Emergency Response Bounceback

Looking Back at Hurricane Season

It’s been long enough after FEMA’s hurricane response to Gustav and Ike that Congress is ready to take a look at how things went. The House Transportation subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management heard this afternoon from a panel of witnesses including Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans, FEMA’s Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer Admiral Harvey Johnson, Joseph Becker of the American Red Cross, and Cynthia Fagnoni of the Government Accountability Office. The Chair of the subcommittee, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, gave us a preview of the hearing.

Click to hear part 1 of the interview

Click to hear part 2 of the interview

Expecting a Thumbs Up

Today is the day the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will vote on the nomination of Admiral Patrick Dunne to be Under Secretary for Benefits at the Veterans Affairs Department. He’s been in the position as Acting Under Secretary since April. The committee is expected to report his nomination favorably to the full Senate. Admiral Dunne’s confirmation hearing was last Wednesday. Chairman Daniel Akaka asked him whether he’ll be able to get much done in the remaining months of the Bush Administration.

Click to hear this part of the hearing

One of the issues Admiral Dunne has talked about as Acting Under Secretary has been what work contractors can do for the Veterans Benefits Administration, and what work should stay in-house. Ranking member Richard Burr had some questions for the Admiral about that.

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End-to-end, or Back-to-start?

The Office of Personnel Management has announced its new End-to-End Hiring Roadmap, designed to streamline the process of getting new hires into the government faster and easier. John Palguta, Vice President for Policy at the Partnership for Public Service, and Derrick T. Dortch, a Federal-careers coach, Federal News Radio contributor, and host of Fed Access, talked about the pros and cons of the new Roadmap, and what else the government can do to get qualified people into your agency faster.

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They Just Don’t Understand Us

One talent recruitment challenge the government is facing is finding language specialists. Agencies have a variety of programs to deal with the shortages, and train the people they need. One of them is the Defense Department’s National Security Education Program. The House Armed Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee heard this morning about how the program works with states, universities, and students to increase our foreign language capacity, from Dr. Robert Slater, the Pentagon’s Director of the National Security Education Program.

Click to hear this part of the hearing

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