Federal Drive with Tom Temin
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Commerce Secretary Howard Luttnick has disbanded three Census Bureau external advisory groups. Gone are the Census Scientific Advisory Committee, the National Advisory Committee on Race, Ethic and other Populations and the 2030 Census Advisory Committee. The community surrounding the Census Bureau is concerned. Joining me with what this all means, the director of government affairs at the Population Association of America, Mary Jo Mitchell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When it comes to trimming the federal workforce, the Trump administration has had a string of court defeats over the last week and a half. So the administration is going all the way to the top government attorneys filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court yesterday asking the justices to stay a lower court ruling that ordered the reinstatement of thousands of probationary employees. The administration argues that's just one sign of a judicial branch power grab that only the high court can stop. Federal News Network's Jared Serbu joins us now with the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Among the latest White House executive orders, one is holding up payments to contractors. EO 14-222 tells agencies to build tracking systems. It requires written justifications for each payout. And a 30-day review of all contracts and grants. For the implications, we turn to the executive vice president for policy at the Professional Services Council, Stephanie Kostro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
President Trump recently cited from the oval office statistics about the state of the U.S. education system. What he didn't say is that we know about student achievement levels thanks to data gathered by the Education Department itself. One of the government's most vital activities is the gathering of reliable statistics to guide policy. My next guest says the quality of national statistics has become a concern. Consultant Nancy Potok is the former chief statistician of the United States, and she joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin The nation's statisticians worry about the state of f federal data-gathering Census Bureau advisors are feeling like they don't count Contractors face new setback in getting paid for their work Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will cancel more than $580 million in contracts and grants. He said they don't align with the Trump administration's priorities. The cuts are part of the Defense Department's work with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis brings us the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Congress re-convenes this week. It'll get to the brass tacks of the President Donald Trump agenda including a big tax cut and what to do about the 2026 budget. We get the rundown now from WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Very few military service members achieve the Medal of Honor. Now they have a museum. In fact, today is the first full day of operation for the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas. For details, the museum's executive director, Cory Crowley, joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The White House is bringing centralized procurement back to government. President Donald Trump signed an executive order late last week that puts the General Services Administration in charge of buying all products and services in 10 categories. Federal News Network's Jason Miller broke the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin Hate the idea of a private postal service? Hold on a minute The nation's newest military museum opens tomorrow Congress gets back to serious business this week like your budget Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Maybe privatizing parts of the U. S. Postal Service isn't such a bad idea. Nations have a wide range of models for operating their postal services ranging to fully outsourced to industry. On the other hand, no one matches the scale of the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Service office of inspector general's new white paper details how postal services work in more than two dozen nations. Here with the highlights, research manager John Althen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Postal Service is letting a team from the Department of Government Efficiency help out with its reform efforts. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says DOGE will bring a new perspective to problems he spent years trying to solve. Still, DeJoy tells members of Congress that DOGE will look at a narrow set of issues with limited access to agency data. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman has the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After years of pushing for reforms, federal wildland firefighters have just secured a permanent pay increase. Part of the continuing resolution Congress passed this week included legislation to create a new pay system for front line workers. But federal union leaders are still looking at a number of other challenges facing wild land firefighters here with the latest Federal News Network's Drew Friedman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin Inside one of the lawsuits against Trump administration actions How cities and the federal government can deal with homeless encampments Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's the Friday of Sunshine Week, and a top house lawmaker is putting the spotlight on Freedom of Information Act staffing at agencies. Representative Gerry Connolly of Northern Virginia says the Trump administration threatens FOIA, but challenges with FOIA backlogs and staffing actually stretch back years. For the latest, Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cities across the country have become dotted with unsightly homeless encampments. They're in parks, along beaches, under bridges. President Trump has ordered the camps in Washington D.C. swept away. What exactly is a good way for cities and the federal government to deal with the homeless...and the encampments. For one view, we turn to the founder and CEO of Dignity Moves, Elizabeth Funk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Many groups have launched lawsuits against the Trump administration in recent weeks. Among them, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and others has sued over DOGE access to the Treasury Department payment apparatus. For why it brought suit, EPIC's senior counsel John Davisson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The deal for civil service used to be, lower potential lifetime earnings in exchange for job security and retirement benefits. Now a new job insecurity has emerged. Feds need to change their thinking and prepare for loss of income and annuity. Advice now from certified financial planner Art Stein of Arthur Stein Financial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Like it or not, fraud is part of life for government as much as for any other sector. For the government, fraud claims hundred of billions of dollars a year. TransUnion has completed a comprehensive study of the sources of fraud. The company's director of research and consulting, Greg Schlichter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Pentagon would get more than $100 billion in additional funding through budget reconciliation aimed at 2026 budget talks. But members don't really agree where the money should go, or even on the amount. For that matter, one member of the House Armed Services Committee says it should not be funneled into major defense programs. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis joins me with more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin Military prototypes work great if you know how to use them We now know the source of the most fraud against federal programs How to deal financially with your emerging federal job in security Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A little walk down cloud memory lane. The federal government's move to the cloud didn't start with the December 2010 Cloud First policy. You can trace the idea of third party application and data hosting back to the 1990s. Still as part of Federal News Network's 25th anniversary celebration, we chose the White House cloud first to cloud smart policies as one of the top 25 federal moments over the last 25 years. Federal News Network's executive editor Jason Miller joins me now with a look back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Few systems make it to the battlefield without first having been prototypes. Yet too many prototypes don't make it to production. Procurement analysts at George Mason University's Baroni Center have completed a detailed look at the power of prototyping and how to get more out of it. For highlights, we turn to senior fellow Stephanie Halcrow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin Time to restore some rationality to government purchase card policy Before spending billions on this technology, the Defense Department should make sure it works The best thing about other-transaction-authority acquisitions may not be there after all Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When the White House froze the government's credit cards, it really gummed up the works. The long running purchase card program has saved untold millions of paperwork hours and saved the government billions of dollars. Here to inject some rational thinking about card usage, long-time federal procurement executive, and now a consultant, Shauna Weatherly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's no secret the Defense Department and other agencies have been using other-transaction-authority acquisitions more than more. One reason is they help agencies get things done faster. And easier without the conditions of regular buys under the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Plus, OTA acquisitions come without the headaches of protests. Or do they? We get the latest from Haynes Boone procurement attorney Zach Prince. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Trump administration has aimed its cross hairs at yet another group of federal executives, Chief Human Capital Officers. The Office of Personnel Management recommends that agencies designate their CHCOs as general rather than career reserved, and that would open up many human capital leadership positions to becoming political appointments. Here with the latest, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The IRS is reinstating thousands of fired, probationary employees. Many returnees doubt they'll stay, though that's because the agency is looking at more workforce cuts at the end of the tax filing season. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman has the latest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Defense Department is planning to spend billions of dollars on satellites that communicate by laser. But officials at the Space Development Agency can't say for sure whether space laser communications works. Or at least all of its contractors haven't shown this capability. More now from the director of the contracting and national security acquisitions team at the Government Accountability Office, Jon Ludwigson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tens of thousands of federal employees who were fired during their probationary periods have their jobs back on paper anyway. In a court filing last night, the Trump administration detailed the process agencies have gone through to reinstate those fired workers in the aftermath of a judge's ruling that found the terminations were illegal. But the administration also made clear it's not happy about having to process those reinstatements, and it's still fighting in federal appeals court. Federal News Network's Jared Serbu is here with more on the legal process and the details on which agencies are undoing those terminations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
