Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The United States may not be a war with Russia in the classic military sense. But it does have troops deployed to NATO countries. And that costs money. For a view into contract spending to support troops in NATO countries, we turn to Bloomberg Government senior data analyst Paul Murphy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the U.S. military's modernizing efforts don't go faster than its aging process, the country's got a problem. Yet that's exactly what's happening, according to my next guest. Robert McDonald is a retired CIA officer and former professor of national security at the National War College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few services to the public can be as troublesome as agency contact centers. Just ask the IRS. Yet as long as people have phones, they're going to want service by telephone. Technology consultants at Deloitte studied contact centers and came up with a model for what they call the contact center of the future. Joining the Federal Drive with what that might look like, Deloitte Consulting principal Marc Mancher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The whiskered Federal IT Dashboard would getting a facelift under the administration's fiscal 2023 budget plan. The portal that makes agency technology spending transparent and searchable hasn't had a major upgrade since it launched in 2009. For more on the planned improvements, Federal News Network's Jason Miller spoke with the director of data transparency for GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy, Dan York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House sees 2022 as an important year for personnel vetting reform. The background investigations backlog seems to have dried up, but officials say granting security clearance still takes too long because its too complicated. They hope technology will help solve a lot of the problems. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In just a few weeks the annual budget dance, this time for 2023, will start. People who follow these things closely predict the White House will request only a very small increase for the Defense Department, knowing Congress will plus it up anyway. For the latest detail, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to Bloomberg Government reporter Roxana Tiron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Financial management problems at the Defense Department show up year after year. Throw in problems at the Small Business Administration and a few other persistent issues, and it's impossible to accurately assess the state of federal finances. And that's the conclusion from the latest look at the government's consolidated statements conducted by the Government Accountability Office. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin got the latest from the GAO's Director of Financial Management and Assurance issues, Dawn Simpson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russia's land war in Ukraine is in some ways, an outgrowth of its long running cyberspace war. And that affects everybody, not just Ukraine. For how the current situation changes the cybersecurity picture, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with the senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Ret. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Veterans Health Administration is developing new methods to treat patients by gathering ideas from its own staff. It showcases the ideas on a website called the diffusion marketplace. Now the site is open to anyone. For more, Federal News Network's Jory Heckman spoke with a member of VHA's Diffusion of Excellence program, Blaine Fitzgerald, on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two major Defense Department information technology initiatives took major steps this week. The Fourth Estate Network Consolidation, involving most of DoD outside of the armed services themselves, has awarded a big contract to modernize its underlying network. Plus on the armed services side, DoD is putting the initial pieces in place to create the backbone of the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) Project. For more on these two efforts, Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller and Deputy Editor Jared Serbu joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The government looks like its doing everything possible to discourage companies from selling to it. Especially small businesses, who lack the manpower or intestinal fortitude to slog through a growing number of rules. That's the view of longtime federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen, who joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you like going after companies that cheat their employees on wages, this might be the job for you. The Labor Department wants to hire one hundred investigators in its wage and hour division. The Federal Drive got more now from the division's acting administrator, Jessica Looman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thrift Savings Plan returns for the month are out today. Participation in the federal employee version of the 401K is up for 2022. But the recession has been unlike anything before. Ditto for the recovery. The Federal Thrift Retirement Investment Board is watching the rebound closely. And its getting ready to launch new digital tools for TSP users. Federal News Network’s Amelia Brust has the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ongoing aggression by Vladimir Putin and his Russian armed forces has provoked a nearly all-of-government response from the United States, no less than nations geographically closer to Ukraine. That includes the State Department. For a view from the inside, the Federal Drive turned to the president of the American Foreign Services Association, Eric Rubin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The state of the Defense industrial base depends a lot on where you sit these days. In the boardroom, many DIB companies, especially large ones, are seeing revenue increases, meaning contracts are flowing. But for the Pentagon, the DIB itself continues to shrink. In his weekly Reporter's Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller covers the state of the defense industrial base and why some believe two recent reports should serve as a wake up call. Jason joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices