Federal Drive with Tom Temin
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Many federal employees are seeing a familiar email land in their inboxes. A number of agencies have revived the fork in the road offers. They're telling employees they can choose to quit now in exchange for a few months of pay. The renewed offer comes as many agencies are beginning to conduct reductions in force. Here with more Federal News Network's Drew Friedman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When it comes to shared services, the Navy isn't taking a build it and they will come approach to enterprise services. The goal instead is to find an office that will lead the effort to build something so good that not only do other offices want to use it, but the shared services become boring and invisible to the mission. For more on how the Department of the Navy is developing and expanding its suite of Enterprise Services. Federal News Network executive editor Jason Miller caught up with Justin Finelli, the Department of the Navy's Chief Technology Officer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A recent dispute between the Air Force and a simulation software subcontractor proved an important point. The government has rights to certain intellectual property by challenging so-called markings. Notes on who can do what with images, drawings, technical data. Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish joins me now with more on this case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Navy has invested billions in its shipbuilding industrial base. But the results haven't come in. Ships take to long to build. And often too long to repair. Navy officials can't say for certain how well their investments are paying off that's according to the latest look-see by the Government Accountability Office. For details, we turn to the GAO's director for contracting and national security acquisition, Shelby Oakley. Read the report here: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-106286#summary_recommend Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin The Navy's shipbuilding capabilities are slowly sinking Can the judiciary handle all the new lawsuits stemming from the Trump administration's actions? The government confirms its rights to certain contractor intellectual property. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Trump Administration's approach inherited from Silicon Valley of move fast and break things may be able to go unchecked in the business sector. However when done in government there can be certain legal hurdles to account for. Already there are many suits being brought in federal and state courts to challenge some of the White House's actions, much of which involve the cancelling of funding opportunities or work force reductions. It begs the question, can the judicial branch handle this new workload that will come from settling these disputes, and making sure their decisions are respected? For some perspective on this, we welcome Richard Pierce a law professor with George Washington University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The shock waves reverberate. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Junior wants to trim 20,000 employees or about one in four employees. For analysis of what this might mean for agency operations, we turn to a long-serving HHS executive now in private consulting, Jeff Grant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
President Trump’s order to Eliminate Waste and Save Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement brings some old procurement practices back into fashion. Over the next 60-90 days, agencies, OMB, and the GSA administrator have a lot of work to do centralize procurement of common items back in GSA. To understand what this means for the procurement system, Federal News Network’s Terry Gerton spoke with former GSA Administrator and current Senior Fellow at the George Mason University Baroni Center for Government Contracting, Emily Murphy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin What happens next at Health and Human Services with a quarter of the workforce gone? One D.C. university has a discount for out-of-work federal employees A new Trump Executive Order promises to send the General Services Administration “back to the future" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's no secret that the Army wants to speed up its buying processes, but to do that, officials say they also need to speed up their processes for deciding what the Army intends to buy. That's likely to mean not just a scrub of the requirements the service already has down on paper, but new ways of defining future requirements as the army continues to move away from the big programs of record details from Federal News Network's Jared Serbu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Some federal employees expected the Trump administration's return to Office mandate to be a mess, and now for many, that's turned out to be the case. At some agencies, for example, there aren't enough desks with many feds instead left to work in packed conference rooms. Others are struggling to connect to the internet, and some are even running out of toilet paper. Here to share the results of our latest return to Office survey, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Federal employees newly out of work might look to build a new careers. To help, Georgetown's School of Continuing Studies is offering a big tuition discount. Joining me with the details, the school's dean, Kelly Otter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Health and Human Services employees who took a buyout say they're getting a less generous deal than what the agency promised. HHS told employees who took the buyout they'd be put on paid administrative leave once they accepted the deal, but many are still reporting to work, and their separation dates are fast approaching. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman has been on top of this. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Trump-Doge-Musk fast-moving agenda prods Congress into action. This week members react to several of the latest administration executive orders and other moves. We get the rundown now from the deputy news director of Bloomberg Government, Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
That leak of a Signal group chat by members of President Trump's national security team, it keeps reverberating around Washington. The incident overshadowed a confirmation hearing for high level Defense Department nominees. They face questions about their own history of handling classified information. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis has the latest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
You're hearing this show on a consumer electronics device. Few Americans even get through breakfast each morning without interacting with consumer electronics. It's a big industry...and it has mixed feelings about the Trump-Musk-DOGE approach to the government. The CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, Gary Shapiro, joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin Inside a NASA mission to better understand a certain kind of storm What one giant industry likes and dislikes about DOGE Congress struggles to keep up with the Trump cavalcade of action Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Storms caused by updrafts, they've become of special interest to NASA. In fact, it has a special program called the Investigation of Convective Updrafts or INCUS. It's made some awards recently to launch measurement satellites. Joining me with an update, the manager of NASA's weather program, Will McCarty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is considering a ways to cut federal benefits and save tens of billions of dollars over the years. Certified financial planner Thiago Glieger joins me with what he's concerned about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
For 50 years the Presidential Management Fellows program has brought promising young people into the government. Now the Trump administration has canceled it. That's not sitting well with my next guest, among others. New Jersey Senator Andy Kim joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is the latest now to come under question. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says FEMA is going to be eliminated. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have proposed an alternative solution, simply to move FEMA out of the Department of Homeland Security. Joining me with all the latest Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fallout continues for the Defense Department. Republican Senator Roger Wicker, the Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman and the top Democrat Jack Reed, have asked the Pentagon's Inspector General to investigate that infamous leak of a Signal group chat. The discussion about sensitive attack plans against the Houthis in Yemen ended up including a reporter. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin One senator isn't happy with the cancellation of the Presidential Management Fellows program Congress considers big changes to federal benefits, and not good ones Should the government have a management department Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How to manage the government, it's the national topic at the moment. Right now the government is managed by Elon Musk and DOGE. Or at least it looks that way. Should we have a Department of Management? My next guest thinks so. Retired federal chief human capital officer Jeff Neal joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin If World War III broke out, the U.S. would be on its heels Something new on the health care front for military service members Assistance is available for struggling sea-going service members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
For the first time ever, uniformed military service members have access to a health care benefit that's long been available to civilian federal employees. That would be a health care flexible spending account. The enrollment period is nearly over, but it will come around again in the 2025 open season and for special circumstances between now then. Joining me with the details, the assistant director for military compensation policy, Ronald Garner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Federal employees and service members across the board face challenging time. Sailors and Marines sometimes face special challenges when they return home. That's where the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society comes in. It's accepting applications for 2025-26 education grants. Joining me in studio with more, the society's chief operations officer, retired rear admiral Dawn Cutler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Former Postmaster General, Louis de Joy avoided Several third rail types of issues during his tenure. He never talked about privatization, closing post offices or cutting the number of delivery days each week. Postal unions, though, aren't so sure they'll get the same assurances from his successor. President Donald Trump has floated several plans for shaking up USPS, Federal News Network's Jory Heckman has more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The federal procurement system is famously complicated, but it's actually gotten more streamlined over the past decade thanks to an effort spanning three presidencies. It's called category management, and it's saved the government billions of dollars, and it's still a work in progress. Federal News Network's Jared Serbu wrote about it as one of the key issues that shaped the federal community in the last 25 years as part of our series celebrating Federal News Network's 25th anniversary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The ability of the U.S. military to deter war and prevail if it happens few are taking that for granted any more. My next guest in fact warned the Senate Armed Service Committee about it just this month. His concern centers on the ability of the defense industrial base to mobilize. The executive director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting, Jerry McGinn, joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
