Federal Drive with Tom Temin

On this episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: An in-depth update from one of the nation's premier federal law enforcement agencies. Will Congress get a budget deal done with only days before the first shutdown deadline? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is touting progress on an agreement with Microsoft to ensure advanced logging capabilities are available to all federal agencies for free, a move CISA says will make it easier for the federal government to root out cyber attacks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can the federal government resolve a long-running dispute with the Texas National Guard. And if it could, should it? The Guard, under Gov. Greg Abbott, has been running its own border-protection operation, at times keeping Customs and Border Protection out of the way. For one view of the legalities here and what the federal government could do, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the counsel for liberty and national security, Joseph Nunn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Pentagon keeps tabs on the status and attitudes of military spouses. Its biannual survey asks about satisfaction with military life, finances, employment and a list of other factors. For what leadership learns and how they use it, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy, Patricia Barron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dozens of current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority were arrested earlier this month, slapped with federal charges of bribery and extortion for taking kickbacks from companies getting housing-development contracts. The Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General (HUD IG) helped conduct the multi-agency investigation leading to the charges. For the details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin was visited in-studio by IG Rae Oliver Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: HUD moves against old-fashioned corruption flourishing in the big apple. Military spouses tell what life is like in the world of active duty. How the administration could deal with the Texas National Guard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of Jennifer Edgin's, the Navy's assistant deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, goals is to ensure technology is onboarded quickly and is always modernized. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Multiple-award contracts don't mean everyone who bids get a slot. A new federal circuit court ruling shows that losing companies can protest those who did get an award and maybe knock them off. For details on this important case, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with attorney Stephen Bacon of Rogers-Joseph-O'Donnell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By law and regulation, the Veterans Affairs department is supposed to check out the employees used by its contractors. A recent look-see by VA's Office of Inspector General found pretty serious non-compliance. For details and why this is so risky, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with Jeffrey Brown, VA's deputy assistant IG for audits and evaluations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This man has spent a career improving the lives of veterans and others with physical disabilities. He has overseen development of vastly improved wheelchairs and prosthetic devices. Now he is an inductee to the Inventors Hall of Fame. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with him at length: Rory Cooper, VA senior research career scientist, Paralympian, and the man who directs the Human engineering Research Laboratories, a joint VA and University of Pittsburgh effort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: This VA researcher has devoted his career to technology for assisting the disabled. VA does not have a good handle on its contractor employees. Contractors have new grounds to protest their way into a multiple award contract. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Pentagon’s massive project to overhaul the military’s system for moving members’ belongings from one duty station to another has cleared its latest technical hurdle and is finally ready to begin implementation, government and company officials involved with the multibillion dollar Global Household Goods contract said Tuesday. A new round of IT integration testing, conducted in January, proved “successful,” Stuart Bradie, the president and CEO of KBR, told investors on a conference call. HomeSafe, the holder of the up to $17.9 billion Global Household Goods Contract (GHC), is a joint venture between KBR and Tier One Relocation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SAN DIEGO — When the Ivanti virtual private network vulnerability came to light in January, the Department of the Navy had an answer. The DoN expanded its virtual desktop interface to 110,000 users from 25,000 in less than a week, moving them off of the risky VPN product. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Contractors are wary of the latest proposed rule giving DoD access to their IT systems. It is part of an effort to improve cybersecurity with incident reporting and information sharing. Another rule would impose new requirements on contractors unclassified systems. For reaction, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Stephanie Kostro, Vice President for Policy at the Professional Services Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whistleblower protection legislation often has bipartisan support. Yet it seems to take forever. A bill to extend federal protections to contractors was supposed to get marked up in January in the House Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. But now it is sidelined. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Joe Spielberger, the policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices