Federal Drive with Tom Temin

On today's episode of The Federal Drive with Tom Temin: How the National Science Foundation is dealing with a big budget increase Enterprise risk management is soaking deeper into most federal agencies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of The Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Contractors assess the Defense Department's latest small business strategy The SBA moves to resolve a vexing wrinkle in the rule-of-two Now in its 35th year, the Thrift Savings Plan offers a lot of investment lessons Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks to last year's legislation to help the semiconductor industry, the National Science Foundation was given $9.9 billion in its record budget for fiscal 2023. Already the NSF has widened its collaboration with the Energy Department, established partnerships with four big semiconductor companies, and even launched a new artificial intelligence institute devoted to speech pathology. To get the details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with NSF director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanatha. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congressional Democrats renewed their push to prevent any future version of the Trump administration’s Schedule F executive order. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced the Saving the Civil Service Act on Tuesday. The legislation aims to block presidential administrations from ordering agencies to reclassify federal positions outside merit system principles, unless given Congressional approval. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you have been investing in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for its entire 35 years, you have likely got a pretty good nest egg. Consistency and patience is part of what we have learned from the TSP over the decades. For more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with certified financial planner Art Stein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Contracting officers are supposed to use small business set-aside contracts if they think at least two small businesses are likely to bid on a request. It is called the Rule of Two. There is a dispute over whether the Rule of Two applies to task orders under indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contracts. Now the Small Business Administration is moving to resolve this question. For analysis, Federal Drive host Tom Temin turned to Rogers Joseph O'Donnell attorney Stephen Bacon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's department issued a new small-business strategy a couple of weeks ago. It comes as more dollars are going to fewer smaller businesses. The contracting world is pondering why the small business industrial base is shrinking. For analysis of the strategy, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with attorney Alan Chvotkin, a partner at Nichols Liu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid rising workloads and understaffing, employees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urged senior leaders and Congress to make some significant changes for the agency’s workforce. In light of growing workforce challenges, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the federal union representing more than 7,700 EPA employees under AFGE Council 238, held a rally outside the agency’s D.C. headquarters. “We are facing a staffing crisis,” AFGE Council 238 President Marie Owens Powell told Federal News Network at the Feb. 15 rally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies are bolstering the Biden administration’s environmental justice push with mapping initiatives that help users understand complex data, as the White House also directs agencies to use a new tool to guide their “Justice40” investments. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last August, released the Environmental Justice Index (EJI), a tool featuring an interactive map designed to measure the cumulative impacts of environmental burdens on communities throughout the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode of The Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The government's satisfaction index is up, but still not what it should be. Stop us if you've heard this before. The IRS has modernizing problems. The contractor carbon emissions reporting rule, is it setting companies up for failure? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Data is a strategic asset. Transforming the Department of Defense (DoD) to a datacentric organization is critical to improving performance and creating decision advantage at all echelons from the battlespace to the board room, ensuring U.S. competitive advantage. To accelerate the department’s efforts, leaders must ensure all DoD data is visible, accessible, understandable, linked, trustworthy, interoperable and secure.”So begins Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks' May 2021 memo to create a data advantage across the Pentagon. Despite this simple, but complex concept that every part of the military is focused on, the Department of the Navy’s commitment to moving toward this approach now is in question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal contracts are reacting to a couple of rules coming from the Biden administration. One requires them to report so-called greenhouse-gas emissions. Another lets lower-tier subcontracting count toward prime small-business goals. There are complications, though, as Federal Drive host Tom Temin heard from Stephanie Kostro, Executive Vice President for Policy at the Professional Services Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No matter what it does, the IRS always seems to be saddled with outdated information technology systems. At the moment, a third of its applications are legacy, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The agency is running 21 modernization projects, but the GAO found problems with how those are going. To learn more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Dave Hinchman, GAO's Director of Information Technology and Cybersecurity Issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest poll of Americans' satisfaction with service they get from the federal government is up. But, with a score of 66 out of 100, the American Customer Satisfaction Index is still below pre-pandemic levels. To get more insight into the poll, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Forrest Morgeson, the former index research director, who is now a professor at Michigan State University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode of The Federal Drive with Tom Temin: That Chinese spy balloon, a harbinger of something bad on the cybersecurity front?  The Defense Innovation Unit says its positively sailing into its 8th year in business. The contractor carbon emissions reporting rule, is it setting companies up for failure? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices