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The Senate managed to pass an important bill last week, authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration. That makes the House "it," so to speak. The Senate will move onto some federal bread-and-butter issues, though: Telework and technology procurement. For an update, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director…

New military aircraft designs don't necessarily require super jet engines or hundreds of billions in development costs. A case in point: The Navy's bid for a light plane that can take off and land in less than a football field. The Naval Air Systems Command recently hired a company called Electra to study the development of such an electrically-pow…

It seems every agency is chasing after ways to use artificial intelligence. AI brings special challenges for security. Now the National Security Agency (NSA) has published what it calls guidance for strengthening AI system security. For what's in it, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the Acting Chief of the NSA's AI Security Center, Tahira Ma…

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The ultimate secure agency issues advice for secure artificial intelligence. The Navy hired this company to develop a new type of aircraft. The House is 'it' this week, when it comes to agency authorizations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

A key member of the Postal Service’s leadership board is calling on the agency to slow down its network modernization plans, citing persistent mail delays in regions going through these changes. Ron Stroman, a member of the USPS Board of Governors, and a former deputy postmaster general, said Thursday that “we need to slow down new network changes …

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesFederal News Network | Hubbard Radio

The U.S. Development Finance Corporation fired a whistleblower who refused to sign off on a road project in Africa. That is according to the Project on Government Oversight. POGO reports, the project didn't meet the agency's standards for displacement of people and the fired analyst who wouldn't sign off on it. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temi…

The Postal Service managed to cut hiring times thanks to some reforms back in 2019. But for thousands of job postings, it gets no applicants. Those are among the top findings of an audit by the Postal Inspector General. For details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the Deputy Assistant IG for Finance, Pricing and Human Capital, Alan MacMulli…

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Postal hiring reform helped, but there's more work to do. Do whistleblowers get the bum's rush at this finance agency? A new OMB push to get a handle on the 10,000 federal websites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesFederal News Network | Hubbard Radio

Lawmakers on the House and Senate Armed Services committees have previously signaled openness to boosting the Pentagon’s budget beyond the 1% cap imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Now, top appropriators who allocate funding for the Pentagon are pushing for a higher topline number, but negotiations on going beyond the budget caps are “not go…

It’s been four years since the Defense Department created six new acquisition pathways — including one specifically intended to speed up software acquisition. But as often happens with policy reforms, implementation is off to a slow start, so officials are building a cadre of software experts at the Pentagon to help speed up adoption. DoD created t…

In today's episode of The Federal Drive with Tom Temin: A fresh effort to help overseas military spouses work federal jobs remotely Two DoD agencies team up to collect software vulnerabilities Five ways to really louse up your Thrift Savings Plan account Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The American Federation of Government Employees is gaining more traction in representing federal employees in Europe. Negotiations are just about to get underway, after a couple hundred feds at two DoD locations in Germany voted to unionize. And AFGE has plans to expand overseas. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman got more from AFGE District 14 S…

Defense contractors now have a place to voluntarily report cybersecurity flaws. The Vulnerability Disclosure Program started last month under the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, the DC3, working with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. For details, the Federal Drive turned to the program director, Melissa Vice. Learn more…

The Thrift Savings Plan might be the easiest way to accumulate wealth ever devised. Still, people find ways to mess it up, or not get the most out of it. Joining the Federal Drive with five of the most common TSP mistakes, retired federal manager Abe Grungold of AG Financial Services. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

A new agreement between the Defense and State Departments aims to help military spouses living with service members overseas to get the ok to work remotely for eligible federal positions. To learn more, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy, Patricia Barron. Lea…

The cybersecurity of operational technology, or OT, is a growing concern for many agencies. At NASA, OT tests rockets, and controls and communicates with spacecraft, and operates ground support facilities. NASA is looking to secure its OT systems, without affecting their safe operation. For details, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday, spoke wi…

On today's episode of The Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The new Defense Department health records system isn't quite out of the woods. GSA peels back the lid a little further on open government. A new and troubled Commerce Department financial system has fresh glitches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

A new finance system for the Commerce Department has had a rough rollout. Now it's delayed a program initiative from the Biden administration. We spoke with Bloomberg Government's Jack Fitzpatrick a few weeks about problems with the Commerce's Business Applications Solution. For more on the latest glitch, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke wit…

After a multi-year effort, Defense Department health and tech officials got a new electronic health record system completed. The last deployment too place in March. The Government Accountability Office finds, user satisfaction with the new system still doesn't match that of the old system. The Federal Drive got more from the GAO's director of infor…

Open government is a good idea, but you can never let up efforts to keep it what way. Now the General Services Administration has launched what it calls the Open Government Federal Advisory Committee. It has to do with the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan. Joining the Federal Drive to sort it out for us, GSA's associate administrator for g…

The IRS workforce is in the news again. Now the agency says it expects to keep growing its staff through at least 2029. The agency is counting on billions of dollars from its multi-year modernization fund to make pay for the people. And, its asking Congress for more money to sustain this level of staffing for the long term. Federal News Network’s J…

The Defense Department, once again, dominated the President's Cup Cybersecurity Competition. The competition is run by the Cybersecurityt and Infrastructure Security Agency. Service members from the Army and Marines Corps and a team of DoD experts won the individual and team competitions at this 5th annual event. Now civilian agencies are starting …

With nearly 500,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs across the country, the Biden administration is throwing down the gauntlet on skills-based hiring. White House officials just committed to using skills-based hiring for most federal IT jobs. The Office of Personnel Management is leading the effort to transition nearly 100,000 federal cyber and IT jobs…