In Depth – May 1

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.

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:

Janet KopenhaverWashington representative, Federally Employed Women

Following a short recess, Congress is back to work next week — and at least some members are looking at federal employees’ pay and benefits as a place to save some money.

Janet Kopenhaver, the Washington representative of the group Federally Employed Women, tells In Depth how the group views many of the congressional proposals and which of them the group is most concerned about.


Alan PallerDirector of Research, SANS Institute

You agency is working hard to defend its network against outsider threats. But developing a strategy to protect yourself against insider threats may not be on your agency’s radar screen yet.

Alan Paller, the director of research at the SANS Institute discusses the various forms an insider threat can take — from accidental to malicious — plus what an effective insider threat strategy looks like.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily Cybersecurity Update. For more cybersecurity news, click here.


Tom ShoopEditor-in-Chief, Government Executive

Congress has been focused on trimming back federal pay and benefits for some time. But now, federal employee compensation has trickled down to the presidential race. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney mentioned federal pay and benefits in a speech last week, citing the “unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve,” according to GovExec.

Tom Shoop, the editor-in-chief of Government Executive magazine, discusses the role of federal workers in the rhetoric of the presidential campaign.


Larry AllenPresident, Allen Federal Business Partners

Separately, three events in defense contracting may not look particularly connected. But if you add them together, they could turn into a huge deal, according to Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners.

“Multiple headlines announcing several changes to specific parts of the Department of Defense may end up causing a seismic shift in the way the Department of Defense buys from contractors,” Allen wrote in his weekly newsletter. They are: Army force reductions to the tune of 30,000, a Marine drawdown in Okinawa and an overhaul of DoD’s Information Analysis Centers.

Subcribe to Allen’s newsletter, “The Week Ahead,” here


Alan ChvotkinExecutive Vice President and Counsel, Professional Services Council

The budget crunch has some contractors worried about where the defense industry — and their businesses — are headed.

Last week, 26 Democratic senators wrote to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, expressing concern that the Pentagon’s civilian worforce had borne too much of the brunt of budget cuts and staffing reductions, while contractors were not.

But the Professional Services Council, which represents many defense contractors, rebutted those charges in an April 30 letter, arguing that contractors aren’t immune to budget reductions either.

Alan Chvotkin, the executive vice president and counsel at Professional Services Council, provides more from PSC’s viewpoint.


Also on the show:

State to offer guidance to Secret Service overseas

New Justice IG brings anti-corruption experience

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) honored for fed work

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.