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Radio Interviews
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From the downed Malaysia airliner in Ukraine to the border crisis in Texas, the Obama Administration and Congress have many fronts to deal with. There's also the Iraqi ambassador. He's called on the U.S. to help beat the extremist group ISIS that's taken over parts of northern and western Iraq. Jesse Brynes is a staff writer for the Hill Newspaper. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss how the government will sort out its foreign affairs.
July 22, 2014 -
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By some estimates, taking out just nine critical electrical substations could plunge the whole nation into darkness. Threats to the electrical grid aren't just from cybersecurity, but also from a lack of physical security. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asked the Battelle Memorial Institute to look into security of the bulk electricity system. Jason Black is the research leader at Battelle. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to talk about his findings.
July 22, 2014 -
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The military is shrinking, but the Pentagon's personnel costs keep growing. In fact, it pays about $125,000 per active-duty service member, including both salary and benefits. Two Washington think tanks are raising alarms. They say the Pentagon needs to do something now so it doesn't have to cut other critical parts of its budget later on. Steve Bell is senior director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss why the personnel cost has become expensive.
July 22, 2014 -
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The Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air. In today's news, the Air force gives employees until Aug. 1 to accept a buyout offer, and NASA names a building after Neil Armstrong.
July 22, 2014 -
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The goal to get a spending bill done for your agency looks less and less likely by the time the fiscal year ends September 30th. And the other work Congress thought it could get done -- reform at the Department of Veterans Affairs -- seems to be hitting a wall too. David Hawkings is Senior Editor at Roll Call, and he shared the progress for both of these major pieces of work on In Depth with Francis Rose.
July 21, 2014 -
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The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will consider the nomination of Robert McDonald as the next VA Secretary tomorrow. If the Senate confirms him, he'll inherit a Veterans Health Administration that hasn't had a major review of its healthcare system since the mid-1980s, according to the Military Officers Association of America. Vice Admiral Norb Ryan is president of MOAA. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said Congress and the White House should build a commission focused on reforming the VHA.
July 21, 2014 -
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Defenders of the General Schedule are hard to find, if you can find them at all. All the stakeholders agree the GS setup doesn't work for the federal government in the 21st century. On In Depth with Francis Rose, Federal News Radio Senior Correspondent Mike Causey said even the names of the slots on the schedule don't really work right any more.
July 21, 2014 -
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Federal agencies that want cheap web design and app developer contracts face a potentially large roadblock called the the Federal Acquisition Regulation. One reason is a part of the FAR that can limit how numerous (and how cheap) an agency's IT options are. Steve Kelman is professor of public management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He said those requirements are scaring smaller companies away from competing for those types of IT contracts on In Depth with Francis Rose.
July 21, 2014 -
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Restructuring the way the federal government organizes its employees is all of a sudden a big focus on Capitol Hill. Bills to change or kill the General Schedule are already floating around, and more may come. The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and the Census looked at the future of the General Schedule with witnesses from the Office of Personnel Management, the Federal Managers Association, the American Federation of Government Employees and the Government Accountability Office. Robert Goldenkoff is Director of Strategic Issues at the GAO. He told the committee HR management in the Federal government has been on the GAO's High Risk list since 2001, but he said not all the news is bad on In Depth with Francis Rose.
July 21, 2014 -
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The fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 is in full swing. Last year's fourth quarter saw federal agencies hand out $125 billion in new contract obligations, according to Guy Timberlake. He's chief visionary and chief executive officer of the American Small Business Coalition. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said federal contractors can find plenty of ways to take advantage of the fiscal year-end spending spree -- as long as they take a simple approach.
July 21, 2014 -
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Congress has put the onus on federal contractors to make sure they are not including counterfeit or obsolete parts in equipment they sell to the government. The law was passed in 2012. Only now has the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council come out with a proposed rule. It requires contractors to report counterfeits, suspected counterfeits, and anything they suspect of being non conforming. The proposed rule covers primes, sub contractors, and subs to subs, all down the line. Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel to the Professional Services Council, joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss what contractors think of the new rule.
July 21, 2014 -
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An Energy Department program designed to help consumers save money and the environment wasn't doing so well. It was hampered by lawsuits and a tug-of war between manufacturers and environmental groups. Then John Cymbalsky became program manager in 2010. Since then, the Energy Department has spit out energy-efficiency standards at double the pace. Now, he's nominated for a 2014 Sammies award. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss what he did differently to fix the program. View a photo gallery of all Sammies finalists. Read a Q&A and related story.
July 21, 2014 -
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More than a few eyebrows were raised last month when members of Congress learned that IRS officials may have sent instant messages instead of emails. They allegedly made the switch after learning that the messages would not be preserved as federal records. The agency may not have preserved the messages, but that doesn't mean they're not federal records. Nancy Flynn is the founder of the ePolicy Institute. She joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to give advice on preserving instant messaging.
July 21, 2014 -
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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has filled out its leadership under an unusual political deal. The Senate has confirmed the agency's Enforcement Chief Norman Bay to chair the commission. But he will have to wait nine months. In the interim, Acting Chairman Cheryl LeFleur will continue to lead the agency. Bay will serve as a board member while learning the ropes. Don Kettl is a professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. He joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to explain this unusual case.
July 21, 2014
