Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Members of Congress have little time when they return from their August recess to come up with a budget resolution. Budget experts are already telling contractors to start preparing now for a possible government shutdown. Federal News Radio's Nicole Ogrysko joins the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain why budget experts are sending out warning signals now, and what contractors should start considering.

The Pentagon's Defense Manpower Data Center runs a public website that lets anyone with personal information about a service member - their name, social security number, and date of birth - find more details about them. Details like whether they're still serving in the military, when they enlisted and their separation date. The public database was set up to help financial institutions comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which grants a host of legal protections for members of the military. But a new lawsuit by Vietnam Veterans of America claims the way DoD is implementing the website puts sensitive data about millions of troops and veterans at risk. Rick Weidman is VVA's director for policy and government affairs. He talked with the Federal Drive with Tom Temin about the group's objections.

In its first 200 days, the Trump administration has thrown a lot at federal employees. He's proposed deep budget cuts. He's ordered comprehensive reorganization plans. He's initiated buyouts at a few places. And there's likely more to come. For some advice for managers on how to navigate in times like these, Federal Drive with Tom Temin speaks with Margot Conrad, director of education and outreach at the Partnership for Public Service.

With buyouts and early retirements occurring these days, some agencies may be parting ways with a fair number of employees. If that's the case at your agency, you'll want to make sure that once those employees separate, they're no longer able to access your network. For advice on how to do that, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Greg Kushto, senior director of security and solutions engineering with Force 3.

The Food and Drug Administration and in particular its ability to collect crucial fees is at stake in a new legislative proposal. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) wants to give drug companies more leeway to let people try drugs experimentally. For more on this and other congressional doings, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turns to Roll Call Senior Editor David Hawkings.

With 2018 approaching, there's little time left to get the 2020 decennial count back on track. But the Census Bureau has neither a director nor a deputy. It has tests to run but not enough money. Some of the technology it's using is risky. No wonder the Government Accountability Office has put the count on its high risk list. Can it be saved? For some answers, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turns to former Census Bureau Director Robert Groves, now the provost at Georgetown University.

Workloads are on the rise for government attorneys at all levels federal, state and local. One reason is the retirement of baby boom-era civil servants. That's according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. For the implications, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turns to Steve Rubley, managing director of the government segment at Thomson Reuters, and Peter Vincent, general counsel at Thomson Reuters special services and a former Homeland Security Department attorney.

When it comes to enterprise risk management, federal chief information officers and chief information security officers have gotten the memo from President Donald Trump. But some cybersecurity officials within the upper echelons of the defense community worry that the rank-and-file may be too preoccupied with the nuts and bolts of compliance. Federal News Radio's Jory Heckman has more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The goal of moving federal back-office systems to shared services now has crossed into its third administration. There's plenty of progress on paper, but the on-the-field performance remains problematic at best and wasteful at worst. The latest example is the Homeland Security Department. After nearly three years, DHS has decided to cut short its efforts with the Interior Business Center. In his weekly feature, the Reporter's Notebook, Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller writes about what happened to the DHS-Interior partnership and what this means for shared services more broadly.

The backlog in federal security background checks seems impervious to efforts to cut it down. In fact it's getting worse. And now the Office of Personnel Management, where the effort lives, is without a chief information officer. Industry is watching closely. David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, offers his take on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

There aren't enough cybersecurity professionals to go around for government and industry. Federal Drive with Tom Temin asked Karen Evans, former White House IT official, and now the director of the U.S. Cyber Challenge, for her assessment of the state of the workforce and whether the people available match the requirements.

For nearly 25 years, NASA's Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement (SEWP) contracts have been among the most popular buying vehicles in the federal government. Now the SEWP program is taking steps to ensure that when agencies buy through resellers who are authorized by the manufacturers. SEWP Program Manager Joanne Woytek explains it all on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The Federal Energy Management Program's third annual Energy Exchange kicks off this week in Tampa, Florida and Energy Department officials say this year's conference does more than just get government and industry to think green. Federal News Radio's Meredith Somers has more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The U.S. Postal Service had a rough third quarter, but soon it could get more leeway in setting stamp prices under a proposal before the Postal Regulatory Commission. Federal News Radio's Jory Heckman has been following this story, and provides the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Bill Newhouse is the deputy director of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education or NICE program. He tells Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller about how the new NICE workforce framework gives agencies a common starting point to improve their workforce capabilities.