Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
The results of the mandated 90-day review of the security clearance process is expected to come out in a matter of weeks. In the meantime, the Office of Personnel Management is preparing for changes to its federal investigative services. Executive Editor Jason Miller joins Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the latest. Read Jason's related story.
They're out. The annual rankings of best places to work among federal agencies. Overall, things are looking up compared to last year. NASA is still the top-rated agency. But some at the lower end came up in the rankings, as did overall employee satisfaction. The survey is by the Office of Personnel Management, the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte put together the rankings. For the 2015 results, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to Mallory Barg Bulman, research director at the Partnership.
In Tuesday's Federal Headlines, the Office of Personnel Management is saying even those who are no longer with us are in need of ID theft protection. An OPM spokesman said about 300,000 of the 21.5 million victims were deceased individuals.
For the first time in four years, federal employee satisfaction and commitment improved among the workforce, according to the Partnership for Public Service's 2015 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government.
Experts say the Defense Department needs to create more flexible career paths that cater to the specialized operations forces the department relies on more now. But decades old laws, like the Defense Officers Personnel Management…
Suppose you trained to take care of livestock, maybe the family fido. You might not expect to end up as the number two executive at a large federal department. But that's what happened to Greg Parham, the assistant secretary of Agriculture for administration. He was also named as a few fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration. Parham told Federal Drive with Tom Temin there's just something about public management.
Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of Defense Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, said he's got the numbers. They show his Better Buying Power initiatives are working. Kendall said annual contract costs have declined since the reforms were put into place. Even so, he said DoD is still facing a $17 billion shortfall for fiscal 2017. Multiple defense officials have said modernization will take a hit in order to make up for the loss in funds. Federal News Radio's Scott Maucione shared the latest on Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
The last barrier for women in the military has been removed. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said women in any of the armed services could soon serve in any of the combat responsibilities. The move raises a lot of questions. How will it affect readiness? Combat effectiveness? Logistics? For some possible scenarios, Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to retired Army Lt. General David Barno, now a scholar-in-resident at American University.
Hundreds of millions lost on failed projects. Employees down in the dumps. Lack of data to make good management decisions. For the Homeland Security Department, the challenges never end. Each year its office of Inspector General looks at the department, summarizing its challenges as well as the progress it's made. Mark Bell, the assistant general inspector for audits, discusses the department-wide issues with Federal Drive with Tom Temin, starting with the information shortfall.
In Monday's Federal Headlines, more stringent security measures are proposed in response to Defense Secretary Ash Carter's call to improve the protection of defense personnel.
When it comes to mental application, men don't have it over women. Only today's training and the ultimate goal matter.
Organization conflict of interest. Non-disclosure of facts. Tampering with bids. This procurement had it all. It was only a $5 million deal for the Justice Department. But sometimes just about everything goes wrong. Procurement attorney Joe Petrillo of Petrillo and Powell fills in Federal Drive with Tom Temin on the bizarre case of the contract where the Government Accountability Office threw up its hands and said, start over.
Defense Department spending rises every year, even after sequestration. But the fighting force is shrinking. In effect, DoD is doing less with more. Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro, head of the Punaro Group, has been saying on Capitol Hill that Congress and the Pentagon need to tackle their built-in costs. The DOD Comptroller recently said the department would get 96 percent of what it asked for in 2017. Federal Drive with Tom Temin asked Punaro if that's a useful metric.
The Office of Management and Budget is developing new guidance, updating existing policy and creating a brand new council to raise the prominence of privacy issues across government. Federal News Radio’s Executive Editor Jason Miller shares all the details with Federal Drive with Tom Temin.