Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Defense Intelligence Agency is hoping to stem attrition among its support staff by carving out more telework and remote work options for those positions. The spy agency offered more telework flexibility than ever before during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when its headquarters was operating at 40% capacity to allow for social distancing. But going forward, DIA Chief of Staff John Kirchhofer said personnel who operate in a “mission space” at the agency can still expect to do the majority of their work in a classified facility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It may seem like the Fourth of July weekend was just a couple of months ago, but now 2023 is only three weeks away. It's the season of lists! Make 'em once and check 'em twice!! While you're making lists, be sure you've got a year-end financial checklist. To get an idea of what should be on that list, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Abe Grungold, financial adviser and retired federal Senior Executive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It may seem like the Fourth of July weekend was just a couple of months ago, but now 2023 is only three weeks away. It's the season of lists! Make 'em once and check 'em twice!! While you're making lists, be sure you've got a year-end financial checklist. To get an idea of what should be on that list, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Abe Grungold, financial adviser and retired federal Senior Executive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot more accidents and near misses occur on the nation's railroads than you might realize. The Federal Railroad Administration tracks incidents using what's known as the Confidential Close Call Reporting System or C3RS. But the Government Accountability Office found that only a handful of railroads participate, so there's a big gap in safety data. To get more on this, Federal Drive host Tome Temin spoke with GAO's Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues, Elizabeth Repko. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A normally divided Federal Communications Commission recently voted unanimously to ban sales of Chinese-made telecommunications equipment in the United States. Specifically, gear made by the Huawai and ZTE. To get more on what went into that decision, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal employees at the National Science Foundation may soon see more opportunities for telework and remote work, but it’s not the only upcoming change for the agency’s workforce. One of many new provisions under NSF’s collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees now lets eligible federal employees officially telework up to four days per week. The two parties signed off on the four-year agreement on Nov. 17, after negotiating for more telework, flexible work hours, learning and development opportunities and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy has been banging this particular drum for years now. Not only are agencies allowed to engage in discussions with industry before they craft procurements, doing so is usually a good thing. Now that principle is enshrined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation via a new rule issued just last week. To go a little deeper, Federal News Network Deputy Editor Jared Serbu talked with Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A federal appeals court ruled last week that feds who work without pay during government shutdowns are not entitled to monetary damages. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found the government is not actually in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act in government shutdown situations. That’s because another law, the Antideficiency Act, effectively makes it illegal to pay employees when their agencies don’t have appropriations. Or so the court majority’s reasoning went. Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with Heidi Burakiewicz, an attorney for some of the federal plaintiffs who have been fighting for damages ever since the 2013 government shutdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a workforce of about two million, the federal government has only about 8,000 members in the senior executive service. A small number, but crucial, they are the main buffers and translators between the political appointees and the rank-and-file who actually do the work of government. Now the Senior Executives Association has a new board chairman. He retired last year as senior executive advisor to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. Federal Drive host has a chance to talk with Marcus Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If they can avert a rail strike, can they get a federal budget? To get the answer to that big question, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For nearly a quarter century, the government has been coaxing industry to report cyber security incidents. Now it's the law, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has the task of writing the rules and making it happen. For one industry view of how it's going, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the Information Technology Industry Council's Senior Director of Policy, Courtney Lang. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About one in four federal employees are veterans, spouses of veterans, or reservists. The Interagency Veterans Advisory Council, with 125 agencies participating, tracks veteran federal employee issues. Its most recent annual report had a couple of recommendations. With more on that, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with the the Council Chairman and a Senior Business Opportunity Specialist with the Small Business Administration, Lloyd Calderon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although employee engagement steadied in the 2022 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), details of the survey’s results revealed where federal employees may be looking for more workforce improvements. One of those areas looked at how employees felt about their agencies’ telework policies. About three-quarters of FEVS respondents said they wouldn’t consider leaving their position based on their current telework or remote work options. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A group of leading federal security officials is exploring ways agencies can break old paradigms for how employees log-in to federal networks and citizens access government services, driven by a whole-of-government mandate to adopt modern authentication practices. Multifactor authentication is a major issue in front of the federal chief information security officer council, according to Steven Hernandez, CISO at the Department of Education and co-chairman of the council. For federal employees, agencies are considering additional options beyond the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card. But Hernandez said the PIV card will continue to be a leading authenticator well into the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office directors -- one from the Obama administration and one from the Trump administration -- recently formed a coalition. Its aim is to protect U.S. intellectual property, particularly from theft by China. They've got ideas for what Congress ought to do. Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with the one of the co-chairmen of the Council for Innovation Promotion and former USPTO director Andrei Iancu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices