Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Defense Department is learning that even vibrations, let along the bang, from some guns can be unhealthy for the brain. The Pentagon has taken steps to learn more about traumatic brain injuries in recent decades. Medical leadership says it’s entering a paradigm shift in how it approaches brain health. The strategy, which is in draft form now, takes into account the potential head injury exposures service members endure over the whole of their career. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione talks about the new plan with DoD brain injury specialist Kathy Lee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even if the government releases confidential information about an incumbent contractor during a recompete, too bad. It's not enough to sustain a protest. That's what a State Department contractor found out when information useful to competitors leaked out. Smith Pachter McWhorter attorney Joe Petrillo sorts out this case for the Federal Drive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The global positioning system on which so much of modern life depends faces two basic threats. One, it's easy to spoof, placing things at locations other than where they actually are. Second, it's vulnerable to interruption, say, if another nation wanted to make mischief with GPS satellites. My next guest says it's time to fund a plan already in place for the Transportation Department. She's a former deputy assistant secretary of DOT, now teaching economics at George Washington University, Diana Furchtgott-Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Both the armed services and contractors are trying to speed design and prototyping of new platforms and weapons using digital techniques. They're taking traditional computer aided design and updating it with artificial intelligence and machine learning, giving development a sort of autonomy it's never had. And building more sophisticated virtual environments in which to test new platforms. For one view of how industry is doing this, the Federal Drive turned to the president of Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Wes Kramer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Army Futures Command is in charge of pushing novel ideas and modernizing the service. As such, the Command itself it needs a high caliber workforce. Now the Command has started refining the groups it targets for recruitment, using some of its own novel ideas for human capital. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with Army Futures Command’s Chief Human Capital Officer, Kate Kelley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Postal Service tells commercial customers that higher rates for slower service are necessary to keep the agency from running out of cash. That’s a key part of the 10-year plan reform plan it released in March. But mailers say the plan is a tough sell that will accelerate a decline in mail volume already made worse by the pandemic. For more analysis of plan, and its chances of getting off the ground, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with a senior fellow at the Lexington Institute, Paul Steidler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

HotSOS, it might sound like something in the condiments aisle. But it's actually an annual event held by the National Security Agency. Hot Topics on Science of Security, its formal name, will be held online next week. For what happens at the event and some of science challenges in security, the Federal Drive checked in with NSA science researcher, Adam Tagert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For more than a decade, the Air Force Association and Northrop Grumman have conducted the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, matching teams of middle- and high school students who find and fix cybersecurity flaws. Winners were announced just last week. Joining the Federal Drive with more about the program, CyberPatriot commissioner and retired Brig. Gen. Bernie Skoch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the Arctic region is the roof the world, the Army is starting to think differently about what could be lurking up there. Like Russia. Last month the Army released a new strategy called Regaining Arctic Dominance, aimed at helping secure U.S. interests in the region. Joining the Federal Drive with some of the details in the strategy, Army strategic planner Elizabeth Felling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's bipartisan concern in Congress now about the status of the Merit Systems Protection Board. The MSPB hasn't had a quorum for more than four years. And it hasn't had a single board member for more than two. The agency's only partially functional. At least its administrative judges are still issuing initial decisions on some appeals. But federal employee groups and a bipartisan pair of House members worry a federal court will shake up MSPB operations before the White House and Congress can get around to restoring a quorum. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined the Federal Drive to explain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Office of Management and Budget is applying new pressure to agencies to meet the goals of the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions or EIS program. Federal News Network has learned OMB is asking for an update by July 1st on agency progress and plans for achieving the deadlines for using the network and telecommunication modernization contract. This requirement in the IT passback guidance comes just before agencies fell well short of the General Services Administration’s March 31st goal to have at least 50 percent of their network and telecommunications inventory transitioned to the new contract. Allen Hill is the deputy assistant commissioner for category management in the Office of the IT Category in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service and oversees the EIS program. He tells executive editor Jason Miller about the status of the initiative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Postal Service, after 14 consecutive years of net losses, can’t maintain the status quo and expect different results. That’s why Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the agency needs to move ahead with a 10-year reform plan of which he drove the development. As part of that plan, USPS is in the middle of shrinking its management workforce. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman spoke with DeJoy and joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin with highlights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They're out there in the universe - bursts of radio energy coming from distant galaxies. These fast radio bursts (FRBs) were first identified a few years ago. Now, thanks in large measure to the work of Matthew Kerr, we know exactly where in the cosmos at least some of these FRBs originate. Kerr is a research physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and he joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The financial services industry, at least from a management perspective, isn't all that diverse. That's true of government-chartered Federal Home Loan Banks, and the supervised Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage finance giants - known as the enterprises. They're all the subject of a recent look-see by the Government Accountability Office. For highlights, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the GAO's Managing Director for financial markets and community investment issues, Daniel Garcia-Diaz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What exactly is a false claim for purposes of federal contracting and if the government goes after a contractor? The Supreme Court recently decided not to weigh in on a split lower court decision in a regarding standards for what exactly makes a false statement. To explain what happened and what it means to federal contractors, McGuireWoods law firm partner Michael Podberesky joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices