Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Defense Department ranks high among federal agencies seeking expertise in quantum computing, the next big thing in computing. DoD agencies have established several ways to recruit and hire people with chops in quantum sub-skills. But the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds, they're not all following the best practices for getting the people they need. More now from Candice Wright, the GAO's Director of Science, Technology Assessment and Analytics . GAO REPORT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received some good news as the year closed. It achieved a clean financial audit opinion, with no material weaknesses. It even won praise from its inspector general. For how this happened, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Chief Financial Officer Vinay Singh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: A year-end, good news story on agency financial management. On the human capital front, quantum computing is easier said than done. Comments are closed. Will the FedRAMP program actually get updated? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department’s long-awaited proposed rule for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program lays out DoD’s plan to introduce the CMMC requirements over the next three years. The proposed rule, released today and scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Dec. 26, would establish requirements “for a comprehensive and scalable assessment mechanism” to ensure defense contractors are implementing required security protections. DoD already has a provision in its contracts requiring companies that handle controlled unclassified information to protect it in accordance with controls set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies don’t have to worry about a 1% sequestration on discretionary funds kicking in for a few more months. The Office of Management and Budget says the requirement to reduce discretionary spending under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), signed into law in June, wouldn’t take effect until “after full year appropriations are enacted, or April 30, whichever comes first.” “OMB will take no action on Jan. 1, 2024, and no additional action should be taken by agencies to reduce impacted discretionary funding, even though a short-term continuing resolution will be in effect at that time,” OMB wrote in frequently asked questions on 2024 discretionary spending sent to agencies on Dec. 22. “If any discretionary appropriation account remains on a short-term CR past April 30, OMB is required to issue a final sequestration report that compares the annualized appropriation levels provided by all discretionary appropriations bills under current law as of April 30 against the [FRA’s] section 102 interim spending limits. A breach of the section 102 spending limits would require OMB to order a sequestration to bring the current law discretionary appropriations in line with those interim spending limits.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a mess. Border security, foreign military aid, and the lack of a 2024 budget agreement have turned into a sort of Gordian Knot for Congress. Happy New Year indeed. For what could happen this week, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The chief operating officer of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has received recognition from a leading university public administration program. Orice Williams Brown, who has worked at GAO for more than 30 years, got the Excellence in Federal Leadership Award from the public administration and policy department at American University. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Ms. Brown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: A federal auditor wins a prestigious award from academia. A glance at artificial intelligence at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Irresistible forces are pushing on a seemingly immovable Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden finalized a 5.2% federal pay raise for many civilian employees for 2024. But it’s important to note the 5.2% figure is only an average. The actual numbers federal employees will see in their paychecks next year depend on where they work, thanks to locality pay. Biden’s alternative pay plan called for a 4.7% across-the-board raise that all feds on the General Schedule receive, plus an average of a 0.5% locality-based adjustment. The 0.5% part of the raise is what accounts for the differences in pay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The I Fund, that is the international stock fund operated by the Thrift Savings Plan. Next year, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board will overhaul how the I Fund goes about making investments. For what this means and why it's important, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with Certified Financial Planner Arthur Stein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new capability from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) aims to give warfighters what it calls situational awareness of the electromagnetic spectrum. The spectrum itself has become a battle-space, so it is important to know what's going on there. For more on the baby-steps version of this tool, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the Deputy Director of the Program Executive Office Spectrum, Kevin Laughlin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: DISA releases a new system to help military commanders see what was invisible. As a critical feature prepares to debut in 2024, the TSP doesn't stand still. Why 2023 was a record year for GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House is putting a renewed emphasis on accessibility requirements for federal technology under an Office of Management and Budget memo that directs a bevy of agency-specific and government-wide actions. The memo, “Strengthening Digital Accessibility and the Management of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act,” was signed out Dec. 21 by OMB Director Shalanda Young. It’s intended to ensure agencies meet Section 508 standards set by the U.S. Access Board. “Members of the public and federal employees should have equitable access to government, regardless of ability,” Young writes. “The prevalence of information technology and the growing necessity of it in daily life make digital accessibility a continuing imperative for federal agencies.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two separate payroll errors at the Postal Service over the past few months kept thousands of rural letter carriers from getting their full paychecks on time. Now the union is demanding USPS modernize its payroll system, and that the agency pay “harsh penalties” to compensate rural carriers if these problems persist. The National Rural Letter Carriers Association filed a national-level grievance this week over the Postal Service’s “repeated failure to pay rural carriers correctly and on time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices