Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Defense Department spends more than $150 billion a year on services. To get better at it and ensure that what it buys is what it really wants, Defense Acquisition University developed the Services Acquisition Workshop (SAW). Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Lyle Eesley, the former DAU professor who developed the SAW, at the National Contract Management Association symposium in Washington.

This week Federal News Radio introduces a new feature: a special biweekly report on the specific personnel issues in the Defense Department by our own Scott Maucione. Scott joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin in studio with this week's topics, including how the sexual harassment issue is reaching in to the intelligence community.

For decades, federal human resources systems were like Frankenstein monster's disparate pieces and parts pulled together to create a working model. Hook up the electrodes, yell, "It's alive," and hope for the best. But that's changing under a new effort from the Unified Shared Services Management Office led by the Office of Personnel Management. That's the big topic in the weekly feature, the Reporters Notebook, from executive editor Jason Miller. He joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more.

For decades, federal human resources systems were like the Frankenstein monster's disparate pieces and parts pulled together to create a working model. Hook up the electrodes, yell "It's alive" and hope for the best. But that's changing under a new effort from the Unified Shared Services Management Office led by the Office of Personnel Management. That's the big topic in the weekly feature, the Reporters Notebook, from Executive Editor Jason Miller. He joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more.

Federal agencies trying to know what's going on in technology are using requests for information and so-called reverse industry days more and more. The communication can be good, but RFIs and live participation can be costly for contractors. Alan Chvotkin, counsel and executive vice president of the Professional Services Council, joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more on this trend.

As the Trump administration sets about the task of drafting its first national defense strategy, theres one thing defense experts agree on: Not every part of the Pentagon can be a winner. Some of the Defense Departments missions will have to take a back seat. Federal News Radios Jared Serbu has details on some of the hard choices policymakers are facing on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Even though they were quickly rebuffed by a federal judge, those who believe Leandra English was correct in her presumption to the job of acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau aren't giving up. Brian Frazelle, appellate counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, tells Federal Drive with Tom Temin what they believe should come next.

A D.C. judge ruled that President Donald Trump was within his powers in appointing an acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But the legal debate rages on. Mostly it centers on language in Section 10 of the Dodd-Frank law, which sired the CFPB. One lawyer who's written in favor of the White House view, Alan Kaplinsky, partner at Ballard Spahr, where he specializes in consumer financial services. He offers his take on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

A longer probationary period may be in the cards for some new federal employees and those promoted to the senior executives service. The House passed a bill called the Ensuring a Qualified Civil Service Act. It would extend the probationary period from one year to two. The bill passed with a close vote. And there's been a mix of criticism and praise for the bill. Federal News Radio's Nicole Ogrysko shares the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

When it comes to national security background checks, few ideas have had as much appeal as continuous evaluation, the idea people can be checked on any time something changes, rather than every five years. But, as the intelligence community has found out, naming a program doesn't make it actually work. Brenda Farrell, director of defense capabilities and management issues at the Government Accountability Office, fills in the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Can census data be cool? Thats a question one team of bright minds at the bureau attempted to answer as part of this years Opportunity Project. The project aims to connect government with the tech industry and creatively use open data for the public and economic good. Drew Zachary, director and co-founder of the Opportunity Project spoke with Federal News Radio's Meredith Somers on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Across the government, the number of bid and contract award protests dropped last year. But that doesn't mean agencies with the must have contracts are finding easy going. A case in point: The General Services Administration. Its next and large IT services contract is on hold because of protests. Executive Editor Jason Miller is following the story and shares the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Wireless broadband access can be slow on military bases. Who needs that? Now the Navy has a plan to make life and work a little easier for sailors dealing with lousy cell service. They're calling it the 2.0 version of the broadband wireless policy. Navy officials hope cellular service providers will jump on bases faster because of it. Federal News Radio's Scott Maucione shares the details on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

The Homeland Security Department has so many acting officials, they could put on a Broadway play. But the lack of permanent appointed officials means important policy work doesn't get done, and the rank and file wonder how much initiative they can really take. Bob Tobias from the Key Leadership Program at American University offers his take on what it all means on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

Federal rules for not doing business with an agency you've just left exist for a reason. Yet if a company's winning bid proposal team includes a former agency employee, that's not necessarily a conflict of interest. A recent bid protest case proved this point. Procurement attorney Joseph Petrillo of Petrillo and Powell joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin with the particulars of the case.