Cost plus contracts can run into trouble when the government takes five years to audit indirect costs. That is what happened to a Navy contractor, and how it has a million-dollar dispute. They are now in court. For details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Zach Prince. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…

The Social Security Administration is undergoing a rebuild with former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley as its commissioner. The agency has a decent list of ongoing issues, as identified by the Government Accountability Office. For an assessment, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with GAO's education, workforce and income security team director,…

Tasked by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate has formulated a plan for the agency's investment goals in specific research areas. This Innovation, Research and Development (IRD) Strategic Plan is DHS' first ever. To learn about what it calls for and how it came tog…

On this episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: How DHS plans on spending its federal research dollars over the coming years. Where Social Security could start, as it tries to improve itself. How cost-reimbursement contracts can go haywire over time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s “secure by design” pledge might be voluntary. But CISA is hoping customers will help drive the demand for companies to follow through and adopt stronger cybersecurity practices. CISA announced the pledge in May, with an initial 68 technology companies signed onto the commitments. That number ha…

The Department of Veterans Affairs is giving veterans more options to get health care and benefits from the department — in some cases, through just a few taps on their smartphones. VA’s nearly three-year-old health and benefits app recently saw more than 2 million total downloads. The app also surpassed more than a million monthly users. Among its…

Federal services contractors are scratching their collective head over a State Department gambit. State put out a solicitation to sponsor three federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs). But what the department wants doesn't sound like anything industry or government couldn't do already. That's according to Federal Drive Host Tom T…

One challenge for the Veterans Affairs Department is basic. Veterans themselves typically don't know about all of the benefits they're entitled to. A book by a former VA under secretary for benefits aims to fill in the gaps. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked in studio with author Paul Lawrence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm…

Measuring things is so basic to every advancement, most people sometimes take it for granted. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talks with someone who does not take such things for granted: the new director of the Material Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Kate Beers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me…

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Meet the new director of one of the Commerce department's most crucial functions. What veterans sometimes don't know about the VA could fill a book. State Department's R & D approach has industry puzzled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Nurses at the Department of Veterans Affairs are calling on leadership to hire more frontline health care workers, and protesting nationwide staffing shortages that they say make it harder to treat veterans. VA nurses represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) and National Nurses United (NNU) rallied outside the VA’s headquarters in…

It may be employees at the LaClare Family Creamery, a goat cheese manufacturer in Fond Du Lac, Wis., that Wisconsin Republican Glenn Grothman passes by on his way home. Or it may be the folks at the Old World Creamery, a family-owned food manufacturer located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which has been around since 1912. No matter which of the many che…

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It's now on the House floor and forming in the Senate committee: The National Defense Authorization Act for 2025. This week, though, will also bring some important matters forward, like the congressional baseball game. For and update on military defense and national-pastime offense, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deput…

A shrinking number of companies seem to want to do business with the federal government. Especially small businesses. Could it be all of the reporting and compliance requirements. There is one class of compliance that is particularly tricky, as Federal Drive Host Tom Temin heard from the Founder and CEO of PROCAS, Jim Wesloh. Learn more about your …

Offices of inspector general add up to 14,000 employees. If they were an agency, they would be a mid-sized one. IG people are scattered, but they do have the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. CIGIE figures that in fiscal 2023, its recommendations saved the government $100 billion. For an update on all of that, Federal Drive…

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: These inspectors general are on the job year-'round. Accounting software keeps small business out of the federal market. The good ship NDAA maneuvers steadily through the shoals of Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The Navy has a big appetite for modern technology, but also a lot of technology debt. One answer to that problem: a move to portfolio management. Officials think by focusing their acquisition management energy on portfolios, not individual products, they can embrace commercial technologies more quickly while also saying goodbye to expensive legacy …

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On this episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: There's a new Hatch Act and whistleblower retaliation sheriff in town. Part 2 with Hampton Dellinger What exactly does make a good place to work in the government anyhow? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesAv Federal News Network | Hubbard Radio

The annual list of best places to work in the federal government is out, looked over, digested. We know the agencies, but what goes on inside that makes for the best, and less-than-best places? To find out, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with long-time federal management observer, union president, and professor Bob Tobias. Learn more about you…

With a big and contentious election coming on, there's a new Hatch Act sheriff in town. Attorney Hampton Dellinger was recently confirmed as Special Counsel, leading the Office of Special Counsel. For some current topics, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin was joined in studio by Hampton Dellinger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc…

As House appropriators outline plans to make steep government spending cuts for fiscal 2025, Democrats are warning that reduced agency budgets would lead to federal employee layoffs, and by extension, worsening federal services. The fiscal 2025 financial services and general government appropriations bill is now heading to the full appropriations c…

Maj. Gen. Jeth Rey ended his three-year tenure as the director of the Army’s Network Cross Functional team last week. When he started in 2021, Rey laid out a four-pronged vision to move the Army toward a data-centric environment. Rey, who moved to a new job at the Pentagon as the director of architecture, operations, networks and space at the Offic…

For many people, thinking about retirement, is axiomatic. Pay off that mortgage on the house. It might be wise to think through this strategy a little more carefully. For why, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with private wealth advisor Thiago Glieger of RMG Advisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…