Federal Drive with Tom Temin

For decades, the Marine Corps prioritized buying weapon systems over quality of life issues, which allowed the service to have enough data to justify its funding requests to purchase new weapon platforms when needed. It was only recently that the service recognized it didn’t track any information on the state of its barracks. “We didn’t have the data to say how we are tracking the facility’s condition in detail to defend more than $200 million a year for that. But we did have the data to say we need this force design weapon system or this modernized vehicle or this modernized weapon platform,” Lt. Gen. James Adams, the deputy Marine commandant for programs and resources, told reporters at the Modern Day Marine conference Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An Army financial counselor will spend years in prison after his conviction on defrauding Gold Star Families. If nothing else, the story should alert members of the military and their families to use care in picking a financial adviser in the first place. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with someone who has witnessed this sort of bad advice, and he has some tips for avoiding it: Thiago Glieger of RMG Advisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A bill sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), would require vendors of online collaboration tools, like Zoom or Slack, to boost their security. It would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to come up with the standards, as well as have Homeland Security make sure the companies comply. For analysis, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Miller and Chevalier attorney, and former CIA attorney, Ashley Powers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Directed energy weapons, like hypersonics, always seem to be just around the corner. Now a unit of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has finished building what it calls diagnostic system to evaluate the performance of high energy lasers developed by industry. The project is called GRAILE-II, or Government Radiometrically Accurate Instrument for Laser Evaluation Version Two. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Joe Cox of AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: A new way emerges to test and validate military grade lasers. This Senate bill would tighten up Zoom and Teams security for government use. How to avoid bad advice or outright fraud when finding financial advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The government might employ some two million people, but no two federal employees are alike. That's why career and retirement planning can be complicated. For instance, what if you're old enough to retire but have less than 30 years in. For insight into what's known as MRA plus 10, Federal Drive Host Tom TEmin spoke to long-time federal retirement expert Tammy Flanagan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Citing low recruitment rates and readiness challenges, a coalition of health groups is urging the the Defense Department to do more about obesity. They tell Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that leadership needs system-wide recognition of what it calls an obesity epidemic. For the latest, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke to the American Security Project's Courtney Manning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a big data challenge underway. It is the latest federal opportunity for university students to take a shot at some real-world technology problem solving. The challenge this time: evolution of the National Airspace System into a more information-centric entity. For more, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke to the FAA's acting chief data officer, Marseta Dill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The FAA's Data Challenge asks contestants to find and solve problems. A coalition of groups urges DoD to take on the obesity epidemic. A new wrinkle on the notion of postponing your federal retirement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies are well on their way to reaching the Biden administration’s in-office goals for federal employees, but the Office of Management and Budget still plans to hold leaders accountable until they reach full compliance. Based on conversations with federal leaders, agencies are roughly 80% of the way toward hitting the administration’s target for at least half of feds’ work hours being spent in the office, OMB Deputy Director for Management Jason Miller told House lawmakers Tuesday. “We’ve been clear that our expectation is agencies are achieving at least 50%, while giving them flexibility for how to deliver,” Miller said during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing. “We’ll hold them accountable for that.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now that it have been 10 years since issuing them, the White House has updated what is known as Uniform Guidance on grants and federal assistance. One reason for the update: reducing regulatory burden on both agencies and grantees. For some highlights, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2021 Biden Administration executive order on cybersecurity, laid out no less than 55 requirements. And those were just for leadership and oversight. It fingered three agencies, including the Office of Management and Budget itself , for implementing the 55. OMB hasn't done too badly. For a progress report, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the Government Accountability Office's Director of Information Technology and Cybersecurity, Marisol Cruz Cain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trade with other countries, is something nations both promote and protect like crown jewels. Now U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has launched two oversight platforms anyone can view to see what's going on in trade violation and enforcement actions. For details on the two new dashboards, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with CBP's Executive Assistant Commissioner for Trade, AnnMarie Highsmith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Care about U.S. trade violation activity? Now there's a dashboard for that. Executive orders are just paper, unless agencies actually carry them out. What new White House guidance on grants means for agencies that hand them out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Agencies, once again, set new records almost across the board for contracting with small businesses in fiscal 2023. New data from the Small Business Administration shows agencies awarded an all-time high of 28.4% of all eligible federal contract dollars to small businesses. At the same time, SBA’s new small business scorecard data shows agencies met or surpassed governmentwide goals in three of five socio-economic category, including service disabled veteran-owned small businesses. In all, agencies awarded $178.6 billion to small businesses last year, which is an increase of $15.7 billion from 2022. The governmentwide small business contracting goal is 23%. House Small Business Committee lawmakers recently passed a bill to increase that goal to 25%. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As agencies send their employees back to the office more regularly, some feds are showing up to work only to find a sea of near-empty cubicles waiting for them. Despite an administrative push for more collaboration and “meaningful” work in the office, employees said in reality, many federal offices have limited or no physical spaces to effectively host team meetings or events. “It is cubicle city,” wrote one respondent to Federal News Network’s recent survey of more than 6,300 current federal employees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Joe Biden is calling for an AI talent surge across the federal government. And by the numbers, prospective hires are showing interest in the jobs agencies are advertising. New data from the White House shows applications for AI and AI-enabling roles across the federal government have more than doubled between January and March 2024, compared to the same period in recent years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Non-compete clauses have been an important tool for companies to protect intellectual property and ensure they get treated fairly when employees leave. Now the Federal Trade Commission has voted to ban non-compete agreements. Presuming it holds up in court, and that's a big if, what could it mean for federal contractors? For some insight, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the President and CEO of the Professional Services Council, David Berteau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the cybersecurity front, every week seems to bring a new threat. A recent one in the category of advanced persistent threat is known as Volt Typhoon. Its apparent foreign nation-state origin is aimed at critical infrastructure. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with former Energy Department cyber manager, now CEO of NetRise, Tom Pace. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sixty seconds of video from the U.S.-Mexico border will show you that Customs and Border Protection patrol officers have high stress jobs. They're not alone. Lots of CBP jobs bring stress. And stress brings the potential for mental health problems in the workforce. For how the agency deal with mental health, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the operational psychologist in CBP's Workforce Operations Division, Joshua Tomchesson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices