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It's one thing to know the government spends a few hundred billion dollars a year on goods and services. It's a lot harder to capitalize on the opportunities. Cameron Leuthy, senior budget analyst for Bloomberg Government spoke Thursday about which agencies are buying, and what they need. He also spoke to Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp, which broadcast live from the Coalition for Government Procurement Spring Training Conference. View photos and listen to interviews from our coverage.
How much control can agencies exert over employees' behavior when they are on work trips? And in social-work situations, what are the hard-and-fast rules that employees should follow? Two recent incidents make us ask. The Secret Service recently recalled three agents from an overseas trip after they were caught drunk. On the other hand, the Veterans Affairs Department has rehired an employee who admitted to drinking and driving on a business trip. A passenger fell out of his van and died. In this week's, Legal Loop, federal employment attorney Debra Roth discusses these thorny issues with Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp.
The long-time leader of the National Transportation Safety Board is stepping down at the end of the month. Chairwoman Debbie Hersman says it's been "a great ride." Under her leadership, the board has challenged the transportation industry and other government agencies in the name of passenger safety. Hersman told Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp she is moving on to what she calls a second "dream job" as the head of a safety advocacy group.
The Obama Administration has tried to infuse a love of data and evidence into the federal bureaucracy with mixed success. It's also pledged to give agencies more flexibility in hiring to bring people with fresh ideas into the government. For perspective on the management agenda, Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp spoke to Shelly Metzenbaum, who served as Office of Management and Budget assistant director for performance. She now is president of the Volcker Alliance. Metzenbaum recently testified on Capitol Hill about the problems she sees in federal management and performance.
Pressing questions about federal financial management shared services must be answered in the next few months. The Office of Management and Budget, the Treasury Department and the CFO Council are trying to plug the holes in the shared services process that thwarted the effort a decade ago. In part three of his special report, Shared Services Revisited, Federal News Radio's Executive Editor Jason Miller speaks with Beth Angerman, director of Treasury's Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation. She says the administration is ensuring success this time.
The leader of the Naval Air Systems Command says his service needs to make dramatic changes to the way it acquires planes, helicopters and other aviation systems. Otherwise, he says, the Navy faces a future in which it can't afford the weapons systems it needs. Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu reports on the upcoming changes at NAVAIR.
Personnel costs take up a larger share of Customs and Border Protection's budget than ever before. More than 70 percent of the agency's Fiscal 2015 budget request will go to compensation. Some members of Congress are worried those rising costs will crowd out CBP's ability to deliver high-priority IT projects and fulfill its mission. In our Congressional Spotlight, Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, tells In Depth with Francis Rose the problem CBP has is two-fold.
The rapid acquisition policy the Army uses in Afghanistan could be moving too quickly. The department can customize how it uses the Defense Acquisition System to make sure war fighters get what they need. But the Army's information technology systems might need a slower approach. Christopher Pernin, director of the Force Development and Technology Program at the RAND Arroyo Center and a senior physical scientist and professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, tells In Depth with Francis Rose they believe the Army can use acquisition policies it already has to improve its IT systems.
A 1 percent pay raise may not seem like an element of the golden era of federal employment. But Federal News Radio Senior Correspondent Mike Causey looks at all the things that didn't happen in the past year or so in his column and says this might be as good as it gets for a while.
The Defense Department's overall budget will shrink by a combined $900 billion by fiscal year 2021, according to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno. He tells the Senate Armed Services Committee how the Army will absorb more than $260 billion in cuts during that span. On Pentagon Solutions, Odierno says the Pentagon is creating a Total Army Solution for the looming budget cuts.
The military's commissary system is in line for cuts in the Fiscal 2015 budget request from the Pentagon. Those cuts, like a lot of other cuts, have some pretty strong opponents. But in the case of the commissaries, the opponents aren't necessarily obvious. On Pentagon Solutions, Todd Harrison, senior fellow for defense budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, explains why the commissary system is generating some much heat.
On this week's On DoD, Jared Serbu talks to Eric Jeffries, chief diversity and inclusion officer at Exelis; Zachary Hearn, the deputy director for benefits at the American Legion; and Alan Chvotkin, vice president at the Professional Services Council.
Veterans Affairs has a problem with its websites. Critics say most of them are inaccessible to blind vets. Under Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, federal agencies are supposed to ensure equal access to electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained or used in the federal environment. Members of the Blinded Veterans Association recently testified to the joint Senate-House Veterans Committee about this issue. The association's executive director, Al Avina, told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp why VA has not been compliant with Section 508.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is looking for a new way to protect its more than $15 billion of investments in Afghanistan. With most U.S. troops leaving this year, development workers expect it will be harder to eyeball construction in remote areas of the country. USAID has a new technology project to keep tabs on its investments. Larry Sampler, assistant to the administrator in the Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs Office at USAID, told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp about the agency's plan. Read Associated Press' related article.