Federal Drive with Tom Temin

It took the National Academy of Public Administration to sort out what had drearily become known as sharpie gate. Appointed Trump administration appointed officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, contradicted staff professionals at the National Weather Service. The argument appeared during a presentation about the predicted effects of a hurricane. With how it dealt with the situation, NAPA president Terry Gerton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many agencies have been gradually reopening over the past month. Agriculture, Energy, and in some cases the Environmental Protection Agency have been at the forefront. USDA and Energy are already well into phase two of their plans. But what comes next poses uncertainty and anxiety for employees at some agencies. Phase three is the point when nearly everybody is expected back in the office. For why all the worry, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was a long-time in coming, but the Department of Housing and Urban Development entered phase 2 of the Centers of Excellence program. After more than a year of completing phase 1, HUD recently awarded contracts to two vendors to move to its cloud computing and customer experience CoEs into the implementation stage. For how HUD will accelerate its technology and culture transformation, Federal News Network's Jason Miller spoke to HUD's chief financial officer, Irv Dennis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coronavirus cases are on the rise in the United States, and that applies to the armed services. Yet the Defense Department continues to lift restrictions on travel and certain base activities. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the U.S. Postal Service, a surge in package delivery volume has offset some of the other losses because of the pandemic. So letter carriers in rural areas are working overtime to deliver all the packages. This as the new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy met with Postal unions to outline his priorities. For one account of that session, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with the president of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association Ronnie Stutts. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Often the most mundane-sounding mistakes can cause catastrophe, like the time a passenger seatbelt caught a knob on the floor of a helicopter. It crashed into the East River in New York and killed five people. Chihoon Shin has investigated this and many other helicopter crashes, thereby improving safety. He's now a finalist in this year's Service to America Medals program. Shin is an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, and he joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent court case showed why, when an agency is dividing work between unrestricted contractors and small businesses the latter might want to bid on both sides. How come? They get to go to the debriefings. For more on the practical effect of this strategy, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Several big federal benefits programs depend on the consumer price index. The CPIs are calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the indexes may not be entirely accurate. The Government Accountability Office found that the bureau has not evaluated whether the data sources it feeds into the indexes produce accurate ones. For more details, the GAO's Director of education, workforce and income security, Charles Jeszeck joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The General Services Administration has struggled for years to establish a new government-wide acquisition contract for small businesses. Alliant II Small Business was to bring agencies a vehicle to buy information technology services. Now GSA has canceled Alliant II SB, stating it plans to take a different approach to getting these companies a shot at federal business. Long-time GSA watcher Larry Allen joins me now with his take on this surprise development. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A month into the annual Feds Feed Families food drive, we decided to check back in with its national chair. She works on this vital program in between doing her day job at the Agriculture Department. Vinnie Panizo joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies that operate ships, aircraft, satellites and other things that move always face a tough fact. Lifecycle costs of these assets often far exceed the initial buying price. But lifecycle costs can be predicted and kept under control. My next guest shows, you can even cut lifecycle costs far below what you originally thought. He's the Director of the Joint Polar Satellite System, or JPSS, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Greg Mandt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The details behind a multi-billion dollar Defense Department bid protest keep getting stranger. And no, we’re not talking about the JEDI Cloud contract this time. U.S. Transportation Command has released new details on the reasons why it decided to pursue corrective action on DoD’s $7 billion household goods moving contract, and then changed its mind. But as Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu discovered, those reasons are very hard to square with what we know about the bidder involved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IT modernization takes center stage on Capitol Hill this month with two hearings, including one happening in the next week. The two hearings will cap a spring and early summer which saw renewed interest in getting agencies to move off of legacy systems. In his weekly feature, the Reporter's Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller writes about why these hearings and other efforts may be a part of how lawmakers are teeing up the next major IT legislation in the fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summertime -- and the living isn't so easy. The House of Representatives tucks into two weeks of committee work. That includes appropriations for fiscal 2021 in addition to another possible stimulus bill. Here with our weekly look ahead, Bloomberg Government Editorial Director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veterans applying for compensation or a pension from Veterans Affairs typically have to undergo a physical examination. That's been impossible in person during the pandemic. But now the Veterans Benefits Administration has resumed in-person exams. For how they're able to do it, the director of the appeals management office at VBA, David McLenachen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices