Podcasts about federal news network

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is out with some new guidance on how agencies can adopt zero trust security architectures. CISA's latest guide focuses on a security concept called micro segmentation. It's considered critical to containing hackers and malware before they wreak havoc across networks and steal sensitive data. For more, Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday spoke with Shelley Hartsook, an Acting Associate Director in CISA cybersecurity division.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The IRS is trying to modernize a more than 50 year old IT system that's critical to its work. Every filing season, the agency is working on a future state of its integrated data retrieval system. This system would be a long awaited win for the agency, which has struggled to get the funding and staffing necessary to modernize some of the oldest legacy IT system still running in the federal government, Federal News Network's Jory Heckman is here with more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Federal employees may soon start seeing and hearing more about religion at the office. New guidance is out telling agencies to protect religious expression in the workplace. The Trump administration is hoping it will help recruit and retain federal employees of faith. Here with details is Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Since January, the Trump administration has moved aggressively to cut the size of the federal workforce. After months of changes and constant fear of potential job loss as layoffs loom, many federal workers found themselves struggling with high levels of anxiety or seeking therapy and medication for the first time in their lives. Some experienced chronic insomnia, depression, aggressive outbursts, isolation and even self harming thoughts Federal News Networks Anastasia Obis is here to break down new findings from an exclusive Federal News Network survey on mental health impacts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Anyone who pays attention to cloud computing in the federal community knows the term FedRAMP, but more than a decade after the program's establishment, it's becoming something new and hopefully a lot more streamlined. Part of that is the FedRAMP 20x Phase One pilot. The program management office is moving to a more elective or discretionary style of security verification rather than a prescriptive one. Pete Waterman is director of FedRAMP at the General Services Administration. He talked with Federal News Network's Jason Miller as part of our annual cloud exchange.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Trump administration has been overhauling the civil service in multiple ways. They're attempting to close the door to more political appointees, while also making it easier to remove career federal employees from their jobs. But those workforce changes don't appear to resonate positively with many Americans, including those who support the administration's cuts more broadly. Here with a closer look at some new survey data is Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the Defense Department is working to incorporate right to repair provisions in all new and existing contracts, Congress is wrangling over how to strike the right balance between military readiness and protecting companies intellectual property rights. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis joins me today with more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A decade ago, data on federal spending was a bit of a mess. Yes, even back then, we had usaspending.gov but the data on that site tended to be inconsistent, inaccurate and problematic in a lot of other ways. The reason we have the version we do now is partly because of the DATA Act and partly because of a lot of hard work on the part of Federal Financial Management leaders. The DATA Act is one of the 25 moments of the last 25 years that we're marking as part of Federal News Network's 25th anniversary. Federal News Network's Jared Serbu is writing about it this week, and he joins me now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Organizations across the world have been scrambling to address a critical cybersecurity vulnerability in Microsoft's widely used SharePoint software, that includes federal agencies who are on a tight deadline to mitigate the vulnerability earlier this week. Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday is here with the latest See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Several agencies under the Trump administration are going through some personnel changes. A top official at the State Department is taking over as the acting head of the General Services Administration, and President Trump is withdrawing his pick for lead of it at the Department of Veterans Affairs amid plans to shrink its tech workforce and budget. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman has more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Senate lawmakers are looking at big reforms for the intelligence community. The Intelligence Authorization Act advancing in the Senate would overhaul the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It would also push the intelligence community to embrace artificial intelligence and other game changing technologies Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday is here with more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Trump administration's cuts to the federal workforce have left many out of work, employees contemplating their next steps. Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government is giving former Feds and a wide range of other public servants a chance for a full scholarship while earning their master's degree in public administration. Applications go live this September. For a closer look at this program, Federal News Network's Jory Heckman spoke with the Chief Communications officer for the Harvard Kennedy School, Adam Farina.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Trump administration has created a classification of political appointees called Schedule G. The new employment category will let agencies hire non career federal employees to work on the administration's policies. The White House says Schedule G will improve operations and efficiency, but some critics are wary of the executive order's broader implications Here with more is Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A lot of the heavy lifting for the 2026 defense authorization bill wrapped up in the House last week. That Chamber's Armed Services Committee finished its annual marathon markup session with a 55-2 vote that sent the bill to the House floor. And there were at least a couple of surprises from the Republican controlled committee areas where the bill contradicts some significant Trump administration priorities as we continue our coverage of this year's NDAA process, Federal News Network's Jared Serbu has details on that aspect of the legislation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1979, the U.S. Marines suffered one of the biggest natural disasters on an American base ever, injuring dozens and killing 13 servicemembers at Camp Fuji in Japan. However, with all of the other world events happening at the time, it got pushed to the side in the news, and in history. There's not even Wikipedia article about it. Looking to change that is former Marine and retired WTOP journalist Chas Henry. He has written a new book to tell this story. He spoke to Federal News Network's Eric White about the book and his journey to make sure those that were lost are gone but not forgotten. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The White House is working on some big cybersecurity policy updates, new zero trust strategies, post quantum cryptography guidance and new security requirements for drones are all on tap for more details, Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday joins me now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Defense Department is on the verge of fully launching the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Program, or CMMC, after years of effort to secure sensitive information across the Defense Supply Chain. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis took a deep dive into the origins of CMMC and she's here now with the fascinating history of this important program.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From the beginning of the Trump administration's crusade to remake federal contracting, political leaders made it clear how they saw industry and what they thought of the value of what they considered consulting contracts. As one industry executive told us it has been very adversarial. Now five months into the review of consulting contracts, vendors and Industry observers say they've adjusted to the new normal. Many are now waiting for GSA to act on the data and ideas they provided. Federal News Network's Executive Editor Jason Miller joins me now to discuss how the last five months have turned GSA and vendor relationships inside out, and what the new normal looks like today. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For more than 100 years, the Department of Labor has been managing a workers compensation program that supports federal employees who get injured or ill from work, but over time, that program has faced a number of management challenges. Now Republican lawmakers want answers on how best to reform the program. Here, with more details, is Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Many employees who received layoff notices from the Department of Health and Human Services back in April are now officially separated from the agency. That's according to an email that went out Monday afternoon. HHS says a recent Supreme Court ruling allowed it to proceed with a portion of its reduction in force plans, but some fired HHS employees still remain on paid administrative leave. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman has more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Counter Intelligence threats are evolving, and agencies are struggling to keep up the Marco Rubio deep fake voice message story from last week is just the tip of the iceberg for a deep dive on the technologies and tactics used to target government employees and programs. Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Out of all the reductions happening across government, one of the lesser-known changes has been the elimination of the Presidential Management Fellows Program. President Trump ended the PMF program back in February in what he called an effort to reduce federal bureaucracy. Now, hundreds of PMF alumni are urging Congress to take action to restore it. Here with more is Federal News Network's Drew Friedman. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A major State Department plan for its biggest reorganization in decades is underway. The department laid off more than 1300 employees on Friday, impacting both civil service and Foreign Service employees. In total, the department is looking at a 15% overall cut to its workforce. It says it's now moving on to the final phase of its reorganization plan. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman has more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The advisory committee set up to review the Federal Emergency Management Agency is deepening its assessment of FEMA s core responsibilities. The FEMA Review Council is evaluating whether any of the agency's functions could be led by states or other entities instead. The review comes as FEMA and other agencies respond to devastating flooding in Texas. For more, Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday joins me with the latest. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New data shows companies are not leaving the defense industrial base as often as many believe. Research from the Baroni center for government contracting at the George Mason University suggests that the defense industrial base is healthy, that competition remains strong, and companies are, in fact, not exiting the market, but shifting their approaches to ensure success. For more on the new research, Federal News Network's Jason Miller joins me now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Some may remember the Snowmageddon of February 2010 as a time of street closures, canceled flights and power outages. But a lesser known outcome of the extreme winter storm was that it launched a complete reshaping of the federal government's approach to telework. Now, 15 years later, those telework changes are still having a ripple effect. Here with more on our 25th anniversary coverage of this story is Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Customs and Border Protection's Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism or CT-PAT program recently opened it's seventh office in Laredo, Texas. The program was started in 2001 to ensure safety in international supply chains. To find out what that means, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with the program's acting director, Peter Touhy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says it's no longer pursuing widespread layoffs as part of a plan to downsize its workforce. Instead, the VA expects tens of thousands of employees to leave the agency voluntarily by the end of the fiscal year. That means the VA is no longer considering a department wide reduction-in-force and Federal News Network's Jory Heckman is here with more details. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Space may be the final frontier, but it all starts with a launch. A new Government Accountability Office review looks at how the Defense Department is approaching its phase three strategy for acquiring launch services and responding to DoD growing demand for launch services and infrastructure. As the number of commercial space launches from federal ranges increases, strained infrastructure, capped cost recovery and limited payload processing capacity are all putting pressure on the system. GAO's Jon Ludwigson spoke with Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis about the need for better data and improving DoD ability to recoup launch support costs.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The impact of President Trump's March Executive Order stripping collective bargaining rights from employees at 23 agencies for national security reasons is slow to materialize, and now all of those efforts are on further hold, with a California District Judge issuing a preliminary injunction on July 1 stopping agencies from further implementation of the executive order in this week's federal report. Federal News Network's Executive Editor Jason Miller dug into the court filings, and he joins me with some of the more interesting comments from agencies and the unions about the impact of the EO. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Trump administration says it will keep the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. This decision walks back the Biden administration's plans to build a new suburban headquarters for the FBI in Greenbelt, Maryland. This is just the latest twist in nearly two decades of planning for a new home for the Bureau. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman is joining me with more of the back story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After President Trump's return to Office orders, some agencies are unsure how to proceed with updating their remote work and telework policies. The Government Accountability Office says the administration needs to issue new guidance to help agencies better measure the effects of their telework policies on performance. A new report from GAO also details the results of a 2024 survey, which found that remote work has a positive effect on recruitment, retention and cost savings. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman got more from GAO, Director of Strategic Issues, Dawn Locke. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The fallout from the so called peace dividend from the end of the Cold War came to a head in the early 2000s. The signs were all around. They included agencies losing too many protests and a huge increase in agencies depending on contractors to provide services. The solution from Congress was the Services Acquisition Reform Act. As part of Federal News Network's 25th anniversary celebration, we chose the SARA Act as one of the top 25 federal moments over the last 25 years. For more on how the SARA Act set the foundation for modern acquisition Federal News Network's Executive Editor Jason Miller joins me now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is pursuing more workforce cuts after firing hundreds of probationary employees earlier this year, NOAA says it's looking at major budget cuts next year as part of plans to refocus on its core mission. NOAA is now facing a lawsuit from fired probationary employees, claiming the agency relied on flawed personnel data to make those initial termination decisions. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman is here with more details. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After a few years respite on Capitol Hill, it's time again for defense acquisition reform, and this time around, reform might not be strong enough a word the backers, the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee, say they're aiming for wholesale replacement of the DoD acquisition system. The goal is mainly speed, but also a more empowered acquisition workforce, a willingness to fail fast, and a more diversified defense industrial base. Details now from Federal News Network's Jared Serbu.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Agencies officially have more leeway to fire federal employees who recently started a new job. That's after the Office of Personnel Management finalized changes to the federal probationary period. OPM says its final rule sets expectations for a high performing Federal workforce, but some say the OPM rule focuses on the wrong reforms for probationary employees. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman, got more from the Partnership for Public Services, Vice President of Government Affairs, Jenny Mattingly.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Defense Department's fiscal 2026 budget request is down slightly from last year, but that's only part of the story. Pentagon officials decided to take a highly unusual approach this time and shift a portion of defense funding to the reconciliation bill that is still moving through Congress. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis is reporting on this story.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An IRS watchdog finds this year's tax filing season went smoothly despite recent staffing cuts, but it warns taxpayers may face challenges during next year's filing season. The IRS has lost more than a quarter of its employees under the Trump administration, and the agency also faces a lot more work if Congress passes the budget reconciliation bill. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman joins me with more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center is a relatively new organization within government, but the nominee to lead the center wants to make the NCSC the nerve center for us counterintelligence activities. Here with more details on the organization and the nominee is Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nearly two decades ago, the Department of Veterans Affairs came under scrutiny for a massive data breach. The incident involved a stolen laptop and the personal information of more than 26 million veterans. The breach served as a wake up call for the VA and for the rest of the federal government on the importance of information security. Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday wrote about the VA data breach for our 25th anniversary series, and he joins me now to discuss it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will soon transfer employees from its downtown DC office into the National Science Foundation's headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. HUD's move is expected to entirely displace close to 2000 NSF employees already working there. But so far, there's no plan on when the move will happen or where NSF will go next Here with more on this developing story is Federal News Network's Drew Friedman, See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Office of Management and Budget is asking a simple question of agencies, how effective are your financial audits? In a new memo from OMB Director Russ Vought, the Trump administration is kicking off a new initiative to strengthen financial oversight and accountability for more on what OMB is trying to accomplish. Federal News Network executive editor Jason Miller joins me now with analysis of the new memo. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Navy's top IT and personnel leaders are at odds about the future of the services, Human Resources modernization effort. At the center of the clash is a canceled contract that was helping the Navy to move sailors personnel and promotion records to the cloud, Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis is here with more details.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn   https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-gilroy/ Want to listen to other episodes? www.Federaltechpodcast.com There is a whirlwind of change in federal technology. For example, Federal News Network has reported that 25% of the IRS technology staff have left. Additionally, funding has been reduced, data stores are increasing, and we are all trying to understand the impact of Artificial Intelligence. Today, we sat down with Phoebe Nerdahl and Sayed Said from SNYK. They offer solutions to address the challenges of changing technology in this environment. The approach from SNYK is to start at the beginning of the code development process, what is called a shift left. They discussed the need for a secure framework for AI adoption, leveraging Snyk's proprietary database and security research team to enhance code security. The conversation also touches on the evolving definition of AI and its integration into various applications. Snyk's AI Trust Platform aims to protect against insecure AI-generated code, emphasizing continuous security monitoring and automation. They have a vulnerability database, which enables them to review code for potential issues. Further, their platform can automate this needed remediation.

A government watchdog faces a nearly 50% cut to next year's budget under a proposal from House lawmakers. The legislative branch portion of the fiscal 2026 spending bill would both cut funding for the Government Accountability Office and limit GAO from investigating whether the Trump administration unlawfully withheld funding already approved by lawmakers Federal News Network's Jory Heckman joins me with more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Defense Department has a long way to go before it's ready to say what the successor to its joint war fighting cloud capability contract will be. But that doesn't mean officials don't at least have a wish list. One thing we're likely to see is more opportunities for more vendors, not just the four big hyper scale companies that have spots on today's JWCC contract. Rob Vietmeyer is DoD, chief software officer, and he talked with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu on our recent 2025 cloud exchange.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the US heads into an intense wildfire season, the White House is attempting to make some big changes to the government's response efforts. The Trump administration has outlined plans to consolidate wildfire management programs into a single agency. But a federal union says the consequences of moving too fast on these changes could be disastrous here. With more on the story, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Trump administration wants to change what it says are inflated numbers of high performing federal employees. A new memo encourages agencies not to give too many employees the highest ratings on their annual performance reviews. Agencies are also being told to discipline or remove anyone deemed a poor performer. Here with more details on the latest guidance is Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Federal agencies are setting a higher performance bar when delivering services to the public. The 21st Century integrated digital experience. Act of 2018 set a blueprint for more modern digital first customer experience in government. But agencies didn't start achieving those goals until the COVID 19 pandemic shuttered many agency offices, and now new legislation is looking to build on those goals as part of Federal News Network's 25th anniversary special report Federal News Network's Jory Heckman joins me with more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Details around the Army's Transformation Initiative remain scarce, but officials say they're ready to explain the plan to Congress. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis joins me now with more details. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.