Federal Drive with Tom Temin

For the second time in six months, the Defense Department's overseers are raising red flags about one of the department’s biggest cybersecurity projects. The Pentagon’s inspector general says the Joint Regional Security Stacks aren’t meeting their expected objectives more than five years after the program first got off the ground. Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk about the latest findings, and DoD’s response to them.

New software comes out every minute. But how often does a new metal spring into action? NASA Glenn Research Center materials research engineer Othmane Benafan found a way to produce a miracle metal in quantities large enough to build an airplane shape-shifting wings. For this potentially revolutionary work, he's a finalist in this year's Service to America Medals program. He joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss.

Tricare, the Defense Department's primary health care delivery system, faces the same attempts at fraud and abuse as Medicare. Now a proposed rule would give Tricare administrators the power to impose civil penalties on fraudsters. There's even a name for the proposed new program, Military Health Care Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program. Joining me with what they're planning: Deputy general counsel of the Defense Health Agency Bryan Wheeler, and the associate general counsel, Michael Zleit joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more about what is in the works.

As agencies race to roll out emerging technology, blockchain has faded a bit compared to artificial intelligence and robotic process automation. But the distributed ledger technology has become a hit at the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency already uses blockchain in its acquisition shop to buy bulk items more cheaply. But the Food and Drug Administration now sees it as a tool for supply chain management. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more.

It's surprisingly small. An ungainly, almost primitive-looking boat is also a piece of American historical technology, and it was crucial to landing troops on the coast of Normandy on that fateful D-Day 75 years ago today. For the background and why it's perched on the lawn in front of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with press secretary Paul Fucito.

The government might have the right to suspend or even debar contractors for three years, but contractors can and do sue when it happens. One recent case showed the dangers in suing the government and why contractors need to pay attention to the concept known as responsibility. Dismas Locaria, a partner of Venable, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin in studio to share some expert insight into this case.

The General Schedule of job classifications is in its eighth decade. And the jobs of today in the federal government scarcely resemble those of the 1950s. With the disappearance of the typist, so too has gone the job of the classifier. Former Homeland Security chief human capital officer Jeff Neal joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for commentary on this issue.

Few surveys have the response rate and statistical ruggedness of the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Few agencies can hide from the results. Now the annual survey, known as FEVS, has been put in the field for 2019. Mallory Barg Bulman, vice president for research and evaluation at the Partnership for Public Service, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain why it's important and why, if you get one, you should fill it out.

The Office of Management and Budget released the long-awaited federal data strategy Tuesday. It gives agencies 40 goals to improve the accessibility, value and security of what many call the 21st Century’s new oil. The strategy isn't all new. It builds on initiatives, policies, executive orders and laws that have underpinned federal data for the last 20 years. Suzette Kent, the federal chief information officer, explained in an exclusive interview to Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller the short and long term goals of the strategy. Hear more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

When the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general released a report detailing bad conditions at the Washington, D.C., medical center, the center director, Brian Hawkins, was fired. Long story short he'll be reinstated with back pay, two years later. Issac Arnsdorf, a reporter for the nonprofit ProPublica, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk about how this came to pass.

The Small Business Administration is trying the competition approach to create programs that will train workers for the jobs needed by employers. It's called the Match Pilot Competition. SBA Acting Administrator Chris Pilkerton joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain how it works.

The House Armed Services subcommittees released their recommendations for the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The suggestions put a big emphasis on technology and give 18,000 service members working in the medical field hope that they will keep their jobs. Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more details.

Multiple award contracts have been around for decades. Successful ones can be like annuities for award-holders and the cash generators for the agencies who operate them. And they've been growing in terms of dollars. For just how much, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to Bloomberg Government senior data analyst Paul Murphy. TAG:

House appropriators are proposing a 3.1% pay raise for civilian employees in 2020. That's quite a departure from the president's proposed pay freeze for federal employees next year. The raise is just one of several provisions that are part of a new draft bill from the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko and Executive Editor Jason Miller joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to talk about tidbits they found.

A 2014 incident in which a crazed person jumped over the fence and ran deep into the White House exposed what a review panel later termed catastrophic failures in training at the Secret Service. Since then, the Secret Service has made considerable progress towards meeting the panel's 18 recommendations. Nathan Anderson, the acting director for Homeland Security and Justice Issues at the Government Accountability Office, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss the results of its own review.