Federal Drive with Tom Temin

It’s been more than two years since the Defense Department started the rollout of its new electronic health record. After a somewhat rocky start in the Pacific Northwest, officials said they’ve done a lot to overcome the learning curve; the latest deployments in California and Idaho went much more smoothly. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu has the latest on the MHS Genesis deployment. He joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss.

When fiscal 2020 finally got enacted, a new agency two years in development was able to fully hatch. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) formed out of the old Overseas Private Investment Corporation and elements of the U.S. Agency for International Development. DFC's Chief Operating Officer Edward Burrier joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the new mission and organization.

The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights is a little more than a year into reforms and expansion that Congress itself ordered in 2018. It's done a pretty good job at implementing them as it transitioned from its former incarnation as the Office of Compliance. Now the Government Accountability Office has done an assessment of the OCWR's progress. Joining Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the highlights was GAO's Director of Strategic Issues Yvonne Jones.

New year, same priorities for the federal workforce. The Trump administration in 2020 is trying to finish much of what it started during previous years. The Office of Personnel Management launched a new online collective bargaining agreement database Thursday. It was a key component of President Donald Trump's 2018 executive orders on official time and collective bargaining. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more on OPM's new resources, and some of the administration's other workforce priorities for the year.

Nearly every program office in the Army is under pressure to cut budgets by 5% and repurpose the money for modernization. The one area where that type of cut may come easiest is in the buying of common goods and services. Rebecca Weirick is the executive director of the Services Acquisition Office of in the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Procurement. She told Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller that the Army already saved more than $1 billion through category management, and that money did go to modernization. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

EPA does more than propose and carry out environmental regulations. It also works with states, counties and cities to help finance environmentally-related projects like sewers. That's where the EPA's Environmental Financial Advisory Board comes in. In fact, the agency is considering some new members right now. With more on what the board does and how it works, the director of EPA’s Office of Wastewater Management, Andrew Sawyers, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

One thing about the nation's capital is that the government might be eternal, but the city itself is a canvass on which the country paints its ceaselessly evolving history. Now the National Capital Planning Commission is discussing plans for two new memorials, and the Federal Railroad Administration is talking to the Commission about how to expand Union Station. For details on what's going on, the Commission's Director of Urban Design and Plan Review, Diane Sullivan, spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Iran struck US bases with missiles on Monday night in retaliation for the death of Qassem Soleimani, one of its top generals. Both sides say they want peace, but that doesn’t mean the Pentagon is letting its guard down. The possibility of another attack from Iran has prompted DoD to keep bases on alert. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more on what you can expect.

The Navy got a lesson in procurement when it set out to buy weapons with scopes for use by special forces. The winning, low-priced bidder was then asked to substitute a crucial part with a more expensive one. That led to a messy protest. Federal Drive with Tom Temin got the details from procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo of Petrillo and Powell.

In 2020 the Pentagon will follow a new policy for what it calls middle tier acquisition for rapid prototyping and rapid fielding. The law authorizing it dates to 2015. But the final rule only came out New Year's Eve. It gives more authority over bigger acquisitions to the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition and sustainment, and takes it away from the armed services. For one view of what this might mean, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen.

The Air Force has run three separate bug bounties so far to test the cybersecurity of its IT systems. And while they’ve managed to find hundreds of vulnerabilities already, the service wants to take the bounty approach much farther. That includes inviting hackers to probe for weaknesses in its IT supply chain, and its satellites. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu had the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

A recent Government Accountability Office report pointed out 32 cases of federal contractors using shell companies to hide work being done by foreign companies. It's an old problem and with some recommendations for how to get past it, Project on Government Oversight investigator Neil Gordon joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Federal News Network devotes a lot of coverage to IT modernization, one of the most expensive and important management initiative in the government. Federal Drive with Tom Temin's host wrote a column this week on efforts by the IRS to replace the very old code in its individual master file system. Executive Editor Jason Miller, the in-house point man on IT, joined Temin for a discussion.

In a follow-up to President Donald Trump’s executive order on artificial intelligence, the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy has released what it describes as a first-of-its-kind set of principles that agencies must meet when drafting AI regulations. The policy is binding. And it builds on work the defense and national security communities have put into their own recommendations on AI ethics. But administration officials have cautioned agencies not to over-regulate AI research and develop. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more details.

The U.S. now has a Space Force. Assets are already moving over from the Air Force. For a look at what steps the Defense Department must take to ensure success of the Space Force, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to the Associate Director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Kaitlyn Johnson.