Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Contractors might be forgiven if they feel like second-class citizens, if and when everyone returns to the federal office. That's thanks for procedures required by a White House executive order. With what to expect, we turned to attorney Amy Conway, a partner at the Stinson law firm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not many task orders are worth nearly a billion dollars. But the Defense Department's Central Command just issued a big one to Peraton. Centcom wants help with a variety of information and intelligence challenges. For more on the contract, Tom Temin talked Peraton's Technical Lead Program Manager, Shawn Chenoweth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department recently asked contractors, and any other interested parties, for comments about climate. In particular, climate-related disclosures, like whether organizations measure their carbon output or post it publicly. Our guest says disclosures should go further than that. He's the former FEMA administrator, now chief resilience officer at One Concern, Craig Fugate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hunters and fishermen will like this new initiative from the Interior Department. It's expanding opportunities over 88 wildlife refuges covering more than two million acres. For more on what it takes to make this happen, the chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System at the Fish and Wildlife Service, Cynthia Martinez spoke with Federal Drive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two executive orders from the last eight months are driving some big policy discussions inside the Biden administration. One focuses on advancing equity in underserved communities with government services. And another looks at diversity and inclusion inside the federal workforce. One initiative can’t succeed without the other. And the administration says agencies ultimately won’t improve customer service without focusing on diversity and equity internally inside the federal workforce, and externally with the government services they provide to the public. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency wants intel analysts to consider services offered by commercial companies before they turn to national spy satellites and other government developed capabilities. A forthcoming strategy document will lay out the increased commercial focus. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday joined the Federal Drive to discuss Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the sweepstakes for the latest iteration of a big Army logistics contract, two bid protests failed to gain a prize for one bidder. A big issue was pricing. Its prices were too high, but not too high enough. Sounds strange? Smith Pachter McWhorter procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo joined the Federal Drive to explain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Veterans Health Administration is busy trying to gather what you might call the innovation lessons it learned during the pandemic. These ranged from ways of reducing person-to-person spread of the virus, optimal designs for 3D printed personal protection devices. For a summary, the chief officer for the VHA office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning, Doctor Ryan Vega, he spoke with Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Staffing, keeping all of its available positions filled with the right people, has been an enduring challenge for the Veterans Affairs Department. And VA has a model for staffing. But the VA office of inspector general finds, the model somehow fails to translate into a clear picture of staffing requirements. For more, the deputy assistant inspector general for healthcare inspections, Julie Kroviak. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last month the Defense Department said it would mandate COVID vaccinations for all service members. Now the military branches are out with their implementation plans. The Army is the latest to roll out a strategy. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined the Federal Drive with details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service sees an opportunity to catch up, after spending much of the pandemic getting payments out to the public. In a letter to the agency's financial staff, agency executives say they're looking to disburse nearly all payments electronically by 2030. And to flag more improper payments, and modernize its data. For more, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with the commissioner Tim Gribben Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Office of Personnel Management agreed with nearly all of the recommendations the National Academy of Public Administration made earlier this spring about how it should move on from the unsuccessful merger and reshape itself. The agency submitted its plans for charting a new course to Congress. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joins me now to explain what those plans are... and just how much Congress will need to get involved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A final story in our look back at 9/11 and its aftermath: On that sunny morning, Joe Gradisher was a spokesman in the Navy’s Chief of Information Office (CHINFO). After the plane smashed into the Pentagon, Gradisher was among the thousands who evacuated the military headquarters building and scrambled to continue the mission. Gradisher retired as a Navy captain but still works in the Pentagon as a civilian public affairs officer. He spoke with Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It used to be called the "General Accounting Office." The GAO audits both financial and program performance of federal agencies. Now the nonpartisan Lincoln Network has analyzed data supplied by the GAO that's not normally public, and it says a lot about how much money the GAO's work actually saves. For details, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the Director of Cyber and National Security at the Lincoln Network, Dan Lips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As federal pandemic response lumbers along, the lessons learned are piling up. That's thanks to the work of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, fondly known as the PRAC. For an update, the PRAC Executive Director Bob Westbrooks spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices