Federal Drive with Tom Temin

You might not think of the Navy as being in the space business. Yet the Naval Research Laboratory has a mission that spans pretty much every domain from underwater to space. In fact, there's a new director of the Lab's Naval Center for Space Technology. Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with that man: Steven Meier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Concerns about organizational conflicts of interest among vendors providing, for instance, technology planning services and technology implementation services, is as old as federal acquisition itself. But over the last few weeks, OCI has received more attention and consideration among agencies, and it should be seen as a warning sign to batten down those OCI hatches. First, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee members introduced the Preventing Organizational Conflicts of Interest in Federal Acquisition Act and it passed out of the full Senate on Aug. 2. The bill is a direct response about a potential OCI between McKinsey and Associates, drug development companies and the Food and Drug Administration — more on that later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The IRS is getting its shot to rebuild its workforce and bring its IT into the 21st century, after more than a decade of belt-tightening. The House on Friday passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk. The $740 billion spending bill allows a broad swath of federal agencies to staff up over the next decade, but none will go through the kind of transformation the IRS will face. The bill gives the IRS $80 billion over the next 10 years, with more than half that money going toward its tax enforcement operations. But the IRS expects the money will help it bring on the next generation of its workforce and make long-deferred investments in its IT that will improve taxpayer services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new law sets the stage for a larger health care workforce at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Honoring Our PACT Act gives VA the resources it needs to staff up its health care workforce to treat post-9/11 combat veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during their military service. President Joe Biden said VA will be able to move more quickly to determine a veteran’s illness and related military service. For a look at what this means for VA employees, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After months of back and forth, the legislation that eventually came to be known as the Inflation Reduction Act is a done deal. The House passed the huge reconciliation bill on Friday afternoon on a party line vote. And though it addresses a wide variety of Democrats’ spending priorities over the next decade, Congress still hasn’t dealt with the budget for next year – the fiscal year that starts just a little over six weeks from now. Federal News Network Deputy Editor Jared Serbut talked about the goings-on in Washington, D.C. with Mitchell Miller, WTOP’s Capitol Hill correspondent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Public polling shows a continuing decline in Americans’ trust in government. There are obviously a lot of factors behind that – and a lot of noise in the data – but one indicator is the number of Americans who’d urge their kids to pursue a government career. It was 56% as recently as 2010. This year, it’s down to 39%. Federal Drive Deputy Editor Jared Serbu talked about this with Paul Light , a nonresident senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, and a professor of public service at NYU. For years, Light has tracked the data on what Americans want from government and how they feel about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Office of Management and Budget wants next year’s federal agency budget submissions to be more data driven than they’ve been in past years. Larry Allen, the president of Allen Federal Business Partners, said that is a fine in principle, but the whole idea rests on the notion that agencies have high-quality data to support their programs in the first place. Mr. Allen talked about this with Federal News Network Deputy Editor Jared Serbu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the past 30 years, Congress has continued to renew the Defense Department’s Mentor-Protégé Program — but only as a pilot. The program, which pairs up established defense companies with small businesses for mutually beneficial gains, has been continually saved from the chopping block by lawmakers since 1991. Now, after an in-depth look from outside business experts, the Defense Business Board is recommending Congress make the program permanent once DoD makes a few tweaks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Homeland Security is planning to award up to four contracts as early as next month for vetted security researchers to find software bugs in DHS systems, including at live hacking events. DHS released the “Hack DHS: Crowdsourced Vulnerability Assessment Services” request for proposals Aug. 3. Companies have until Aug. 15 to submit “phase one” proposals so DHS can complete an “advisory down-select.” Companies that get through the first phase will have until Aug. 30 to submit phase-two proposals, which includes technical approach, past performance and price documentation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senate lawmakers are pushing the departments of Justice and Veterans Affairs, along with all agencies, to improve the accessibility of their online services. The Senate Special Committee on Aging looked into the accessibility of federal technology, specifically for seniors and individuals with disabilities, as well as older and disabled veterans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Postal Service’s two largest unions are weighing in, more than a year into Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year agency reform plan.The National Association of Letter Carriers and the American Postal Workers Union are calling for USPS to increase hiring, adding that long-term understaffing is taking a toll on employee morale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The government's need for fresh technologies and innovation has rippled throughout its supply base. An emerging trend has prime contractors accelerating their investments in promising startups. A case in point: A $100 million fund established by Booz Allen Hamilton. For its aims and how it works, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Brian MacCarthy, Booz Allen's vice president for tech scouting and ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if you had a hundred colleges and universities focusing on your agency's top challenges? That's the idea behind a program called Hacking for, well, name your mission. Public administration challenges get translated into semester-long courses at various schools and the results are delivered back to the original agency. Now a bill in Congress would make it easier for all agencies to use the program, coordinated by a non-profit called Common Mission Project or CMP. Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked about all of this with CMP executive director Alex Gallo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been 20 years since its creation and there are some aspects of the Department of Homeland Security that are still taking shape. In the latest change to its organizational chart, the department created a new Office of Health Security in its headquarters. In part, it’ll take the place of the former DHS Office of Health Security, but the new mission’s quite a bit broader. To find out more about this, Federal News Network's Deputy Editor Jared Serbu talked with Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, DHS’s chief medical officer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the FDA got authority from Congress in 2009 to regulate tobacco marketing, smoking rates in the United States have dropped to 10% for adults and less than 3% for minors. Much of the credit does not go to a scientist, but a lawyer. Until his retirement this past spring, Mitchell Zeller was director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products and is a finalist in this year's Service to America Medals Program. Federal Drive host Tom Temin sat down with Mitch in the no-smoking-allowed Federal News Network studios for this in-person interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices