Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The government doesn't do too much spending and planning. It doesn't do enough. That at least is the contention of my next guest. He's a vice president at Booz Allen, and co-author of a book on how organizations can better plan for successful futures. Tim Andrews joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden's three nominees for the Merit Systems Protection Board may have the best shot in years at restoring a quorum. The board hasn't had a quorum in nearly five years. And it hasn't had any members at all since 2019. The nominees faced their first test in the Senate confirmation process. And they face a tough task ahead if they are confirmed. The MSPB has a backlog of more than three thousand, four hundred pending petitions for review. The nominees say they have some ideas to work through it. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Space Force is billing itself as a new kind of military service. This week it come out with its first human capital strategy, and it’s looking very different than traditional military doctrine. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive to explain more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The electromagnetic spectrum that our phones, radios and TVs rely on is a scare commodity and figuring out how to allocate it in the most sensible way has been a challenge for the past century. The way the Federal Communications Commission does it now, particularly when it comes to cell phones, is based on a complex auction process. The idea is to use market forces to make the most efficient use of the spectrum. Those auctions have generated more than $200 billion in revenue to the federal government so far. Our next guest is one of the designers of the modern-day process. Evan Kwerel is a senior economic advisor at the FCC, where he’s spent more than three decades working on the problem. And he’s a finalist for this year’s Service to America Medals. He talked about his work with Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Labor relations at the Department of Veterans Affairs soured a bit during the Trump administration. And they haven't gotten any better with Joe Biden in the White House. That's according to the VA council of the American Federation of Government Employees. AFGE has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the department. Union attorney Ibidun Roberts joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for an update. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic created big challenges for the nation’s immigration courts, which are used to doing business in person. But according to the Government Accountability Office, DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, the agency that runs the courts, could have done a better job adapting to virtual. Inconsistent policies and a lack of stakeholder engagement made things more difficult than they needed to be. Rebecca Gambler is director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues at GAO. She talked with about their findings with Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A memo from the Defense Department late last week seemed to point to continuing contractor work in Afghanistan, of all places. But it instructs contractors to something strange when it comes to putting information into the Federal Procurement Data System. For details and what it all might mean, the president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

That vaccine mandate for federal employees and contractors working onsite at federal facilities has got feathers flying. Practical ones, legal ones, constitutional ones. No less then feds, contractor people are wondering how this will all take place. For some of what's on industry's mind from a legal standpoint, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to Holland and Knigh partner Eric Crusius. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration has launched a new version of a program that's helped agencies solve pressing technology problems. U.S. Digital Corps will bring in two-year fellows to be assigned throughout the government. For details, the Federal Drive turned to the director of the Technology Transformation Service at the General Services Administration, Dave Zvenyach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Remember those EF Hutton commercials where the person says my broker is EF Hutton and EF Hutton says, cue dramatic pause and everyone in the room quiets down to listen, well when it comes to cloud, GSA and USDA could be the EF Hutton for federal agencies. Both are launching new initiatives to tackle what you could call the third phase of cloud computing. In his weekly feature, the Reporter's Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller writes about how GSA and USDA are attempting to address cloud sprawl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Air Force says, time is up for modernizing for the next phase of warfare. This week the service’s leaders sounded the alarm, that the Air Force needs to change the way it operates and structures itself to meet threats. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive with what he's hearing at the Air Force Association conference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Postal Service is moving ahead with its next-generation delivery vehicle contract, now that a major hurdle is out of the way. An electric vehicle company on USPS’s shortlist has pulled its bid protest over the $3 billion contract. That deal is now going to Oshkosh Defense. With this and more on the latest postal happenings, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The famous Defense Innovation Unit has a new little sibling. The National Security Innovation Capital focuses on investing in innovative hardware that can benefit the military. After nine months, the office has invested $15 million dollars. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with the director of the NISC, Tex Schenkkan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anytime the topic of artificial intelligence comes up, two things dominate the discussion: It's the technology of the future and China is ahead of the U.S. Whatever the reality, the White House earlier this year launched a National Intelligence Research Resource Task Force. It's run out of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation. For a progress report on what the task force has been up to, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the senior advisor for translation, innovation and partnerships at the National Science Foundation Dr. Erwin Gianchandani. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two weeks to the end of the fiscal year, and so it's crunch time for Congress. Besides fighting over a $3.5 trillion extra spending bill and a $2.9 trillion tax hike, there's the matter of the regular old appropriations to keep the government running. For the outlook, Bloomberg Government deputy news director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices