On today's episode of The Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Why the State Department wants to set up federally-funded research and development centers How the election could affect your Thrift Savings Plan returns FEMA is still on the hook for several pandemic-related expenses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

National elections often have economic effects. This year's presidential election is proving a bit more volatile than we've seen in recent years. With what that might mean for investment returns, the Federal Drive turn to certified financial planner Art Stein of Arthur Stein Financial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Lot of firsts occurred during the pandemic. Among them: the first time the Federal Emergency Management Agency used its Disaster Relief Fund to respond to a nationwide public health emergency. FEMA used the funds to cover the costs of vaccinations and testing sites among other things. Government Accountability Office has found, FEMA may have undere…

In a recent interview with an executive of the industry group, the Professional Services Council, I discussed the State Department's plan to establish three federally-funded research and development centers, FFRDCs. Industry was puzzled by this move because of the nature of State Department's requirement, facilitate public private collaboration for…

Agencies are sitting on more real estate than they need, as you may have heard. They could recover billions of dollars by selling off excess space. An independent board created by Congress says agencies faces a unique opportunity to offload some of their excess space, if it's true that hybrid work is here to stay. But the General Services Administr…

The National Science Foundation, right now, has the most interns that it’s ever had. NSF managers are looking to move many of them into full-time positions. That could be easier thanks to recent updates to the Pathways Program. Joining the Federal Drive with more, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho…

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Why a federal court sunk a raft of construction industry rules from the Labor Department Election uncertainty doesn't slow an ambitious regulation agenda The Supreme Court Chevron decision spreads wider and wider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The upcoming presidential election keeps taking surprising and unsettling turns. One constant though. The Biden administration doesn't seem to be holding back on an ambitious agenda for regulation...which means contractors could see a slew of new and interim regulations in the next few months. Joining the Federal Drive with his take, federal sales …

Pretty much every lawyer, lobbyist, rule-maker, think-tanker and wonk in Washington and beyond has been thinking about the same thing. The Supreme Court decision that ended the idea that courts should always defer to federal agencies for interpreting vague laws. As we're reported, the so-called Chevron decision has implications for all three branch…

A federal judge in Texas last month blocked a raft of new rules from the Labor Department concerning federal construction projects. One rule would have imposed so-called prevailing wage rates on every federal contract. Another would have imposed prevailing wages on construction material suppliers and truck drivers. Here with the implications of thi…

June 30 was a landmark date in the move toward an all-digital government. That’s because it was the last day the National Archives and Records Administration accepted requests for analog record transfers from agencies. From now on, for the most part, NARA will only accept records in electronic format. For more on the race to shed the paper and what…

The first group of warrant officers to ever get a military occupational specialty in recruiting, they graduated last Thursday. Army brass call this a turning point for efforts to transform the service’s recruiting enterprise, and for actually meeting annual recruiting goals. Federal News Network’s Anastasia Obis has more. Learn more about your ad c…

In today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Maybe the micro purchase threshold is a little too micro This company is helping government satellite operators improve awareness of threats in low-earth orbit Progress on spending bills might have been an illusion all along Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

An academic course endorsed by the Defense Department and delivered by accelerator company, BM&T aims to help science and engineering students develop their ideas in two companies. It's called Hacking for Defense. One resulting startup called Pharos aerospace hopes to help both defense and commercial satellite operators deal with space debris. For …

Progress on 2025 appropriations bills stalled in the House this week ... when members failed to pass a legislative appropriations bill. Another spending bill is stalled by Republican amendments having to do with abortion in the District of Columbia. So ... the summer and the current fiscal year grind on with no apparent way to avoid a continuing re…

Most of the purchases the government makes are small. For every aircraft carrier, agencies buy a million printers, desks, airplane tickets. Most of *these* fall under what's known as the micro purchase threshold. That threshold stands at 10 thousand dollars. My next guest has made the case that raising it to 20 thousand would save the government te…

The Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office at DHS has one of the worst employee engagement and satisfaction scores in all of government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Federal News Network | Hubbard Radio

The Army has a plan to stop fighting its own network. Through the Unified Network Operations or U-N-O, initiative, the Army wants to create a software-defined network that's agile, and easy to set up and use. For more, Federal News Network Executive Editor Jason Miller spoke with the product manager for Tactical Cyber and NetOps, in the Army’s Comm…

In today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Meet something new for NASA — its first chief artificial intelligence officer A look at the newest class of engineers from an Air Force and NASA collaboration How election talk is moving to what might be in store for the federal workforce Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad…

The Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA are collaborating with eight American universities for the second year under a program called Mission Concept. The program assists university students gain skills in early satellite mission design, with mentorship and guidance from people in the space business. For details, Federal News Network's Eric Whit…

NASA has a history of firsts. Now it has a new first: a first chief artificial intelligence officer. Joining the Federal Drive with Tom Temin is that chief AI officer, Dave Salvaginni. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Federal News Network | Hubbard Radio

Discussion of the issues, if you can call it that, has sort of paused while the political class talks about the future of President Joe Biden. Others wonder what effect something called Project 2025 from the conservative Heritage Foundation might have on a potential Trump presidency. Here with some musings on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin is the…

In today's episode of The Federal Drive with Tom Temin: An exclusive interview with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas NIH could use a little more follow through when it comes to ending contracts Memo to Gen Z: Life is longer than you think Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The Department of Homeland Security was once the perennial “worst place to work” in the federal government. But DHS is no longer at the bottom of the Partnership for Public Service’s annual rankings. How did DHS spark those improvements, and where does it go from here? To answer those questions, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman and Justin Doubl…

A modern-day retirement can last a long time, almost as long as a working career for those who make it into their 90s. That means retirement planning has to follow a few basics by what our next guest calls a bucketed approach to investments. Thiago Glieger is a principal with RMG Advisors of Rockville, Maryland, and he joined Tom Temin earlier to t…

Just as important as obtaining contracts with companies to help fulfill an agency's mission, is the ability to end them properly. That's the part the National Institutes of Health is apparently having some trouble with. The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General recently analyzed a handful of NIH contracts and found man…