Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The summer season for Congress is getting underway this week. Maybe the biggest question for the House is whether it will get so entangled in its impeachment debate that routine — if important — legislative matters won't get done. Fulcrum Editor-in-Chief David Hawkings joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the early June outlook.

Artificial intelligence is like the seeker in hide-and-seek. It's coming, ready or not. Agencies have a lot to balance when it comes to AI. Now they've got some guidance based on research by the Professional Services Council.The Council's executive Vice President Alan Chvotkin joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the highlights.

Those who were down on the mall in Washington this weekend might've seen an extensive exhibit of innovations in housing. It's part of a program by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to showcase the need for more and more varied types of housing, as well as to show some of the new developments in housing structures. Monday was Federal Day at the Innovative Housing Showcase, and for more details, HUD Secretary Ben Carson joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

After years of low employee engagement the Secret Service this year finally saw morale and retention improvement. Everyone's heard the stories — the hours are long and agents are expected to be ready at a moment's notice. And the 2016 presidential campaign kept Secret Service agents so busy that the agency blew past the statutory limit on overtime pay. But in 2018 the Secret Service improved 11 points on the Best Places to Work rankings. Susan Yarwood is the Secret Service's chief human capital officer. She told Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko the path to improving employee engagement at the agency was a long, long process. Hear about it on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

As agencies grapple with what artificial intelligence can do for them, the National Institute of Standards and Technology is looking for public feedback on ways to make AI more trustworthy. An executive order from President Donald Trump gave NIST the job of coming up with technical standards for AI tools. The agency recently held a public workshop at its headquarters to better understand both the challenges and the opportunities of AI. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman had more on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The Army has a lot of unused facility space. At the same time, the service believes the only thing holding a lot of potential vendors back from bidding on its contracts is a lack of floor space to do the work. So, as Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu reported, the Army is looking at new ways to put those facilities to good use. Hear those ways on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The Defense Department got most of the money it wanted the past three years after telling Congress it needed funds to rebuild readiness. Now DoD is asking for its biggest budget yet. And what about readiness? Federal News Network’s Scott Maucione joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to give an update.

Supply chain security has been a concern of Congress and successive administrations. Now a Trump White House executive order on communications supply chain security, which seemed aimed at a controversial Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer, is causing some in industry to say, "Let's stop and think about this." Jason Oxman, the president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin with reactions from his member companies.

For many years, the watchword from the Department of Homeland Security was resilience, when it comes to places where disaster could occur. The idea is, if you can't prevent it can you recover quickly? Hurricane Katrina reinforced the importance of supply chain resilience dealing with potential disruptions to the delivery of basics like food and water. Now FEMA has published a guide to supply chain resilience. Gene Shearer, logistics and supply chain adviser for FEMA, and Nick Peak of the National Preparedness Directorate, shared highlights on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

If you've been surprised by how smoothly airport processing can be for international travel, you might want to thank this individual. His long time work in the practical, real world application of facial recognition is in some ways revolutionizing the airport experience. John Wagner is deputy executive assistant commissioner for field operations at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and a finalist in this year's Service to America Medals program. He joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more explanation.

The Defense Department’s biggest labor union has lodged a formal complaint against the Pentagon, accusing DoD officials of unfair labor practices. The issue is an upcoming plan to consolidate many of DoD’s IT networks. As part of the transition, more than 1,000 employees who work for a dozen Defense agencies are set to become employees of the Defense Information Systems Agency. But the American Federation of Government Employees said its members haven’t been consulted about the changes. Victor Matos is the president of AFGE Local 2846, and represents employees at the Defense Contract Management Agency. He talked with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu about what employees have been told so far, on which can be heard on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

National Government Services Inc. was unhappy with a decision made by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The company protested, and protested, and protested again until it got the answer it wanted. Here with lessons learned from this long-running case, procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo, of Petrillo and Powell, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

As agencies have more data than they know what to do with, a new tool from the Bureau of the Fiscal Service should help the public keep tabs on government spending. The online tracker, called Your Guide to America’s Finances, collects data on commonly-asked questions about federal revenue and spending. Daniel Cain is the bureau’s deputy assistant commissioner for Data Transparency. Justin Marsico is the product manager of Research and Analytics for Data Transparency. They spoke with Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

A new deadline at the Department of Veterans Affairs is right around the corner. VA will start next week to implement new criteria for veterans to access community health care. The new access standards are just one piece of the VA MISSION Act. VA said it's ready to meet the June 6 deadline. But other parts of the MISSION Act are falling behind. As Federal News Network's Nicole Ogrysko reported on Federal Drive with Tom Temin, a familiar culprit is behind VA's delays.

The founding fathers could never have imagined the technologies that drive today's United States. Many current members of Congress still don't get it. But a lot is happening and happening fast on that front. Joining Federal Drive with Tom Temin in studio, Zach Graves, policy chief at the Lincoln Network and Daniel Schuman, policy director at Demand Progress, had the latest details.