Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The government is open on this short holiday week – and it will stay that way through at least the first couple months of the new year. That is thanks to a continuing resoultion Congress passed and the president signed late last week. But the way Congress went about it is going to make things complicated – and maybe harder to pass full appropriations bills for 2024. For more on this, Federal News Network Deputy Editor talked with Mitchell Miller, WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To be a good leader, you've got to know your people. But what about knowing yourself? Emotional intelligence is more important than ever in connecting with a diverse and changing workforce. So should it be considered when picking the leaders of tomorrow? That's the stance of Bob Tobias, retired professor from American University's Key Executive Leadership program. He tells Federal News Network's Eric White, just how vital emotional intelligence is for succeeding as a leader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Government Accountability Office gets all the attention. But the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), also has lists of management and financial priorities for federal agenices. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin discussed the latest list with the chair of CIGIE, the Interior Department's Mark Lee Greenblatt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: What your agency's inspector general says you need to get after. Why self-awareness can be an important characteristic for today's leaders. Future budget resolution made tougher by present "laddered CR." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Veterans Affairs says its new Electronic Health Record (EHR) hasn’t seen a total outage in more than six months. But the Oracle-Cerner EHR still isn’t meeting a standard in its contract with VA for the system to run incident-free at least 95% of the time. As of Nov. 8, the Oracle-Cerner EHR has gone 185 consecutive days without a total outage within the VA, and has seen 100% system availability in 10 of the last 12 months. But Kurt DelBene, VA’s assistant secretary for Information and Technology and its chief information officer, told members of the House VA Committee that the EHR still doesn’t meet a standard for incident-free time outlined in its contract with the vendor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) wants everybody to be as prepared for natural disasters as they can be. But FEMA’s placing a new emphasis on older adults. The agency said older Americans are more susceptible to the consequences of disasters. A new disaster preparedness guide tries to help local emergency managers and other stakeholders deal with that reality. For more, Federal News Network Deputy Editor Jared Serbu talked with Sherman Gillums, the Director of FEMA’s Office of Disability Integration and Coordination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DoD personnel officials have been sifting through results of a recently concluded challenge. Staff in the office of the under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, sought ideas from uniformed and civilian employees on how to improve what they call "talent management." That would be new and better ways to recruit, retain, and promote people. For what they came up with, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke to force development HR specialist Beth Stewart and to special adviser to the under secretary, Jeannette Haynie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: DoD adds up the results from a talent management experiment. Preparing for natural disasters when you're old. Why expanding risk management to a broad audience is becoming more important for agencies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As if pandemic, threats of nuclear war, and a lack of Tesla charging stations aren't enough to worry about, there is always the possibility that an asteroid could hit the earth and wipe-out all of us. A team at NASA discovered a way to alter the path of an asteroid, should one come too close and they garnered the distinction of being finalists in this year's Service to America Medals program, also known as the Sammies. For the details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with two members of NASA's Planetary Missions Program Office: Program Manager Brian Key and Mission Manager Scott Bellamy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After rounds of FOIA requests and even litigation, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) received a copy of the A-10C and F-35A close air support fly-off test report. The test was to compare how both aircraft stack up in providing all-important close air support to ground troops. After analyzing the heavily redacted document, POGO analysts found that despite what the Air Force had been saying, it appears the F-35 may not be well-suited for providing that support. For more, Federal Drive Executive Producer Eric White spoke with Dan Grazier, Senior Defense Policy Fellow at POGO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), is one of the main tools the agency relies on for environmental regulations, containing information on human health effects that may result from exposure to various chemicals in the environment. However, a new report from the EPA's inspector general, said the agency needs to do a better job of who has access to it, or it could be tampered with. For more on the report, Federal Drive Executive Producer Eric White talked with Jeremy Sigel, the IG office's Supervisory Audit Manager in the Information Resources Management Directorate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: One of the EPA's most sacred databases could be at risk. Air Force finally reveals a little bit about how the F-35 stacks up in providing close air support. This NASA team's work means the whole world can sleep a little better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

White House officials believe they have built broad consensus across agencies on proposed legislation that would reform how the government recruits and retains cyber talent. The forthcoming legislative proposal attempts to tackle what officials think is one of the biggest barriers to cyber recruiting inside the federal government: the patchwork of disparate workforce authorities across agencies. The Office of Personnel Management is close to delivering the proposal to Congress. Officials say it combines the best elements and lessons learned from current specialized authorities, notably the Defense Department’s Cyber Excepted Service and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Talent Management System. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Congress ever passes the 2024 Defense authorization bill, keep your eye on Section 804. It's now in the Senate version, and it is aimed at granting the Defense Department the rights to increasing amounts contractors' data more than it appears DoD needs for maintenance and operation of what it buys. Section 804 seems innocuous at first glance.To discuss beyond-the-glance, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Haynes-Boone procurement attorney Zach Prince. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices