to the open junk incinerators in Iraq and Afghanistan have long complained of resulting health maladies. President Joe Biden mentioned it in his state of the union speech. Some VA benefits have begun to trickle out. For an update, the co-founder and special counsel of the National Veterans Legal Services Program, Bart Stichman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defense Department components often give grants or contracts to colleges and universities, and companies for that matter, to do research. That means they develop controlled, unclassified information, or CUI. Now the Defense Office of Inspector General has found, research contractors don't do a good job of protecting that information from cyber attacks. Joining the Federal Drive with details, the project manager for audit cyberspace operations in the DODIG office, Gregory Crawford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Pentagon has been talking about its vision for Joint All-Domain Command and Control for years. Now there’s a plan to make it real. The formal implementation plan is still classified, but Defense officials say they’re ready to get to work on JADC2’s five separate lines of effort. And funding requests to start building discrete elements of the architecture will make their first appearance in next year’s budget. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu has details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Efforts to oversee trillions of dollars in pandemic relief spending are running into a familiar problem: persistent gaps in federal spending data. Investigators say Congress can take some actions to make sure it's easier to track how agencies are spending taxpayer dollars. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Coast Guard will establish a new rating next year called cyber mission specialist. Officials hope it will attract new recruits and strengthen the Coast Guard's ability to carry out its cyber mission. Joining the Federal Drive with details, the chief of the Coast Guard's Cyberspace Forces, Captain Alain Balmaceda.

The Social Security Administration anticipates crowds and higher than average wait times once field offices reopen their doors to public walk-in. To prepare, the agency is hiring retired staff to manage the crowds at hundreds of its field offices. For the latest, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more.

Last Monday VA Secretary Denis McDonough make public a plan for revamping the vast collection of health care facilities throughout the nation. VA proposes closing and tearing down many medical centers, building some new ones, and establishing outpatient centers. And moving more care to the private sector. The American Federation of Government Employees, with represents a couple hundred thousand VA employees, doesn't like the plan. Not one bit. Joining the Federal Drive with why, the director of AFGE's public policy department, Jacqueline Simon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate has teamed up with counterparts in Israel. The goal of the program, now in its seventh year, is to fund the discovery of what it calls advanced solutions for mission-critical homeland security needs. For how it all works, the director of industry partnerships in the Office of Innovation and Collaboration, Megan Mahale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Serving in the military can take a serious toll on the body. New technologies and techniques might be able to save service members' back and joints. One Air National Guard squadron is working with Sparta Science on a data-driven approach to training better. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione talks with Sparta’s founder, Dr. Phil Wagner, and the 118th Air Support Operations Squadron Superintendent, Chief Master Sergeant Jeremy Mullins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All the General Services Administration was trying to do was get new office space for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Rhode Island. But, in a word, if bungled the procurement. The inspector general said so. So did the courts. But it wasn't easy for the losing bidder to make its case, as we hear from Smith Pachter McWhorter procurement attorney Joe Petrillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After two years of total vacancy, the Merit Systems Protection Board now has two of its three members, enough to make decisions that stick. The board is where feds who feel they were wrongly sanctioned can appeal decisions of administrative judges. Here with one view of the practical effect of the board's re-establishment, federal employment attorney Stephanie Rapp-Tully, a partner at Tully-Rinckey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Senior Executives Association, which represents the government's highest ranking career officials, is especially glad the Merit Systems Protection Board has a quorum of two members. The Senate confirmed them a couple of weeks ago, ending five years without a quorum. The Association's director of policy and outreach, Jason Briefel told the Federal Drive more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the war in Ukraine adding to inflation inflation, military service members are feeling the squeeze. The largest annual study of military families says they are desperate for a second income. But can be tough for spouses to find a job. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Sunshine Week, and the Department of Justice has some new open-records guidance for agencies. Attorney General Merrick Garland is directing a presumption of openness when it comes to processing Freedom of Information Act requests. For more, Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Capitol and its environs have been mostly closed to visitors since - well, you know. Tourists, Girl Scout troops, and Lions Club presidents aren't the only ones who want the Capitol opened back up, so do lobbyists. They're circulating an open letter trying to nudge members to get back to normal. For more details, the Chairman of the board of the National Institute for Lobbying and Ethics, Paul Miller spoke to the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices