Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Veterans Health Administration is always looking for ways to improve psycho-therapy treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Two leading methods are known as cognitive processing and prolonged exposure. VA's top expert on the problem recently co-authored the report on an extensive study that compared the two therapies. Joining the Federal Drive with more is that expert. She's the executive director of VA's National Center for PTSD, Dr. Paula Schnurr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whistleblowers across the government have gotten increasingly more support and protection over the years. Except for those in the secretive intelligence community. They have no independent enforcement mechanisms for the protections they do have. Joining the Federal Drive with how things are about to change, the policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, Melissa Wasser. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doing more with less, easier said than done. For the IRS, it's driven the move to robotic process automation. Shanna Webbers is the assistant deputy commissioner for operations support at the IRS and Teresa Hunter is the chief financial officer. They discuss how RPA is helping the tax agency become more efficient, and move employees out of the mundane and into the more valuable work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Pentagon’s top budget official thinks Washington is about to turn a corner on national security. Lawmakers have come to an agreement on a spending bill with a big defense increase. But just like everyone else, the Pentagon will have to deal with inflation. Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday brings us the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin decided this week to completely shut down DoD’s giant fuel storage farm near Honolulu. The Red Hill facility has leaked fuel into groundwater supplies. The most recent incident sickened some 6,000 people living in Navy housing. The decision has major strategic and logistics implications for the indo-pacific region. The military is going to need to replace that storage capacity one way or another. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu talked about the challenges with Hudson Institute military logistics expert Tim Walton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A long-awaited reform bill backers hope will save the Postal Service more than $100 billion is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk. This after the Senate passed the Postal Service Reform Act. It ends a 2006 mandate to pre-fund retiree health benefits. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy supports the bill. So do postal associations and unions. For one reaction, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with the President of the American Postal Workers Union, Mark Dimondstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You probably know that phishing attacks, cyber attacks using faked email … are getting more sophisticated. You may not know exactly how sophisticated. For the anatomy of one high-end account, we turn to cybersecurity entrepreneur and vice president of strategy at Inky, Roger Kay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The non-profit Mitre Corporation has become the locus of an extensive research program in cybersecurity. Its Center for Threat-Informed Defense has collaborated with more than a dozen companies to produce. So far, 13 research reports freely available to anyone. Joining the Federal Drive with a progress report, the Center's director of research and development, Jon Baker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. Space Command doesn’t even have a formal office to work out of. Yet it’s dealing with some of the most serious issues for the future of conflict. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione takes us through the new command’s challenges. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A task force established by the Biden administration has issued dozens of recommendations for unionizing federal agencies and contractors. Will it have any effect? After all, the percentage of the workforce that is organized has been falling steadily for many years. For analysis, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to managing partner of the law firm Tully Rinckey, Dan Meyer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A task force established by the Biden administration has issued dozens of recommendations for unionizing federal agencies and contractors. Will it have any effect? After all, the percentage of the workforce that is organized has been falling steadily for years. For analysis, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the managing partner of the D.C. office of the law firm Tully Rinckey, Dan Meyer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Navy's littoral combat ship program has never lived up to its promises. Although it scaled back the program, the Navy still plans to field 35 of the ships. But they have serious and persistent problems. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin got highlights of the latest look-see from the Director of Defense Capabilities and Management Issues at the Government Accountability Office, Diana Maurer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acme Services Contractors submits a bid using Sally, Bill and Jessie as the lead talent. Sally leaves for another company after the bids are in. Does that mean the bids are no longer valid? Well not necessarily. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin got more about a recent protest on these lines from Smith Pachter McWhorter attorney Joseph Petrillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House has ordered agencies to come up with a plan for adopting zero trust security on their networks. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency updated its guidance and services to help agencies get there. Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday had the latest on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Health and Human Services, and Justice departments are looking at regulations to improve health care for people with disabilities. The National Council on Disability’s Health Equity Framework lays out steps agencies should take to eliminate medical discrimination against people with disabilities, an issue the council says got worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with the commission’s chairman Andrés Gallegos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices