It's been around since the Civil War to protect the government from fraud. The False Claims Act has one of the strongest whistleblower protection provisions under federal law. Relators can receive up to 30 percent if the case is won. In fiscal 2014, the Department of Justice recovered a record sum of nearly $6 billion from false claims cases. Peter Hutt, a partner at the law firm Akin Gump, joins the Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more.
DHS Undersecretary for Management Russell Deyo has four major priorities for the final year of the Obama administration. Based on the department's "Unity of Effort" initiative, component leaders are beginning to talk to each other more and share ideas for improvement.
A group of lawmakers are backing legislation to make it easier for veterans to get approved for business contracts under the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA is also in the midst of taking public comment on proposed changes to its verification guidelines.
Tableau Software's Jerry Valerio and Trippie Group CEO Keith Trippie join host John Gilroy to discuss data management, data storage, and visualization. November 10, 2015
Jon Etherton, president of Etherton & Associates Inc., joins host Roger Waldron to discuss the state of commercial item acquisition, contract duplication and the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. November 10, 2015
Congress came out swinging last week, with some lawmakers calling on the IRS chief's impeachment, while House Republicans passed a bill that would give private debt collectors some of the responsibilities currently held by the tax agency. Report cards were also issued from Capitol Hill, and there was a lot of red.
Each sector of the economy must deal with its own particular cybersecurity challenges. And each has a federal agency counterpart. The Energy Department spends a lot of, well, energy examining and analyzing threats to the nation's sources of energy and the grid that delivers it. Much of that work falls under the purview of Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood Randall, the deputy energy secretary.
On Capitol Hill, the work is never done. True, a seemingly landmark, two-year budget deal passed. No government shutdown? Not so fast. A budget framework isn't the same as a budget bill with dollar details. CQ Roll Call's David Hawkings joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to offer analysis of what comes next under the dome of mystery.
Leaders inspire loyalty. When you connect with the people you work with and manage, they'll give their best and endure the hard times. If, on the other hand, there is no trust or consideration the everyday stress of the job can build and become toxic. Michael Stallard is author of Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work. He joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to share tips on how you can grow a "Connection Culture" at your agency.
OFPP Administrator Anne Rung released a memo telling agencies to accept others' earned value management system certifications.
Vendors and agencies need to improve communication starting with oral debriefings for all contract awards as part of an effort to stem the real and perceived increases of bid-protests, said Rob Burton, a former OFPP deputy administrator and now partner with Venable.
There are at least two schools of thought about repeated congressional efforts to privatize the IRS, says Senior Correspondent Mike Causey. The government could save a lot of money if it could get rid of 90,000 IRS workers and let the private sector do it, for a fee, or squeeze it enough so it falls further behind in collections, and complete the self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Veterans Affairs Department is creating a data backbone that will house veterans' addresses and correspondence in one system.
Stephen Rice, the Transportation Security Administration’s chief information officer, used the governmentwide cyber sprint initiative to help make the case for a one-time bump in technology spending.
Bob Tobias, a Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at American University, counts down the week's top federal stories with Francis Rose.