Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Federal employees’ wages are falling further behind those in the private sector, according to new data from the Federal Salary Council.The council reported that in 2022, federal workers earned 24.09% less in wages alone than their private sector counterparts. In 2021, the pay gap by the same measurement was 22.47%. In comparison, the Biden administration’s federal pay raise request is 4.6% for next year, composed of a 4.1% overall increase and a 0.5% pay locality increase. The National Treasury Employees Union, in light of the council’s report, reemphasized its push for an even larger federal pay increase in 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elliott Johnson Jr. is a senior management analyst in the HUD's Office of the Chief Risk Officer. He tells executive editor Jason Miller about a new tool that will help mature the agency’s processes, and reduce fraud. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As long as the government has had competitive procurement, one rule has stood firm. If a bid comes in late, tough luck for that bidder. But the rule got harder to interpret when email replaced hand-delivered envelopes or faxes. What if a server crashed? What if a bid got stopped by a spam filter? Now a new case has muddied the rule. For the details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with Zach Prince, Smith Pachter McWhorter procurement attorney. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the Senate or the House (or both) switch to Republican control come January, you can expect a different approach to government oversight. To explore specifics and possibilities, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with Molly Reynolds, the senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No agency can operate effectively without a solid financial framework. That's where chief financial officers come in. Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with someone who has operated as a CFO at large federal agencies and at two major universities. At the moment Gwendolyn Sykes is the CFO of the Secret Service and a new follow at the National Academy of Public Administration or NAPA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As agencies pivot their thinking about the role of hybrid work — a mix of in-person and telework opportunities — for the federal workforce, some federal employees are raising questions about the reasons behind working in the office at all. Close to two-thirds — about 64% — of respondents in an exclusive Federal News Network online survey said they were satisfied with their current work situation. But at the same time, the requirement of working in the office at least once a week was a pain point for some. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a recent speech, OPM Director Kiran Ahuja pledged to improve the tangle around submitting retirement applications and getting annuities figured out. As year-end approaches and people think about retirement plans, Federal Drive host Tom Temin welcomed to his show, a new regular guest to discuss benefits, investment and retirement: Abraham Grungold spent 36 years as a working for the federal government and is the owner of AG Financial Services, which specialized in federal employees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A survey back in 2019 showed nearly one-third of employees at FEMA had experienced discrimination or harassment. Since then, the agency has taken a number of steps to reduce the incidence of these problems. A new check by the Government Accountability Office shows FEMA could do more. For the latest, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with GAO's director of homeland security and justice issues, Chris Currie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations Energy and Environment have formed a partnership. Together they want to establish a new entit called, "The Sustainable Infrastructure, Resilience and Climate Consortium." Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke about it with West Point assistant professor of mechanical engineering and deputy director of the center for innovation and engineering, Todd Davidson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Army is exploring how to use Software Bills of Material requirements in contracts, potentially putting the military department at the leading edge of federal organizations looking to use “SBOMs” to secure their software supply chains. In an Oct. 21 request for information, the Army’s acquisition directorate is seeking feedback on “effective, streamlined, and innovative ways” to improve software supply chain security, specifically through the use of SBOMs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s now November, and the General Services Administration still hasn’t fixed the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) transition to the new validation service that began in April. And as many as 50,000 companies and grantees still are waiting to fix validation issues that is causing delays in awards and in getting paid. The almost six-month old problem continues to cause broad concern across industry and on Capitol Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China, data, campaigning, modernizing are just some of the key words in two just-out documents. The National Defense Strategy and the DoD's Strategic Management Plan -- not surprisingly -- emphasize rivalry with China and the need to protect space and cyber assets. For what industry sees initially in these documents, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The infrastructure spending bill enacted earlier this year includes $7.5 billion to install chargers for electric cars. In response, the Energy and Transportation Departments set up a joint office. For what the office will do and how it'll do it, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with its newly appointed director, Gabe Klein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thousands of career and political federal employees own stock in companies their agencies regulate, according to a recent analysis by the Wall Street Journal. If so, it's largely in violation of federal ethics rules. For what they found, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Journal, James Grimaldi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New military weapons platforms are quite expensive — and nearly always more expensive than they were supposed to be. But almost no matter what the up-front price tag is, it’s just a shadow of the all-in cost to keep that ground vehicle, aircraft carrier or fighter jet outfitted with parts and available for its mission until it’s eventually retired. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices