Federal Drive with Tom Temin

What exactly is Congress and the administration talking about when they throw around infrastructure spending? For what possible plans are that involve agencies like the Transportation Department, the Federal Drive turned to someone who's been following the details closely. Bloomberg Government congress reporter Jack Fitzpatrick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The research and engineering unit at the Pentagon has made some important investments at two historically black colleges, Howard University and Delaware State University. Under its research and education program, it will establish centers of excellence in some highly contemporary technologies. For more, the Federal Drive turned to the program director for science at historically black and minority serving institutions, Evelyn Kent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For better or worse, public administration and the people who carry it out deal regularly with employee unions. Do unions help or hinder that public administration? In the first of a four-part series, Federal Unions, for Better or Worse, the Federal Drive got the perspective of someone who has studied this issue for 50 years. He's distinguished professor emeritus at Indiana University, Dr. James Perry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pentagon financial leaders say they’re making measurable progress toward finally earning a clean audit opinion. So much so, that they’re now willing to predict a tentative date when it’ll happen: 2028. That’s based on a series of corrective action plans designed to fix the major issues that have turned up so far in the first three years of audits. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu has an update on DoD’s long journey toward auditability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The vast majority of the Social Security Administration workforce has been teleworking for nearly 14 months. SSA field and local offices are either closed to the public or by appointment only, with managers handling mass volumes of mail and requests for in-person services. But managers and members of Congress say the current model is unsustainable. And they say SSA has an opportunity to reimagine the way it delivers service whenever the pandemic ends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Merit Systems Protection Board recently confirmed what most federal employees already knew: Everybody gets a step-pay increase whether they deserve it or not. Supervisors say too many people aren't suited to their jobs or even unwilling to do them. Federal Drive with Tom Temin talked about this with Bob Tobias, a professor in the Key Executive Leadership Program at American University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many adjectives describe the Marine Corps. How about this one: thorough. The Marines are in the midst of a thorough testing program for something that might seem like a simple thing: A new workout uniform. Federal Drive with Tom Temin talked with the 19th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Troy E. Black. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The words workplace and worker health have taken on whole new meanings in the year-plus-long pandemic. But NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is on a long-term research program. Through its own work and that of grantees, it's looking to develop what it calls integrated, holistic approaches to worker well-being. With an update on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin, is the director of NIOSH's Office for Total Worker Health, Dr. Casey Chosewood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was already difficult being the child of an active duty military member. Long periods of separation, frequent moves, the danger a parent could be injured or worse. The pandemic has magnified those issues, as we hear from the senior director of strategic partnerships at the military service organization Semper Fi and America's Fund, Greg Frey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an unlikely-sounding paring, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has formed what it calls a strategic partnership with engineering school at Duke University. Students will work with the FDIC on innovation in topics like finance and risk management. Joining the Federal Drive with more, the director of Duke's Master of Engineering in FinTech and Cybersecurity programs, Dr. Jimmie Lenz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Veterans Health Administration already had a lot of job vacancies before the pandemic. But the COVID crisis made the vacancies more acute. So VHA went to expedited hiring, with the goal of getting people on board within three days of an offer. That strategy get 'em in, but it does some with risks. For more on the possible downside, the VA's deputy assistant inspector general Leigh Ann Searight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress has fielded complaints about the VA's Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection since that office's inception. The office has not gotten especially high marks from the VA inspector general or whistleblowers either. Now a House committee is considering legislative changes. Members agree something needs to change with the current VA accountability office. But they can't agree yet on what those changes should be. More from Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yesterday, a federal judge made a long-awaited ruling in the long-running JEDI Cloud saga. And it was not the one the Defense Department wanted. The Court of Federal Claims says Amazon Web Services can proceed with its claims that the JEDI contract was tainted by improper political influence. That means the multi-billion dollar contract – which has already been delayed by years of litigation – is in for even more delays, if not outright cancellation. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu has covered the JEDI saga every step of the way, and he’s here now to explain the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal spending on information technology and cybersecurity passed the $100 billion mark - annually. Yet IT acquisition and ensuring security remain stubbornly on the High-Risk List maintained by the Government Accountability Office. Many longstanding GAO recommendations remain undone. A director on GAO's IT and cybersecurity team, Kevin Walsh, had the latest on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Russia, private military companies controlled by oligarchs with ties to President Vladimir Putin pose a growing threat to U.S. interests. Senior military fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and active duty Marine Corps Lt. Col. Joe Moye, said the Defense Department needs to develop a strategy to deal with so-called PMCs. U.S. armed forces could find themselves in hot conflict with PMCs - then what? He offered some answers on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices