The Thrift Savings Plan may want your input on how to move the TSP forward for the future. The question is whether they’ll have the money to ask you. Kim Weaver, director of external affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, joins In Depth to recap the board’s recent monthly meeting.

Your agency’s mission statement is the bedrock for how it’s supposed to function and serve the United States. If you ignore it — or forget it — you may have a huge problem. It’s a problem the IRS is dealing with right now. Tom Shoop, editor-in-chief at Government Executive, joins In Depth to discuss.

Report: IRS Screening Tactics Violated Agency’s Mission Statement (related link)

The capability vs. cost savings debate is the heart of the discussion about the Defense Department right now. The United States is not the only country facing this problem right now. Maren Leed, senior adviser and chair of Defense Policy Studies and Ground Forces Dialogue at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins In Depth to discuss a recent CSIS event that explored these issues.

You swore an oath when you took your federal job. Now you, or at least your agency’s contracting professionals, should take another pledge, according to Steve Kelman, professor of Public Management at the Harvard Kennedy School, and former administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

Who will take the pledge? (related link)

Award winners at the Small Business Administration are enjoying the spotlight, at least for a time. The agency presents its 15th annual Phoenix Awards to some economic heroes from around the country. James Rivera, associate administrator of the Small Business Association’s Office of Disaster Assistance, joins In Depth to discuss the awards ceremony.

Independent contractors are the smallest of small businesses. Their role in the federal contracting world gets overlooked sometimes because they’re solo operators. Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln, the national chairwoman of the “It’s My Business” coalition, joins In Depth to discuss some of the struggles of independent contractors.

The Homeland Security Department is piloting a concept called the “Car Wash.” Robert Palmer, the director of information assurance in the Information System Development Office at DHS, says the Car Wash process still is in the proof-of-concept stage.