Radio Interviews

  • The Senate is working on a long-term highway spending bill that taps billions of dollars from the Thrift Savings Plan to help pay for it. House budget writers say the G-fund is just too good of a deal and they want to base the fund's interest rate on a three month average instead of the current four-year average. Kim Weaver of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board says that would make the G-fund virtually worthless for TSP participants. Jessica Klement is legislative director of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. She tells In Depth with Francis Rose that NARFE wants Congress to come up with another solution.

    July 21, 2015
  • The Office of Personnel Management is turning to the Homeland Security Department to help it set the standard for better federal cybersecurity. OPM is still recovery mode as it deals with the consequences of the biggest breach of federal employee data in history. Chris Cummiskey is the CEO of Cummiskey Strategic Solutions, a senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University and former acting undersecretary for management at DHS. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose that says DHS has five big items to tackle before it can — and should — lead the effort.

    July 21, 2015
  • A new piece of cybersecurity technology is out from the Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate. The Network Mapping System tells users what's connected to their networks so they know how to protect them best. It's the third technology out of the S&T Directorate's Transition to Practice program. DHS is licensing the system to Cambridge Global Advisors in Arlington. Michael Pozmantier is in the Transition to Practice office at the DHS Science and Technology Directorate. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose how the system works.

    July 21, 2015
  • This program will provide a progress report on Health IT in government.

    July 21, 2015
  • Following discovery of its data breach, the Office of Personnel Management was criticized for awarding a identity protection contract within 36 hours. But in fact, fast-track procurement makes sense in contingency situations. In reality, the government contracting community is too reluctant to use many of the authorities and flexibilities it has. Stan Soloway is the president and CEO of the Professional Services Council; Jonathan Aberman is the managing director of Amplifier Ventures and chairman of Tandem NSI. They joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explore the topic of contingency contracting, and explain why OPM awarded that original contract so quickly.

    July 21, 2015
  • Four powerful lawmakers want to know why the Treasury Department hasn't ensured some of the tools used by the Recovery Operations Center will live on through the DATA Act. Leaders of two committees — the House Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees — wrote to Secretary Jacob Lew seeking answers. Federal News Radio's Executive Editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more details on why some lawmakers are concerned.

    July 21, 2015
  • The Internet of Things has lots of promise. Program managers and researchers of all types can get a clearer view of what is going on in their world when they can process information from unlimited numbers of data gathering points. But the expansion of network traffic and data from the Internet of Things also carries serious new cybersecurity threats. Chris Eng is the vice president of research at Veracode. He's studied the security implications, and joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to review them.

    July 21, 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
  • Brian Marvin, vice president Sales, Public Sector, BMC, joins host John Gilroy to discuss how his company can help agencies achieve their IT goals. July 21, 2015

    July 20, 2015
  • Bob Lohfeld and Lisa Pafe of Lohfeld Consulting, join host Mark Amtower to discuss what you can do to help your company win more government business. July 20, 2015

    July 20, 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
  • Congress has a little less than five work weeks left now before the fiscal year ends. The House Appropriations Committee is done with all 12 of its spending bills for fiscal 2016. But the full House and Senate both have a stack of unfinished business that's just getting bigger. Now it includes a 60-day period to review President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran and several different debates over the Confederate flag. David Hawkings, enior editor of Roll Call, writes the Hawkings Here blog. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose about some of the distractions that are "sucking all the oxygen out of the room".

    July 20, 2015
  • Agencies are nearing the end of a 30-day cybersecurity sprint to fix major vulnerabilities in their systems. But every agency can't afford to maintain its own critical infrastructure. Dave McClure is the chief strategist at the Veris Group. John Marshall is founder and CEO of the Shared Services Leadership Coalition. They tell In Depth with Francis Rose that the key to a modern federal cyber strategy starts at the shared services marketplace.

    July 20, 2015
  • Engagement and commitment scores for agency senior executives are at nearly 82 percent. But for employees it's just 60 percent. That's according to an analysis of the 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and Best Places to Work data from the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte. Of the respondents, 79 percent of SES members said promotions at their agencies are based on merit. Just 30 percent of other employees agreed. Bob Tobias is a professor for the Key Executive Leadership Program at American University. He tells In Depth with Francis Rose that senior managers don't understand what their employees think of them.

    July 20, 2015