Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Congress’s work on the 2021 Defense authorization bill has been pushed back because of coronavirus. But members are already starting to propose ideas for the annual legislation. The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee introduced another round of acquisition reforms yesterday. As Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu reports, this year’s proposals will try to tackle DoD’s requirements and sustainment processes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's Federal Newscast, four preservation and conservation specialists at the National Archives and Records Administration did some quick thinking and realized the equipment they use to deal with records damaged by floods, fires, or mold could help doctors and nurses fighting the coronavirus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every television station has been running B-roll of corona virus research. Endless loops of test tubes, tiny little needles and pipettes. But the Energy Department is bringing something a little larger to the fight. Namely, the IBM Summit supercomputer. It won't fit into a petrie dish. Here with more on exactly what Summit is doing, the vice president for technical computing at IBM Cognitive Systems, Dave Turek. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now that the largest federal employee union has sued the government for hazardous duty pay, the question arises, how many employees, outside those named in the suit, might be eligible governmentwide. For more on what hazardous pay is all about and a little history, we turn to Federal Practice Group partner Ricardo Pitts-Wiley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maryland is among the states with the highest concentration of federal employees, agencies and contractors. That's why, for Democratic Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) the drafting of the emergency stimulus bill signed last Friday by President Trump was especially important. Senator Cardin joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin earlier to give some of his thoughts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite the best of intentions, the General Services Administrations' IT modernization and telecommunications program called Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions or EIS, is following the same path as the previous initiative. Heading into a key 12-month stretch, vendors under the EIS program say delays and additional costs are plaguing agency efforts. In his weekly feature, the Reporter's Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller writes about why vendors remain concerned about this $50 billion next-generation telecommunications program. Jason joins me now to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some 120,000 service members unable to conduct their planned permanent changes of station at least until mid-May are starting to feel a financial pinch. Blue Star Families finds one in five military families already are, or will be, paying for housing in two locations because of the stop move order. For more, Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione spoke with the CEO and co-founder of Blue Star Families, Kathy Roth-Douquet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Academy of Public Administration regularly takes on congressionally mandated deep studies of federal agencies. Its upcoming study of the Office of Personnel Management is especially high-profile. The academy is reviewing OPM's statutory functions and challenges. It may recommend a new future for OPM. The study follows a controversial Trump administration proposal to merge OPM with the General Services Administration. For what to expect, Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko spoke to NAPA president Terry Gerton on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One stimulus bill done, is another in the works? As Congress discusses future rounds of emergency funding the Data Coalition has called for more money for the government’s data infrastructure so that all of these trillions can be tracked. And for implementing the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, and for a National Secure Data Service. For more on what this would all buy amid the pandemic, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with Nick Hart, the CEO of the Data Coalition. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What scares a potential enemy more: Waves of fighter bombers or massed troops on the ground behind tanks? It's an important question with strategic and budget implications. New research suggests the U.S. may have it all wrong, as Federal Drive with Tom Temin heard from Dan Grazier, military fellow at the Project on Government Oversight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hard to believe as it might be, a central and critical software system of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter simply doesn't work. And that's making people who maintain and certify the readiness of the expensive jet a little crazy. Federal Drive with Tom Temin got the latest from Diana Maurer, the director of Defense Capabilities and Management issues at the Government Accountability Office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Money is starting to flow via federal contracts on work related to taking on the coronavirus. And Bloomberg Government has compiled a list together with some guidance. For details, B-GOV's Director of Contracts Dan Snyder joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The General Services Administration, in response to the pandemic, has opened up the multiple award schedule contracts to state and local governments. That's one of a myriad of effects the situation is having on those who sell to the government. For more on this and a couple of others, federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you think of elements important to national security, the maritime industry might not pop up. But it actually contributes a lot. That's according to a study by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. For more, senior fellow Bryan Clark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the search to understand the coronavirus and its implications, the government is marshaling much of its supercomputer capacity. That includes NASA and its high performance computing complex. With how NASA is bending that capacity to bear on the crisis, we turn to the division chief of NASA Advanced Supercomputing, Dr. Piyush Mehrotra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices