Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Two agencies that have say-so over the allocation of spectrum generally cooperate, but their agreements are 20 years old. And with the advent of 5G, it might be time to renew them. That's one finding of an examination of spectrum oversight by the Government Accountability Office. The GAO's director of physical infrastructure issues, Andrew Von Ah joins the Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You've seen the footage for the past year and a half, hospitals and health clinics nearly overwhelmed by COVID patients. Nurses, doctors and their aides reaching the point of burnout. In some areas, these conditions are coming back. Now the Health Resources and Services Administration or HRSA, part of Health and Human Services, wants to do something about burnout in the health workforce, in particular, a grant program with more than $100 million. For details, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the deputy associate administrator for Health Workforce at HRSA, Dr. Torey Mack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, seems like the answer to a million problems. But if the resulting plastic parts are full of tiny cracks and flaws, well, would you want that as your knee replacement? A materials research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology discovered ways to detect and fix flaws produced by additive manufacturing. She may have saved a manufacturing revolution. A finalist of this year's Service to America Medals program, Callie Higgins, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk about her work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Contractors working in federal facilities are under the same orders as federal employees. Get a COVID vaccine or face a regime of having your nose swabbed every week. But agency guidance now in circulation seems to add additional burdens on the contractors companies. More from the president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Office space and the people that occupy it. Those are among the top concerns of Defense Department leadership these days. In fact, a top naval officer said last week the department simply has too much space. Yet it and the other armed forces have trouble finding and keeping people in important positions. For more, we turn to Federal News Network reporters Scott Maucione and Jared Serbu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressman Darrell Issa returned to Capitol Hill in January after a two-year absence, bringing with him his "one CIO per agency" idea. You might remember the California Republican pushed the concept that there should be ONLY one person per agency with the title of chief information officer in 2012 as he was working on the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, or FITARA, bill. While that provision was left out of FITARA, Issa and Democrat Gerry Connolly are again pushing the need for CIO consolidation. In his weekly Reporter's Notebook, Federal News Network's Jason Miller writes about why the time may have come for Connolly and Issa's idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal spending for large quantities of medical supplies sucked in many companies doing business with the government for the first time. In fact, five times as many as in a normal year. The Government Accountability Office says agencies learned a thing or two, and now they need to remember them. Earlier we talked to the GAO is Marie Mak, director of contracting and national security acquisitions, about use of other transaction authorities. She's back and talked to Federal Drive with Tom Temin about how agencies can apply the lessons learned with non traditional contractors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not many feds even know there's a selective service, an actual federal agency that ensures the Defense Department would be able to tap the population it would need in an all out war. For two years, the Selective Service System has raised its rankings in the annual Best Places to Work sweepstakes. Acting Director Craig Brown joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss how they were able to do that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Postal Service's inspector general. its regulator and members of Congress are sounding alarms over plans to increase mail prices and slow the delivery of first-class mail. But the strongest rejection of these plans are happening inside the Postal Service itself. President Joe Biden’s picks to serve on the agency’s Board of Governors say the expected cost savings don’t justify the risks of going ahead with this plan. For more on where things go from here, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Government and private companies will work together in a new office aimed at cyber defense planning. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says major cloud providers, telecommunications companies and cyber firms have already signed up to participate in the new initiative. The goal is to improve both sides’ understanding of the cyber threats they face. Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday joins me with more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a return to the office up in the air, thanks to the resurgence of the COVID virus, it's a good time to think about how to support the mass remote working, more or less permanently. For some ideas, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to two experts from the General Services Administration's Office of Enterprise Technology Solutions. Amy Haseltine, the executive director, and the branch chief of solutions development, Jim Russo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The government has several initiatives underway to improve cybersecurity in the supply chain. Now an alliance of 200 international companies has launched an initiative of its own, partly to help members deal with federal mandates and get better on cybersecurity. For more, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the president and CEO of the Global Business Alliance, Nancy McLernon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It might have been a perfect weekend for a getaway, but the Senate was busy mainly on the ostensibly bipartisan infrastructure bill. It could eventually mean lots of work for nearly every federal agency. Loren Duggan, Bloomberg Government editorial director, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin with a summary to date, and what's ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the United States draws troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, a source of injury and death will cease. But research by the Veterans Health Administration will continue. Two years ago we checked in with one of VA's top researchers into brain injury and neuropathology. The chief of neuropathology at the VA Boston Healthcare System, Dr. Ann McKee returned to Federal Drive with Tom Temin for an update. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies spent more than a quarter of their contracting dollars on small businesses last year. That earned the federal government an "A" on the small business scorecard. But the General Services Administration stands out as one of only eight agencies that received an A+, meeting all of its prime and subcontracting goals. For more on GSA’s small business outreach, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with Exodie Roe, GSA’s associate administrator for the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices