With the federal government in something of a fiscal crisis, it’s hard to plan long term and work toward what the president called a smarter, but not bigger government. A long time inspector general at the Defense and Labor departments, Gordon Heddell is now a senior adviser at Booz Allen Hamilton. He’s been thinking about this problem. He said one good thing the government has going for itself is a talented and dedicated workforce.

While Chuck Hagel, Jack Lew and John Brennan are still waiting for Senate confirmation, new Secretary of State John Kerry is already busy. He’s called world leaders and defended the department’s budget before Congress. This week he will give his first major speech since taking office. And this is just the beginning. Aaron Miller worked at the State Department for more than two decades. He is now vice president for new initiatives and a distinguished scholar in the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program. He joins us now to tell us what the road ahead looks like for Secretary John Kerry.

President Barack Obama wants to make climate policy a priority but without the help of Congress he’ll have to look to the Environmental Protection Agency to make any change. But how effective can EPA regulations be?

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Federal employee furloughs have become talk of the town. Two weeks until sequestration budget cuts kick in and no sign of a thaw in the congressional impasse. But even if they resort to furloughs, federal agency managers have to apply them fairly. And you have recourse if you think they don’t.