Federal Drive with Tom Temin

As long as people discriminate unfairly or illegally against one another, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will never run out of work. To support this large and busy advisory, enforcement and compliance agency, there's a new chief operating officer at the EEOC. Martin Ebel joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more discussion.

The Trump administration has been pushing to move the Bureau of Land Management headquarters a few steps away from Washington, D.C. — namely to Grand Junction, Colorado. The thinking is because the bulk of the millions of acres under BLM jurisdiction are also out west. But several former agency workers have voiced caution. One of them is Henri Bisson, the former BLM deputy director of operations, who joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

A federal pay raise, paid parental leave and some agencies on the move are just a few of the human capital stories of 2019. This year, things show no sign of slowing down. For a recap and look ahead, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Jeff Neal, former chief human capital officer for the Department of Homeland Security, on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The Defense Department’s Acquisition University has been a foundation for procurement training for nearly 30 years. But now the Pentagon is trying to change its role. Instead of just a schoolhouse that provides education, the university has been helping flesh out acquisition policy. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain.

The most recent tangle between the United States and Iran somehow sparked rumors that the U.S. was about to reinstate the military draft. The incident did put the Selective Service into active mode to dispel the rumors. For an update on what's really going on at the Selective Service, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to its director, Donald Benton.

The world of federal contracting is never static. In fact, just before new year the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs launched a rule-making gambit to clarify the existing rules having to do with resolving cases of alleged discrimination. The executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council, Alan Chvotkin, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for some of the details.

About half the federal agencies managed to improve on their Best Places to Work rankings compiled by the Partnership for Public Service this past year, despite the longest-ever government shutdown. Ask small agencies how they managed to weather the shutdown and they'll say they talked to their employees about it, a lot. Michelle Brooks, the chief of staff at the Peace Corps, is a case in point. A majority of the agency's workforce was furloughed during the shutdown. Brooks told Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko how the Peace Corps kept its employees informed and engaged. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Tucked in to the nearly 1,800 pages that is the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act are several provisions that many may have overlooked. Admit it, you haven't read the document that if printed out would weigh about 8 pounds. Most of the people who voted for it didn't, either. Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller asked several federal experts for some help in finding IT and cyber provisions that may have flown under the radar. In his weekly feature, the Reporter's Notebook, he writes about five of them, and he joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin in the studio.

When the Defense Department pulled down public availability of records from discharge review boards, that raised a lot of hackles among veterans. Now The National Veterans Legal Services Program called the move illegal and has filed a lawsuit. NVLSP Executive Director Bart Stichman joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin in the studio to talk more.

When it comes to modernizing systems the Army and the Department of Veterans Affairs are taking on some big projects. The Army expects to move one of the world's largest financial enterprise systems to the cloud next fiscal year as part of a modernization agenda that includes agile transformation and shared services. Meanwhile the VA will take another shot at consolidating its financial management system this summer, based on lessons learned from its previous two failed efforts. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more information on those efforts.

Pardon if you've already heard this, but federal agencies and companies both have trouble filling out their ranks of people with cybersecurity skills. Now a group of several large companies, under the auspices of the Aspen Institute, have agreed to adopt a set of principles aimed at building a cybersecurity talent pipeline. Federal Drive with Tom Temin got more details from the chair of the Cybersecurity and Technology Program at the Aspen Institute, John Carlin.

It's amazing what a difference a week can make. A drone strike on a terrorist, an airline shootdown, and maybe the transmittal of an impeachment document from one end of the Capitol to the other. With the holidays past and cold weather ahead, is there something to be said for taking a little pity on our elected representatives? For a quick look at the week before us, Fulcrum Editor-in-Chief David Hawkings joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The Navy hasn’t changed its strategy for civilian workers in a decade. Recently, though, the service realized it needed an update to bring it into the 21st century and remain a competitive workplace. The Navy revealed its new Human Capital Strategy last week. It focuses on technology and creating a better workplace. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the latest.

Dogs have an important job in the international security apparatus. The State Department's antiterrorism assistance program has for years supplied highly trained canines to other countries. State's Office of Inspector General found several problems with the program and the treatment of the dogs. The Assistant IG for Evaluations and Special Projects, Jeffrey McDermott, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin in studio with the details, and a caution that some of them are difficult.

Cloud computing and the comet trail of mobile and remote employees that go with it has the potential to reduce cybersecurity. That's one finding of a survey conducted by the SANS Institute. SANS analyst David Hazar joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the details.