Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Social Security Administration came out last or nearly last in nearly every measure in the recent pulse survey. Its union employees say that's because management hasn't been bargaining in good faith on a new contract, and issue that's dragged on for years. For one view, the Federal Drive talked to the president of AFGE Council 220, Ralph DeJuliis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency is revising its approach to using commercial sources of technology and data. It wants to diversify its sources, improve data security, and maybe have some influence on what the geo-int industry does. For details, the Federal Drive turned to the NGA's associate director for enterprise, Gary Dunow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vaccine mandates, their legal status, their enforceability, continue to vex the military. Earlier this month a Texas judge stopped the Navy from disciplining 35 special forces members who objected to the vaccine on religious grounds. Now the Justice Department has appealed the Texas Ruling. It's the top story in this week's DOD Reporters Notebook with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu and Scott Maucione. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 13th Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act or FITARA scorecard may be the last of its kind. House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations members plan to revamp the bi-annual agency-by-agency scorecard. In his weekly Reporter's Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller covers what those changes may look like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Budget reconciliation, administration nominations, and the looming appropriations deadline to get past a long continuing resolution. Those are all on the table for Congress. But both chambers are in recess though. We get more from Bloomberg Government deputy news editor Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The select committee on the modernization of Congress has lately been pursuing, among other things, a very un-modern idea. Namely, how to enhance civility and collaboration. On Thursday it conducted a hearing on this and other matters. For an update on the committee's work, the committee chair, Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), and the vice chair, William Timmons (R-S.C.). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration is moving ahead with directives in last year's executive order on tackling climate change through federal procurement. The new Federal Sustainability Plan released at the end of last tells agencies to harness procurement authority to reach 100% carbon -free energy at federal facilities by 2030. The plan also sets interim goals every few years until 2050. For the latest the Federal Drive turned to Federal News Network's Amelia Brust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A patchwork of state privacy laws could lead to headaches and increasing compliance costs for businesses, including federal contractors. The Information Technology Innovation Foundation is out with a new report advocating for a federal privacy law to replace various state-specific mandates. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday, spoke with ITIF vice president Daniel Castro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you think of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, what comes to mind? Weekly patch updates. Log4J. Solar Winds. Ransomware. But the agency has a much wider mission than cybersecurity, critical as that might be. Another element of CISA recently noted its 15th anniversary. We get that story now from CISA's associate director for bombing prevention, Sean Haglund. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My next guest enlisted in the Marine Corps back in the 1980s and became one its first female combat officers. Later she held a series of increasingly responsible jobs connected to military manpower and readiness. Now she's the first-ever executive director of U.S. Naval Forces for Europe and Africa, and one this year's distinguished senior executives in the Presidential Rank Award program. Juliet Beyler joined the Federal Drive to tell us more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department is backing proposed legislation meant to make it easier for contracting officers to get their hands on companies’ internal pricing documents. Both the Pentagon and its inspector general say the changes are needed to head off price gouging – especially when it comes to small quantities of spare parts. The urging comes as a new IG report raises another round of allegations of excess profits by Transdigm, one of the military’s biggest spare parts suppliers. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu has details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After eleven terms in Congress, Rhode Island Representative Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) is leaving office. He's still got one year left. Langevin has been a champion for cybersecurity, and promises to keep pushing in 2022. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with Langevin the day after he announced his retirement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

March 30. That's the date AFGE councils of Social Security employees and the Social Security Administration have agreed to as re-entry day. When employees return to headquarters and field offices. It's a little more complicated, as we hear from Council 220 president Ralph DiJuliis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Energy savings performance contracts have been around for a while, and in the new green frenzy we may see more of them. So when one of these deals goes south, it's worth looking at how and why. The Defense Department backed out of such a performance contract for an Air Force base. Now it's headed to court. The Federal Drive got more on the case from Smith Pachter McWhorter procurement attorney Joe Petrillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Nevada office of the Bureau of Land Management has so many paper records, they'd probably cover the land the agency manages. Recently it awarded multiple contractors a blanket purchase agreement to scan and digitize the paper. For details of how this will all work, the BLM's Nevada range program lead, Kathryn Dyer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices