Federal Drive with Tom Temin

It's not easy for a federal agency to cut over to a new financial management system. But that's what the Coast Guard is about to do. Coasties are about halfway through the cutover period, with November 17th as the date for completion. For how it's all going, the Federal Drive turned to the assistant commandant for resources and the chief financial officer, Rear Admiral Mark Fedor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate appropriators are plussing up the defense budget, relative to what the Biden administration has requested. The newest release of Senate budget bills has the Pentagon getting twenty four billion dollars more than what the White House requested earlier this year. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive to talk about where this money would go. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. government’s technical standards agency is taking on a potentially era-defining issue: How should the nation manage the risks of artificial intelligence? The National Institute of Standards and Technology is just starting this work, and it’s already confronting some tough questions For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty-one years after the passage of the Clinger-Cohen Act, agencies and auditors are still debating whether chief information officers should report to the agency secretaries or deputy secretaries. Even though presidents have issued executive orders and the Office of Management and Budget has issued policies, the question of the reporting structure has to come back to outcomes and not process. In his weekly Reporter's Notebook executive editor Jason Miller covered why this debate has reemerged and how the government can finally put it to rest. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of the Navy spent more than $17 billion in fiscal 2021 with small business prime contractors. Once again, the DoN met or exceeded all of its small business goals. Where the Department is still struggling is ensuring small business subcontractors are not being used as bait by large businesses to get contracts , and then the subs don't get their fair share of work. For more on the Navy Department's efforts to better enforce small business subcontracting plans, Federal News Network's Jason Miller spoke with the director of the Office of Small Business Programs, Jimmy Smith, for Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate Democrats are out with nine new appropriations bills for 2022. Yes, the fiscal year started three weeks ago. But Congress isn't anywhere close to finishing the necessary work of funding federal agencies for the 2022. The bills from Senate Democrats would increase civilian spending by 13% and defense spending by another 5%. The Senate drafts are also silent on a pay raise for federal employees. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain the path forward for these bills and next year's pay raise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's money they want - cyber criminals and fraudsters of all types. To get a better handle on the latest risks and mitigation strategies, the Association of Government Accountants and consultants Guidehouse surveyed AGA members. With highlights of what they discovered, the Guidehouse partner for public sector financial services, Caitlin McGurn, spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to federally funded research, the grantees can have conflicts of interest that are non-financial. Like employment by another institution, or worse, some tie to a foreign government that may try to influence research outcomes. After looking at policies for agencies representing 90% of federal research and development grants, the Government Accountability Office has a few recommendations. For highlights, Federal Drive turned to the GAO's director of science, technology assessment and analytics, Candice Wright. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It didn't take long into the global COVID-19 pandemic before Chinese researchers posted the genetic sequence of the virus online. And it was only about two days later that two researchers at the National Institutes of Health designed the basic outlines of COVID vaccines. For their work, doctors Kizzmekia Corbett and Barney Graham are finalists in this year's Service to American Medals program. Barney Graham joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal contractors only want two things at the moment. Besides contracts that is. One is for Congress, specifically the Senate, to get on with the National Defense Authorization law already. And two, for the administration to sort out an increasingly convoluted vaccine mandate. We get the lowdown from the president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new book says federal policy makes the nation's veterans sicker and poorer. Its author is not just anybody. Daniel Gade is a former Army lieutenant colonel, who lost a leg in combat, now an adjunct lecturer in public administration and policy at American University. He's the co-author and publisher of Wounding Warriors, How Bad Policy is Making Veterans Sicker and Poorer., a book about VA policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, actually there are three soldiers at rest there, is one of the most hallowed sites in the country. It's also one of the most popular visitor attractions at Arlington National Cemetery. Next month the cemetery will mark an important date. For details I caught up with the commander of the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknown, First Lt. Andrew Katz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Research and engineering with the Defense Department is about to get a big push forward especially in sustainment of new systems. And troops are starting to feel the consequences if the don't get down with the vaccine mandate. It's all in this week's edition of the DOD Reporters Notebook with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu and Scott Maucione. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 years after the passage of the Clinger Cohen Act, agencies and auditors are still debating whether chief information officers should report to the agency secretaries or deputy secretaries. Even though Presidents have issued executive orders and OMB has issued policies, the question of the reporting structure has to come back to outcomes and not process. In his weekly Reporter's Notebook executive editor Jason Miller covers why this debate has reemerged and how the government can finally put it to rest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a continuing resolution in place for a while, Congress can turn its attention to whatever ambitions it may have for infrastructure. But the going is getting tougher, so no telling whether the bureaucracy will have however many trillions dropped on it. The Federal Drive got the latest from Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices