Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Products made with forced labor are banned from the United States. But the law doesn't stop all of them from coming in. It falls to Customs and Border Protection to prevent the flow and to prosecute perpetrators through civil enforcement. But the Government Accountability Office found CBP lacks an important ingredient in this effort. Federal Drive with Tom Temin got details from the GAO's Director of International Affairs and Trade Issues, Kimberly Gianopoulos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Veterans Affairs recently went live with its new electronic health record at the first site. The deployment was the first of many in a ten-year, multi-billion dollar modernization effort. VA said the go-live in Spokane, Washington, was a success. And it shows VA can take the EHR to the rest of the enterprise. Congress has been optimistic but skeptical about the project. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Contractors should be less shy about telling the government what industry thinks the government needs. True, agencies often release requests for information from industry. But often agencies with requirements have trouble getting industry input. That happened recently to our guest, federal marketing and sales consultant Larry Allen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The six agencies that received loans from the Technology Modernization Fund are moving faster to push new capabilities online or retiring legacy systems. New data collected exclusively by Federal News Network found the TMF is making the difference the Obama administration and lawmakers hoped it would back in 2016 when they proposed the concept. For his weekly Reporter's Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller collected this information for the first time. He reports why many believe it's time for Congress to add a billion dollars to the TMF. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department can hardly get out of its own way. Literally. A multi-billion-dollar contract for the movement of relocated services members' household goods was recently thrown out after a protest to the Government Accountability Office. For why and what's at stake, Federal News Network's Jared Serbu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to know what's going on at the National Transportation Safety Board? Until recently that wasn't easy. Other federal visitors or citizens used to have to know which of three databases to query. No more. Pursuant to the Federal Data Strategy and the need for more open data, the NTSB has a new, consolidated query system named CAROL. For details, the chief data scientists in the NTSB office of research and engineering, Dr. Loren Groff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The idea is as old as human conflict. Even the best plans collapse on contact with the enemy. So how should U.S. military forces plan for a future that's nothing but variables? Two long-term military scholars ponder this idea in a new book. With highlights, authors and visiting professors at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Nora Bensahel and Ret. Army Lt. Gen. Dave Barno. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A June executive order required agencies to start using skills-based assessments to vet and screen job candidates. Many agencies are already using some type of assessment for at least a few kinds of jobs. But the executive order means agencies will need to broaden their use of those assessments. And that will take some work, resources and some new expertise for some agencies. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko explains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A single campus for the Department of Homeland Security is one step closer. The National Capital Planning Commission has approved a 600-thousand square foot headquarters for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. It’ll be located at the DHS Saint Elizabeths West Campus and is the first building to move forward under an updated master plan for the campus. The master plan, first conceived during the George W. Bush administration, still has budget and schedule challenges. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The information and communication technologies infrastructure in the United States is made from parts sourced all around the world. Now a task force of the Congressionally-sponsored Cyberspace Solarium Commission has laid out a plan for the nation to reduce dependence on untrustworthy global sources in the so-called ICT supply chain. With highlights, task force senior director Robert Morgus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new GI Bill offering from the Department of Veterans Affairs aims to help veterans seeking a career in high technology. Those eligible can get matched up with nearby training providers. For details, we turned to the executive director of the education service, Charmain Bogue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you go by the vote count as it stood over the weekend, you could conclude that the next administration will belong to Joe Biden. The Senate looks to remain with a slim Republican majority. And a House that's slightly more balanced between the two. WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller has been watching this minute-by-minute. He joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Veterans Health Administration says years of hands-on practice with its innovation program helped employees respond to the seemingly endless pandemic. VHA held its annual innovation experience event last week. Employees pitched their ideas virtually from homes and offices rather than gathering in the normally packed National Press Club. For how employees pivoted their projects to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko spoke with the executive director of VHA's Innovation Ecosystem, Ryan Vega. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should foreign maritime transportation competitors like China be permitted to ply U.S. commercial waters? For a century, the Jones Act has reserved that right for U.S. made ships and crews. Now the idea of ending the protection of the U.S. maritime is gaining traction. Bad idea, according to my next guest. He's the vice president for legislative affairs at the Navy League, Jon Kaskin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes orders people receive from their superiors simply aren't lawful. If your boss ordered you to go rob a bank, would you? That's one reason federal employees including members joining the military swear allegiance to the Constitution, not to Joe Blow. Now a group of retired military legal practitioners has formed what they call the Orders Project to provide free counsel to service members who feel they've confronted an illegal order. Here with more, a member of the Orders Project steering committee and retired Navy Judge Advocate, Phil Cave. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices