Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Cybersecurity is, once again, the prime focus of the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act scorecard.The 15th version of FITARA debuts a new category for federal cybersecurity progress, while also reconfiguring the current IT security metric. The House Oversight and Reform Committee used agency inspectors general assessments based on the committee’s determined weighted average instead of the traditional average. Federal Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha told the subcommittee that the Office of Management and Budget released new cyber metrics on the Performance.gov site on Dec. 14. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just over a year in the making, the President’s Management Agenda has reached some significant milestones, according to Biden administration officials. But the work is far from over — agencies have a lot to do ahead to make the long-term management changes included in the PMA, said Jason Miller, deputy director of management at the Office of Management and Budget. “Transformational change, which is our objective, takes time. But to get there, you need to put some points on the board early and drive momentum and be clear about ultimately what success looks like. And that has been a big part of the work. A year in, we’ve made some great strides,” Miller said at a Dec. 13 event marking the one-year anniversary of the PMA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Foreign intelligence officers, the nation's secret agents , often witness violence. Sometimes they face the threat or reality of violence themselves. They're also sworn to secrecy, even with their families. And they must remain neutral when discussing morally changing topics with politicians and their minions. It all adds up to the potential for mental health problems. To take a look at this issue that the intelligence community needs to do more to mitigate , Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Heather Williams, a former intelligence official with several agencies and now a senior policy researcher at the Rand Corporation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A collegiate-level course in national security is about to expand the number of colleges where it's taught. Hacking for Defense started at Stanford University back in 2016. It brings student brainpower to bear on difficult national security and defense challenges. Since then it's spread to 50 other universities. Now it's set to double that. Here with details, the managing partner of the consultancy B-M-N-T. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Suicide prevention remains a top priority of the Veterans Health Administration. Now it's working upstream with the Marine Corps to enhance suicide prevention for individuals in or near bases and stations. To discuss the details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with the Veterans Health Administration's chief readjustment counseling officer, Michael Fisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first group under the “technologist hiring initiative” is about ready to take on the challenge of accelerating the Department of Homeland Security’s drive to improve customer experience. A senior DHS official said the agency is in the final stages of evaluating almost 1,000 applicants and plans to make job offers before the end of 2022. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the agency’s initiatives, said DHS hopes to have these new hires in place in January at headquarters and within the component agencies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Veterans Affairs is developing a plan to expand its network of healthcare facilities across the country and improve the infrastructure of some of its existing facilities. The VA expects to submit a new infrastructure plan to lawmakers in the first half of the new year, focused on expanding its footprint of facilities as it prepares for a historic expansion of veteran health care and benefits under the PACT Act. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Combined Federal Campaign had a successful giving season earlier this month. Now it's trying to keep the momentum going. For what's happening locally, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the chairman of the CFC for the National Capital Region, Vince Micone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Judges are suppose to be above the law. But even in the federal judicial branch, ethical and legal transgressions occur. The Government Accountability Office has found that the judiciary doesn't follow best practices for addressing waste, fraud and abuse. To get the details, Federal News Networks Eric White spoke with GAO's director of information and cybersecurity, Carol Harris. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cloud computing became a major technology strategy for the government more than 10 years ago. To help agencies ensure cloud security, the GSA set up a program called FedRAMP, Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program. The basic idea was, a vendor with FedRAMP certification for one agency could be trusted by other agencies for a given product. The program has come a long way. For an update, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the acting FedRAMP director, Brian Conrad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As time runs low before the current continuing resolution (CR) expires on Dec. 16, the Social Security Administration heightened calls to Congress to receive its entire budget request from the Biden administration for fiscal 2023. SSA received $400 million in the CR, but agency officials said that won’t be enough to tackle years-long challenges for the agency’s workforce. The agency is pushing Congress to approve the Biden administration’s budget request of $14.8 billion for 2023 — a $1.4 billion increase over the enacted level for 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Veterans Affairs says it’s ready to start moving away from the multibillion dollar IT platform it had intended to use to manage its massive health care logistics enterprise, and will now use its own contract vehicle to replace its troubled implementation of the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support system (DMLSS). Officials said Tuesday they are now reducing the scope and funding of their previous $2.6 billion interagency agreement with DoD to use the DMLSS system, whose implementation at VA has not gone well. In its place, VA is planning a new, more expansive supply chain modernization effort that will be managed by a single vendor or team of vendors over the next ten years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been six months since Thrift Savings Plan participants saw major changes in the online My Account platform, when the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board transitioned to a new TSP recordkeeping system. It may be an understatement to say that the final launch of TSP’s multi-year modernization project, known as “Converge,” was bumpy. Many TSP participants voiced their frustrations and concerns with both the board’s handling of the transition, as well as the interface itself, after the rollout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the biggest themes for Air Force war stories over the past couple of years has involved trying to make the computers work. Go to social media, and tales of hour-long waits to open email or download a PDF file proliferate. Now, the Department of the Air Force is scaling up its program to try and address the problem. So far, it’s making progress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From inflation adjustment to procurement leadtimes, the National Defense Authorization bill the Senate takes up today will address a few issues that have been nagging contractors for years. For highlights, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with the President and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices