Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Coronavirus is front and center for much of the federal workforce. That includes members of the National Treasury Employees Union. NTEU members are in Washington this week for their annual legislative conference. The union says it’s up to them to keep their members safe and informed, and give employees a voice in what’s become a testing moment for the federal government. NTEU says the current administration hasn’t always given federal employees a chance to speak up. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko has more on the event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department has plenty of challenges when it comes to adopting modern, agile software development practices One of the biggest is the fact that DoD’s budget is anything but agile. But Pentagon leaders think they have a plan that’ll convince Congress to change that. Ultimately, they’re aiming to create a brand new “color of money” just for software. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu is in San Diego, where Defense undersecretary Ellen Lord outlined the plan to attendees at the annual WEST conference this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For thousands of federal employees, travel is a part of the job. Now, thanks to the coronavirus threat travel, with its crowded airports and filthy planes, isn't looking like such a good idea. Can feds say, "no"? Federal employment practice attorney Lynne Bernabei, of Bernabei & Kabat, joined  Federal Drive with Tom Temin for some answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the coronavirus continuing to tear across the globe, the Defense Department is taking measures to minimize the risk to service members. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley held a press conference this week about the disease. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joins me with the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The General Services Administration is famous in part for its multiple award schedule system by which the government buys billions of dollars worth of day-to-day products and services. Less known is that GSA delegates operation of a piece of the program to Veterans Affairs. Namely, the contracts for medical supplies and services. The Government Accountability Office has found, VA needs to do a better job of managing its schedule contracts. For more, we turn to Shelby Oakley, director of the VA procurement portfolio at the GAO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Health and Human Services protects the personally identifiable information of more than 100 million people. It's got to defend a sprawling network against a growing number of intrusion attempts. But the inspector general for HHS says the agency must also prepare for emerging threats such as ransomware. For what they're doing, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with the assistant inspector general for cybersecurity and operations audits, Tamara Lilly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the government vets people for security clearance, some small differences show up in how it looks at federal employees and contractors. That's the conclusion of a detailed study conducted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance. Here with details, Michael Hudson, the senior director of government solutions at ClearForce, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service plans to transform the state of federal financial management within the next decade. The five-point strategy includes making the bureau a greater provider of shared services, and using the data it collects to provide greater insight to government spending. Commissioner Tim Gribben tells Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman how much progress the bureau has made two years into this strategy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some members of Congress say the Department of Homeland Security workforce isn't as a diverse as it could be. And that DHS leadership ranks are lacking especially in diversity. The department says it's actually on par with the rest of the federal workforce, maybe a little better. DHS says the real challenge isn't necessarily recruiting and hiring a group of diverse employees, it's getting them to stick around. For more, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies and contractors alike remain in the dark, after nearly a year, as to why the Department of Health and Human Services is shutting down it's assisted acquisition services. This decision is putting agency missions and companies at risk, and wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to exclusive interviews and research by Federal News Network. In his weekly feature, the Reporter's Notebook, executive editor Jason Miller writes about the chapter of this saga and why some say actions like this make the government wasteful, insular and uncaring. Jason joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Longtime FTC official looks to continue serving consumers, this time through academia

Warning of long lines and flight delays, the union representing Transportation Security Administration officers says airports are understaffed, officers underpaid. That could change under a bill to be taken up in the house this week. With more on this, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke to Bloomberg Government Editorial Director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department sees the threat from unmanned aerial vehicles as one of its fastest-evolving challenges. But there are several well-funded commercial companies who have already been working on the problem for years. The Defense Innovation Unit is trying to incorporate some of those technologies into the military’s portfolio. It’s just awarded five new prototype contracts to see how the systems will work – and DIU has made some adaptations to its Commercial Solutions Opening process along the way. Lt. Colonel David Willard is the program manager in charge of DIU’s counter-UAS portfolio. He talked with Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu about what DoD is learning from the prototyping process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Online or computer-based training has become a big part of how the US military develops service members. Carl Forsling calls it an addiction, and says it's got to stop. He is a senior columnist for Task and Purpose and former career Marine Corps officer, and joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veterans Affairs last fall launched an whole new office with the goal of establishing the department as a leader in the use of artificial intelligence. It named Dr. Gil Alterovitz, formerly a health informatics researcher at the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Division, as its director. For a progress report, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin caught up with Alterovitz at an ACT-IAC artificial intelligence shared interest group meeting. He explained how the National Artificial Intelligence Institute is organized. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices