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In Depth interviews – May 22

On the In Depth show blog, you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.

Federal News Network Staff

May 22, 2012 4:24 pm

3 min read

This is the In Depth show blog. Here you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.

Today’s guests:

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.)

Oxygen problems in the F-22 have the Air Force scrambling to fix them, and how to keep pilots who won’t fly them, safe from retaliation. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is a supporter of the F-22 program as well an Air Force pilot.

In a recent conference call with reporters, Kinzinger called the F-22 Raptor “essential to a strong national defense. “However, we must ensure this program is running at 100 percent and at this time, it is not,” he said.

Kinzinger and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), have said more work needs to be done to find solutions to the problem and to make sure that pilots who decide not to fly the F-22 are safe from retribution.

Tom Shoop — Editor-in-Chief, Government Executive

Trimming meat and chopping off the fat: That’s the recipe for 2014 budgets from the Office of Management and Budget.

OMB issued two memos last week directing agencies to tighten their 2014 budget belts by another 5 percent — even if Congress comes up with a plan to stop sequestration.

Tom Shoop, the editor-in-chief of Government Executive magazine, joins In Depth to discuss the agency belt-tightening.

Stan Czerwinski — Director of Strategic Issues, Government Accountability Office

The Government Accountability Office identified more than $794 million sitting in expired grant accounts at agencies across government at the end of fiscal-year 2011. GAO even found some balances remaining in grant accounts several years past their expiration dates.

Stan Czerwinski, the director of strategic issues at GAO, joins In Depth to discuss why so many agencies have problems disbursing grant funds in a timely manner and what GAO recommends those agencies do.

Mark Borkowski — Assistant Commissioner, Customs and Border Protection

Customs and Border Protection has just wrapped up another industry day. The conference this year, “Evolving Border Security and Trade Missions: Insights and Discussions with Industry,” featured opening remarks by CBP Assistant Commissioner Mark Borkowski.

The event was not billed as a “how-to” for contractors, but more a way to share dialogue between the government and its industry partners.

CBP also provided a webcast of the event for contractors who couldn’t attend.

Borkowski discusses the message CBP wanted to get across to industry partners as well as some of the common themes heard from industry.

Also on the show:

IG offices thrive despite lack of permanent leadership