Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Army is trying to broaden its horizons when it comes to the companies to does business with. The service wants to break down acquisition barriers for small and nontraditional companies. It's using its xTechSearch competition to do it. The contest is a mix between a pitch day and a prize challenge. It culminates in a $250,000 prize. The Army is asking companies to submit a wide range of ideas from products dealing with missile and air defense to medical innovations. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione talked with Zeke Topolosky, an engineer at the Army Research Laboratory and Matt Willis, the director for laboratory management for the Army acquisition office, on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Big changes to the existing security clearance and vetting system are supposed to be right around the corner. Consistent automated records checks, otherwise known as continuous vetting, will completely replace those periodic re-investigations clearance holders went through once every five years or so. Industry is excited by the coming policy changes. But contractors say they want access to some of that information, especially if it might inform their own insider threat programs. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to break down the tricky policy, privacy and legal questions that government and industry are debating.

Contractors have a heavier reporting burden this year now that a rule has kicked in requiring them to report counterfeit parts or suspected fakes to the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program. It's been a long time coming. Seyfarth Law Firm construction and government contracts attorney Teddie Arnold joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for details.

The House, having paraded the impeachment articles down the hall to the Senate, is on recess this week. And now the Senate will get down to some grim business. For a look at the week ahead and beyond, Bloomberg Government editorial director Loren Duggan joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

With all of the news about rockets to the moon and Mars, it's easy to overlook that NASA has aeronautics in its name. In fact the agency has an extensive program of research into flying structures that don't leave the atmosphere. Now there's a new associate administrator for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. Robert Pearce joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss more.

After more than a year of cogitating, the Trump administration last week came out with an updated Federal Data Strategy. It included some of the recommendations from the Data Coalition, whose president, Nick Hart, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss more.

The Trump administration’s nominee to be the Navy’s top installations official, Charles Williams, promised to make fixing the Navy’s housing problems his top priority. At his confirmation Thursday, the longtime real estate executive expressed a combination of anger and confusion about how bad the living conditions on some military bases have gotten. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu had the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Adorable as their families might be, the expanding deer population in wooded areas have become more than a nuisance. That's why several jurisdictions have launched programs to thin out local deer populations. For the Washington, D.C., area's Rock Creek Park, that job falls to the National Park Service. Information sharing specialist Megan Nortrup joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin in studio to talk about their methods and tactics.

The Agriculture Department has launched a new round of fellowships at minority-serving colleges and universities to educate what it calls the next generation of agriculture. The E. Kika De La Garza Fellowship program is among several backing faculty at these schools. Torey Powell, the director of youth programs in the USDA's Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more on the program.

The Postal Service is searching for a new postmaster general as it offers up a new five-year plan to staunch its financial losses. The search has taken longer than expected. Postmaster General Megan Brennan, who was to retire at the end of January, has postponed her departure indefinitely until the Postal Service finds a successor. For one view of this situation, Federal News Network's Jory Heckman spoke with the President of the American Postal Workers Union, Mark Dimondstein, on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Fiscal year 2020, which coincides with calendar year 2020, started off busy on the federal contracting front. A lot of large deals are under protest. Some big new ones are set for award this year. And a new federal procurement policy chief should hit their stride as some policy initiatives start to take hold. Dan Snyder, the director of government contracts at Bloomberg Government, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for a look ahead.

The Navy isn’t giving up on its ambitions of a 355-ship fleet. But getting there might take a little longer. The new chief of Naval operations said the budget proposal rolling next month will place a premium on readiness and maintaining the fleet the Navy already has. And that’s likely to mean slower growth. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu had the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

It's easy to look at the Department of Homeland Security's last-place ranking on governmentwide engagement surveys and lists and assume the worst. But DHS said that last-place score is deceiving. The department is big, and some components have been highly rated for years — or are at least making swings in the right direction. Still, the department is expanding its view of employee engagement in 2020. As Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko reported, DHS is focusing on its employees both on and off the job. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

For the military, the constant insertion of new technologies into weapons and other systems is important to maintaining a competitive edge. But new technology can be risky. That's where technology readiness assessments, or TRAs, come in. If done right, TRAs can help agencies know when a technology is ready for use without undue risk. For more, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the chief scientist at the Government Accountability Office, Tim Persons.

Federal buildings from coast to coast could hit the real estate market any day now. They’re on a list of high-value federal properties recommended for sale by the Public Buildings Reform Board. Congress established the board in 2016 to expedite the sale of excess federal property. Over the next few years the board expects to help generate billions of dollars. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman had the latest on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.