As director of the Legal Processing Division of the Internal Revenue Service's Chief Counsel office, Michael Parker led his office through high water and low on the road to success. He's leadership skills have earned him the distinction as one of Federal News Radio's Top Leaders in Federal Service.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is concerned new regulations may make whistleblowers even more reluctant to report tax fraud to the IRS. OMB Controller Danny Werfel says $85 billion in cuts under sequestration would hurt every state. Maj. Gen. Brett Williams says the U.S. Cyber Command is trying to figure how to normalize operations alongside air, land and sea capabilities. Lynn Singleton, director of environmental services at Lockheed Martin, talks about helping agencies move their email to the cloud. Dr. Milton Corn explains why The National Library of Medicine is monitoring social media.
This is the Federal Drive show blog. Here you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources. Today’s guests: Joe Kull, Thad…
The Department of Veterans Affairs' work to automate payments under the complicated Post-9/11 GI bill is coming to fruition. But schools and students complain about inability to track status of claims.
A total of 30 programs, once again, are considered troubled, including two new areas. But, the Government Accountability Office removed the IRS' Business Systems Modernization program after 18 years on the list, and interagency contracting after 8 years.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) talks about his plans as the new chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Greg Kutz of TIGTA discusses new progress being made by the IRS in recruitment and hiring. Jennifer Martinez, staff writer at The Hill newspaper, discusses the new Executive Order on cybersecurity. Don Kettl of the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy offers insight on the State of the Union speech.
As the Internal Revenue Service prepares to enter tax season full-bore, the agency is faced with a tightened budget, a shrinking workforce and an ever-more complex and increasing workload. That combination, along with leadership changes at the top of agency, threatens to upend the gains IRS has made over the past few years to better manage its workforce, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, an agency watchdog.
Sharon Roth of the Merit Systems Protection Board discusses a new survey on federal management. Lt. Cmdr. Jean Marie Sullivan of the Navy Office of Women's Policy talks about the new DoD decision to open up combat jobs to women. Greg Kutz, a senior audit executive with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Audit, talks about a new report his agency released. Keith Lucas, vice president for AFGE Council 228, discusses a new contract his union signed with the Small Business Administration.
Faced with declining resources, the Internal Revenue Service has diverted resources from elsewhere inside the agency to try and head off skyrocketing cases of identity theft stemming from tax refunds.
IRS, DoD and Interior all are pursuing an assortment of initiatives to prepare for personnel reductions. DoD will release an updated workforce strategic plan by 2015. The IRS is using an online assessment tool to measure how ready employees are to move into leadership positions. Interior is getting managers to understand their important role in workforce planning.
The tax agency earned level 3 certifications for the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Terry Milholland, the IRS CTO, said the standard approach to developing IT systems will increase productivity and capacity, while also bringing in much needed discipline.
Thousands of IRS computers could be prone to cyber intruders because officials aren't updating software in a timely manner, according to a report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recommends IRS' chief technology officer create an "inventory list" with the skills needed for each IT position, as well as a process for evaluating an IT employee's skills.
More than eight years after the White House issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 requiring the issuance of secure identity cards, governmentwide and agency-specific initiatives provide hope the smart cards can be more than "glorified ID cards." NIST and GSA are developing an identity exchange in the cloud. DHS and IRS are putting their cards to use at a local level for both building and computer access.