Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Census Bureau has compressed the timeline to complete the 2020 count as much as possible. It wants submit apportionment data by December 31. But the bureau says it won’t rush if that means less accurate data. For what happens on one of the most difficult counts ever, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman joined the Federal Drive to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Naval Aviation Museum is a dream for flight enthusiasts, with everything from biplanes to Blue Angels jets. Behind the museum is a Foundation, which actively participates in educating potential future aviators. To learn more, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with the foundation's recently appointed CEO and President, retired Rear Admiral Kyle Cozad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's no secret the strategic situation facing the U.S. Navy has changed. Adversaries China, Russia, North Korea and Iran have significantly improved their ability to keep the United States away while they exert greater regional power. My next guest argues, the Navy therefore has to totally rethink the design of its next generation fleet. Hudson Institute senior fellow Bryan Clark joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy, known as ARPA-E, has a good track record of investing in new, clean energy companies. If your measure is patentable innovation, that is. But not all those companies survive commercially. That's the chief finding of a detailed academic study of ARPA-E's investment record. Joining with the Federal Drive with more, co-author and senior research fellow at the University of Massachusetts, Dr. Anna Goldstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An extraordinary new White House executive order will reclassify certain career federal employees as political. It gives agency heads the authority to hire or fire them at will. The EO from President Trump creates a brand new schedule in excepted service for career people in certain policy-making roles. The EO may not make enough waves to count as an "October surprise." But for federal employees it's a doozy. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined the Federal Drive with more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blue Star Families is keeping a close eye on how service members and their families fare during the pandemic. The organization just released a survey summing up the past six months. The numbers are tough. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with Blue Star Families president and CEO, Kathy Roth-Douquet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After brewing for more than a year, the rules for the Defense Department's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification are out. The industry is coming to grips with this new requirement, that if you're in the DOD supply chain you've got to demonstrate to a third-party judge, of sorts, that you have a modicum of cybersecurity chops. Joining the Federal Drive with a summary, procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year, it seems, people become more dependent on battery power. Even the Defense Department is looking into electric field vehicles. Now the Defense, State, and Energy Departments have launched a consortium. They want to work together to help advance battery technology. Joining the Federal Drive with the details, the acting director of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office at the Energy Department, Dave Howell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Incoming presidential administrations have no dearth of advice. The American Council for Technology Industry Advisory Group, better known as ACT-IAC, wants the next administration to take advantage of data-driven technology innovations to take government service delivery to the next level. It's published what it calls Agenda 2021 detailing these ideas. For more, the Federal Drive turned to ACT-IAC CEO Dave Wennergren, and the leaders of its Presidential Election Project, the Mitre Corporation's Jim Cook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The last few years of increases to the Defense budget have been, in general, good news for contractors. But even though contract spending is way up, it’s an uneven picture. In particular, Pentagon spending on research and development still hasn’t fully recovered, according to a new analysis of DoD contracts. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu has details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Postal Service audit finds recent operational changes at the agency caused mail delays. The inspector general found USPS regions were short-staffed with sick leave taken during the pandemic. USPS is defending these changes in a dozen federal lawsuits. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic is accelerating customer experience initiatives at many agencies. The Department of Veterans Affairs has long been a leader in CX. And now it's preparing to share some of the lessons it's learned in recent years with other agencies. It's also taking the lead on a CX hiring initiative. The Education Department and Small Business Administration have emerged from the pandemic with a few lessons to share too. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko had more details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you extend the current fiscal and economic trend lines, by 2040 the United States will be in no way the leading nation much less the only real superpower. David Walker postulates that we may not be a superpower at all. He's published a book laying it all in detail. The former comptroller general joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Open Government Data Act calls on federal agencies to make their data available to the public, and for the Office of Management and Budget to keep track of these activities and report on them. Some of it is happening, some isn't. For an update, Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke to Michelle Sager, the director of Strategic Issues at the Government Accountability Office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defense contractors should pay close attention to a couple of days-old developments. First, a long-needed update to the rule concerning payments to contractors who can't get into DoD facilities because of the coronavirus. Second, how the Pentagon spent its pandemic stimulus money - that's about to come into the crosshairs of the Defense inspector general. For commentary, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to Alan Chvotkin, the executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices