Federal Drive with Tom Temin

After five years working to improve customer experience, the Veterans Affairs Department has started to share its success recipes with the rest of government. It published a new customer experience cookbook, a report detailing VA's own customer experience efforts. For more, Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko spoke with VA's chief veterans experience officer, Lynda Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States is making more investments in space, as it becomes a contested, warfighting domain. Now the Air Force Research Lab is creating a new shop to make sure small things pack a big punch when put on spacecraft. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with a one of the leads at the new Deployable Structures Laboratory, Benjamin Urioste. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A little bit of good news around cybersecurity, the Office of Management and Budget isn't changing much in its the fiscal 2021 cybersecurity reporting guidance. The one area where OMB did make some significant changes is with the continuous diagnostics and mitigation or CDM program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is spending the next decade modernizing its networks and has awarded AT&T more than a 300 million dollar task order to support this effort. This network modernization will build resiliency into NOAA communications, a key capability for an agency that has seen near-record levels of economic devastation brought on by natural disasters. For more on next steps, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with the vice president for civilian and shared services at AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet Chris Smith. But first you’ll hear from the deputy director of NOAA’s Service Delivery Division, Jeff Flick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to keeping its fleets of ships and submarines ready, the Navy has a problem it just can't seem to solve. Namely, vessels stay consistently in maintenance bays longer than scheduled. The Navy has cited a lack of shipyard capacity as one reason. But there's more according to the latest in a string of Government Accountability Office reports. For the latest, the GAO's director of defense capabilities and management issues, Diana Maurer, spoke with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Members of Congress often don't read the bills they vote on. But they do know what every bill will cost taxpayers, or at least they should. That's thanks to the diligent work of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The CBO's director of Budget Analysis may not be a household name. But her work has made her a member of this year's class of inductees to the National Academy of Public Administration. As part of our weeklong series of new NAPA fellows, Theresa Gullo spoke with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes things change after an agency issues a request for quotations. Like the possible deliverable quantities or other conditions. If the solicitation doesn't change along with it, the agency might be forced to start over. The pandemic upended a solicitation by the Federal Housing Administration, part of HUD. Procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo discussed the details with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just over a year ago, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission separated its innovation lab from its general counsel’s office. LabCFTC now answers directly to the chairman of the commission. The Lab has a new approach to finding and promoting innovation in the financial sector. In fact, it kicked off the final part of a three-part virtual event called Empower Innovation 2020. For more, Federal News Network's Jason Miler spoke with the executive director of LabCFCT, Melissa Netram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A long serving chief information officer at both the EPA and NASA, Renee Wynn recently retired. But she's hardly out of the picture. Among her post-federal pursuits, she has become a fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration. Wynn joins Tom Temin on the Federal Drive as part of a weeklong series of new NAPA fellows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a nearly year-long standoff with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Federation of Government Employees finally has a contract. But the seven-year deal was imposed by the Federal Service Impasses Panel. The Panel mostly sided with VA management. Outside supervisory attorney Ibidun Roberts shares the AFGE reaction and what the union wants to do next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acquisition 360 is a late-hour initiative by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to improve communications between industry and government. It's a good idea as far as it goes, but could it go a little further? The executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council, Alan Chvotkin, has more details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The military health care system might be less than optimal for military women resulting in issues that might ultimately reduce both top health and retention. That's the finding of no less than the Defense Health Board and it's one of several developments you need to know about in this week's DoD reporters notebook. Federal News Network's Jared Serbu and Scott Maucione join me with more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between the Defense Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Health and Human Services, the government is one of the biggest health care providers anywhere. Nicole Clowers has been riding herd on federal health care programs as the director of health care issues at the Government Accountability Office. Now she's a new fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration and the first of five new fellows we'll be interviewing - one each day this week. She joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin on Monday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Postal Service is offering Congress and the incoming Biden administration a shot at working together on a long-term strategy to reform its business model. Several recent bills would put USPS on firmer financial footing, but none of them has gained much traction. The Postal Service says it’s a matter of when, not if, it runs out of cash. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a tumultuous past week for the civilian leadership of the Defense Department. First came the firing of Secretary Mark Esper. By the next day, his chief of staff and the undersecretaries for policy and intelligence had been forced out too. For more on what it all means – Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu spoke with retired Marine Corps Major General and chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association, Arnold Punaro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices