Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
On Air: Federal News Network
Agency Oversight
-
![]()
A Government Accountability Office report released earlier this month states the Office of Personnel Management isn't properly communicating employee engagement strategies with other agencies.
July 22, 2015 -
![]()
The IRS has not, to put it gently, had a great year. National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson's annual report to Congress says the 2015 tax filing season was among the most challenging ever. Several factors, including declining budgets, combined to produce some pretty poor examples of customer service. She joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to review her report.
July 21, 2015 -
![]()
The recent false alarm at the Washington Navy Yard has insider threats on the minds of employees at military bases all over the country. The Defense Department has a long list of recommendations to protect itself better against insider threats. The Government Accountability Office issued 79 of them after the Fort Hood shooting in 2009. But DoD doesn't know how it's doing on those recommendations because individual military services aren't consistently communicating and reporting their progress. Joe Kirschbaum is the director of defense capabilities and management issues at the Government Accountability Office. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the force protection guidance DoD already has, and the recommendations GAO first made after the Fort Hood shooting.
July 20, 2015 -
![]()
The Government Accountability Office recently conducted 18 undercover tests of the federal Health Insurance Marketplace; 12 of those focused on phone or online applications. The results? All but one received subsidized health insurance coverage, despite a lack of sufficient documentation. Seto Bagdoyan is director of the Forensic Audits and Investigative Service at GAO. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to further discuss the tests.
July 20, 2015 -
![]()
OPM's recent cybersecurity breach shows how tight budgets, limited expertise and cultural blind spots create perfect storms of agency vulnerability throughout the federal environment.
July 20, 2015 -
![]()
It's been one week now since Katherine Archuleta told reporters she didn't plan to resign -- and then announced her resignation less than 24 hours later. Acting OPM Director Beth Cobert has spent her first week on the job reassuring leaders within her agency and others that she understands the magnitude of the job at hand. Tom Shoop is editor in chief at Government Executive magazine, and he writes Archuleta's resignation is another case of business as usual in Washington. But he tells In Depth guest host Jared Serbu that it doesn't have to be that way.
July 17, 2015 -
![]()
A bill that makes it easier for the Veterans Affairs Secretary to fire senior executives could extend to all other employees at the department. The probationary period for new employees would also get longer -- from 12 to 18 months. House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller says too few people at the department have been held accountable for the patient wait time scandal that emerged into public view last year -- nor for other management failings at VA. The VA Accountability Act of 2015 cleared the committee earlier this week. It will likely go to a full House vote during the last week in July. Carol Bonosaro is the president of the Senior Executives Association, which drafted a letter to Congress this week raising several objections to the bill. She tells In Depth guest host Jared Serbu about the differences between this bill, and a similar one introduced in Congress last year.
July 17, 2015 -
![]()
It's been one year since the Agriculture Department jumped into the shared services business. Now a financial management shared services provider, USDA is working with other agencies to sign them on. The General Services Administration -- including about 30 other small agencies and commissions -- is one big customer. John Brewer is the deputy chief financial officer at the Agriculture Department. He's an AFCEA Bethesda 20-14 Governmentwide Initiative Excellence Award Winner for leading the charge. He tells Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller what prompted the agency's initial involvement with shared services.
July 17, 2015 -
![]()
Federal executives say they worry about the capacity of their workforce and how it impacts their agencies’ performance in a recent “Future of Government Service” survey released this month.
July 17, 2015 -
![]()
The number of agency employees using two-factor authentication is 20 percent since the start of the 30-day cybersecurity sprint. Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott had some positive results to share at the halfway point. Patrick Flynn is the director of homeland and national security programs at Intel Security, and former assistant chief of the Office of Border Patrol at Customs and Border Protection. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose what we should be looking for as more agencies report their progress at the end of the cyber sprint.
July 15, 2015 -
![]()
The OPM cyber attack may turn out to have a silver lining. The attack may give agencies an opportunity — if they choose to take it — to redefine encryption. Chuck Archer is the executive chairman at Covata and former assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose that encryption isn't a people problem.
July 15, 2015 The Obama Administration still has more than a year to go, but it's never too early to start planning for a presidential transition. The broad topic of transfer of power is covered by the Constitution; but it doesn't cover all of the requirements of a modern, three trillion-dollar government. John Palguta is the vice president for policy at the Partnership for Public Service. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain how new administrations can deal with thousands of management details.
July 15, 2015-
![]()
Even though the Office of Personnel Management is responsible for the biggest breach to federal employee data in history, it is by no means the only agency having a tough time addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The number of cybersecurity incidents government-wide is up from about 5,500 in fiscal 2006 to more than 67,000 in fiscal 2014 — and those are just the incidents agencies have reported. Information security has been on the Government Accountability Office's High Risk list since 1997. Greg Wilshusen is director of information strategic issues at the GAO. He tells In Depth guest host Jared Serbu why agencies are having a hard time coming up with risk-based cyber programs.
July 14, 2015 -
![]()
The Office of Personnel Management and its new acting director are in crisis mode right now as the agency responds to the largest breach of federal employee data in history. But among the many challenges Beth Cobert faces as she takes the helm at OPM is making sure the agency pays attention to its basic human capital management missions -- and doesn't get distracted by the emergency at hand. Don Kettl is a management expert at the Unversity of Maryland School of Public Policy. He tells In Depth guest host Jared Serbu that the data breach probably wasn't the fault of former OPM director Katherine Archuleta -- but her departure from the agency wasn't a surprise.
July 14, 2015
