Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Low-risk investments generally have low returns. By law, the Postal Service must invest retiree assets in U.S. Treasury securities. The Office of Inspector General took a look at how much USPS would have had now, with a stock-and-bond mix. Wow. For more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Research Specialist Joy Sanzone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deep in the weeds of agency management, you find something called the FITARA scorecard. FITARA stands for Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act. It became law in 2015. Twice each year, agencies receive a scorecard from Congress on how they did managing their IT activities. Now a team, under the IT trade group ACT-IAC, has come up with a list of recommendations for revising the FITARA scorecard. To fet the the whys and wherefores, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke in-studio with former federal CIO Alan Balutis along with the the Executive Director of the Policy Center at the MITRE Corporation, Dave Powner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: New ideas for updating a very old scorecard, at which agencies roll their eyes. One reason the Postal Service has a long-term pension problem. Will theoretical debt-ceiling deadline result in real deal? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following two decades of gradual hiring reforms, chief human capital officers have more plans underway to try to improve recruitment and retention for the federal workforce. Recent efforts from the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council, composed of federal human capital leaders, have included establishing an executive steering committee, and increasing agencies’ ability to hire multiple candidates off a single job announcement. Celebrating 20 years of work from the council, agency leaders reviewed successes and areas for growth at an anniversary ceremony on May 18. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to bring its employees back into the office more regularly this fall, and is setting a new minimum requirement for in-person work. VA Secretary Denis McDonough, in an all-staff email sent Wednesday, said the department will require employees with telework agreements in the National Capital Region to work a minimum of five days in the office each two-week pay period. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Memorial Day, we recall those who didn't return. The tragic pattern of those who return only to take their own lives, that's an ongoing challenge. Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with a man who says the number of veteran suicides is likely undercounted. He is Michael Carmichael, a 22-year veteran of Army Special Forces and Founder & CEO of Check-A-Vet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the biggest obstacles for small businesses to work for the Defense Department is the need for a facility clearance. It comes down to the old chicken or the egg discussion. The small business needs a facility clearance to win contracts. But that same company can’t get a facility clearance unless they have a sponsor on a contract. Carlen Capenos, the director of small business programs for the Defense Information Systems Agency, said DISA has a plan to crack this conundrum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This interview is sort of postscript to the Federal Drive series, "The Worst Place to Work in the Federal Government."  The focus, thus far, has been on the Federal Bureau of Prisons, part of the Justice Department. The Bureau's stated mission, in part, is, "To provide reentry programs to ensure inmates' successful return to the community." The BOP Mission Statement also references "custody and care, not jails and guards." Federal Drive host Tom Temin takes a look a look at one success. Eddie Ellis was convicted of manslaughter, did part of his sentence in the Florence, Colorado super-max prison, and returned to society. He now works for juvenile-sentencing reform. This is a personal, intimate, and instructive interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All week the Federal Drive has examined the Bureau of Prisons, which ranks as, "The Worst Place to Work in the Federal Government," according to the annual listing derived from employee viewpoint survey results and compiled by the Partnership for Public Service. To finish the series, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talks with Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters, who has been on the job for almost a year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The week-long series concludes: "Worst Place to Work in the Federal Government." How the Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters plans to raise BOP's employee engagement scores. As a post script to the series, a one-time inmate shows the federal prison system can and often does achieve its mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the U.S. Treasury runs out of money to pay all the government’s bills because of the debt limit impasse, no one’s exactly sure what it would mean for federal agencies and employees — after all, it’s never happened before. But key federal stakeholders want answers before things get to that point, and at least one is taking the government to court over it. A federal judge in Massachusetts will hear oral arguments next Wednesday in a lawsuit that argues both that federal employees must be paid even if Congress doesn’t increase the debt ceiling, and that the ceiling itself is unconstitutional. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a major step towards freeing itself from paper records keeping, the Defense Department unveiled its first ever records management strategy on Monday. The plan names goals the department wants to achieve over the next five years in an effort to create user-friendly discoverable digital archives. The strategy lists four goals. They include creating a comprehensive library of records to aid the department in decision-making, automating records creation, retrieving and managing records, and planning a lifecycle for them. Defense officials said an overarching goal is to turn DoD’s vast storehouses of records into “actionable information.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Waste, fraud and abuse in the federal student aid loan program is bad. But it would be a lot worse, if not for someone at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) For more than 20 years, she has dispensed tough and crucial oversight to federal financial aid for students, which has rooted out fraudsters and saved untold sums of money. Now she is a finalist for a Service to America Medals, administered by the Partnership for Public Service. Federal Drive host talks with Melissa Emrey-Arras, the GAO's Director of Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This interview is part of the Federal Drive series: The Worst Place to Work in the Federal Government, focusing on the Bureau of Prisons, part of the Justice Department. Federal Drive host Tom Temin has already spoken to several people affiliated with the federal prison system. Now Tom Temin turns his attention toward a working senior officer specialist, who didn't have official permission to speak publicly, so we'll call him Officer X. His voice has been disguised to protect his anonymity and allow for a very candid discussion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Federal Drive continues its week-long series: The Worst Place to Work in the Federal Government, which happens to be the Bureau of Prisons, part of the Justice Department. Yesterday we heard from a former warden, Bob Hood. In today's installment, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talks with Aaron McGlothin, President of AFGE Council 33, a local chapter, representing officers at the Federal Correctional Institution at Mendota, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices