Federal Drive Show Blog – September 12, 2013

On the Federal Drive show blog, you can listen to our interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day, as well as links to other stories...

This is the Federal Drive show blog. Here you can listen to our interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day, as well as links to other stories and resources we discuss.

Today’s Interviews:

Rohit Chopra
Assistant Director and Student Loans Ombudsman
CFPB

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Student loan debt is big. Like in the neighborhood of $1 trillion. Under somewhat obscure federal rules, tens of millions of people holding student loans are eligible to have them wiped out. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau worries those eligible don’t know they can have their loans forgiven, and thinks employers should tell them. Guess what: You might be one of those employers, or one of the people eligible. Rohit Chopra is the assistant director and student loans ombudsman at the CFPB.

Jim Dalkin
Director of Financial Management and Assurance Issues
Government Accountability Office

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Waste, fraud and abuse is as old as government. So are efforts to prevent it. That’s where internal control comes in. The Government Accountability Office defines it as plans, methods, policies and procedures that ensure effective use of resources. GAO details these controls in a volume known as the Green Book. It’s in the midst of a major revision. Jim Dalkin is director of financial management and assurance issues at GAO. He tells us why the Green Book is important to financial agencies.

Jason Miller
Executive Editor
Federal News Radio

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As the nominee to be the next management guru at the Office of Management and Budget, Beth Cobert will face apathy, Congress and a host of other challenges. So to make progress on the management agenda, experts say Cobert, and the administration at large, must take the Goldilocks approach to priorities — nothing too hard, nothing too soft, but something just right. Federal News Radio’s Jason Miller provides an analysis of what Cobert will face if confirmed by the Senate to be the deputy director for management at OMB.

Dan Ashe
Director
Fish and Wildlife Service

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Next month, federal wildlife officials will crush more than six tons of ivory: trinkets, whole elephant tusks and other contraband. It’s part of a multi-agency campaign to combat an illegal industry that officials say now brings in $10 billion a year. Dan Ashe is the director of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Ivory stockpile
Heard Tom and Emily talk about another story during the show, but don’t see it here? Check out our daily federal headlines for the latest news affecting the federal community.

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