Podcasts about federal news network

The Trump administration reshaped many agencies this year. But the General Services Administration became the focus point of many governmentwide changes. The Department of Government Efficiency set high cost-cutting goals for GSA. Next year, an agency watchdog take a closer look at whether it met those targets. 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.

After a tumultuous year for the federal workforce, many feds are in a much different position now than they were at the start of 2025. The Trump administration's workforce reductions hit some agencies harder than others, but no matter which way you slice it, the loss of 300,000 employees has significantly reshaped government. Here with more on this 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 National Institute of Standards and Technology drives many cyber workforce and education initiatives under the NICE program. And for the last decade, Rodney Petersen has been the familiar face in charge of leading NICE. Petersen is retiring at the start of the new year. He recently sat down with Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday to discuss the evolution of the cyber workforce during his time in government and what comes next in the age of artificial intelligence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Vendors who file frivolous bid protests will now be held more accountable under a provision in the 2026 defense authorization bill. The “loser pays” language is trying to actively discourage incumbent contractors from filing protests just to keep getting paid. New data from the Government Accountability Office shows vendors are becoming more discerning when it comes to filing complaints, seemingly making this new language less necessary. Federal News Network executive editor Jason Miller joins me to discuss the current bid protest landscape. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Agencies may soon see more robust requirements when preparing federal employees to join the Senior Executive Service. A new proposal from the Office of Personnel Management looks to reform and standardize SES candidate development programs across government. But without the right attention, planning, and resources, some say OPM's efforts could fall flat. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman gets more from the Partnership for Public Service's vice president of government affairs, Jenny Mattingley.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The future at the Federal Emergency Management Agency remains murky after the Trump administration recently delayed a long-anticipated report from the FEMA Review Council. The uncertainty around the council's recommendations cap a year of flux at FEMA. Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday joins me 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.

The Treasury Department is officially suspending Direct File, a free online tax filing platform the IRS launched last year. The department said it's exploring alternatives. That includes strengthening its partnership with tax preparation companies through its Free File program. Direct File expanded to 25 states during this year's filing season and saw higher favorability scores. But Treasury said the program cost too much and didn't see enough usage to keep scaling it up. For more on what happens next, Federal News Network's Jory Heckman spoke with the CEO of Code for America, Amanda Renteria.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 Personnel Management wants to bring a surge of technical expertise into the government's ranks. The agency is aiming to recruit 1,000 new federal employees for the inaugural class of the “U.S. Tech Force." The new hiring effort comes after hundreds of thousands of feds left government this year. Here with details, 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 Military Family Advisory Network is conducting its biennial survey to better understand the needs of military and veteran families worldwide. The stories shared through the survey lead to real change. The research has helped shape major policy and quality-of-life reforms, including the Military Housing Privatization Initiative's Tenant Bill of Rights and a Congressional quality-of-life panel for service members and their families. For more, Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis spoke with Military Family Advisory Network's Chief Executive Officer Shannon Razsadin. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Early in the Trump administration the Department of Government Efficiency directed the General Services Administration to take major cuts to leased office space. GSA officials say they successfully terminated hundreds of leases this year, but far fewer than goals set by DOGE. These updated figures come at a time when government officials are taking stock of DOGE's impact, and whether agencies came close to achieving the Trump administration's government efficiency goals. 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.

Agencies have 90 days to update acquisition polices to ensure that the artificial intelligence tools they purchase are truth seeking and ideological neutral. A new memo from the Office of Management and Budget details new requirements starting March 11 for contracts awarded for large language models. Federal News Network executive editor Jason Miller joins me with more on what agencies will have to do to meet the administration's new AI guidelines.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 is moving to strip away the union rights of Transportation Security Administration employees for the second time this year. As part of its latest move, DHS would dissolve TSA's collective bargaining agreement early next year. The union that represents TSA employees has vowed to fight this latest action in court. 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.

The Trump administration's deferred resignation program helped lead to a massive and unexpected surge in retirement applications, now flooding the government's retirement systems. But amid that application influx, the Office of Personnel Management has also rolled out a major effort to modernize the legacy federal retirement system. Many experts see the launch of OPM's “online retirement application” as a long-awaited improvement. But with high retirement volumes, some remain wary of the timing. As part of her special report this week, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman gives us the details.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Over the past year, there's been a major uptick in the government's use of the False Claims Act to take companies to task for cybersecurity violations. The Trump administration has announced six separate False Claims Act settlements. And enforcement has been especially aggressive for companies who do business with the Defense Department. Sara McLean is a former assistant director of the fraud section in the Justice Department's Commercial Litigation Branch. She talked with Federal News Network's Jason Miller about the enforcement trend.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 “deferred resignation program” this year led to more than 150,000 employees leaving their jobs, in exchange for months of paid leave. But for many of those who took the DRP, the offer came with an added opportunity. Thousands also qualified for early retirement. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman spent the last several months conducting interviews, reviewing documents, and gathering data about federal retirement processing. She found that the DRP helped lead to a massive and unexpected surge in applications, now inundating the government's retirement systems.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

More than a dozen federal statistical agencies are falling behind on producing high-quality data sets that impact the U.S. economy and government policy. The American Statistical Association finds changes under the Trump administration have led to certain public-facing data sets being delayed, suspended or canceled. It's also flagging declines public trust scores in data sets produced by the federal government. 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 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency doesn't want to leave companies hanging when they reach out with a bold new innovation or tech development. So CISA this month unveiled its “Industry Engagement Platform,” where people can sign up to communicate directly with agency officials. For more on the new platform, Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday spoke with the chief information officer at CISA, Bob Costello.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The 8(a) small business contracting program is in a fight for its life. From Capitol Hill to the courts to now the executive branch, the 47-year old program is facing questions about its legitimacy and challenges to its true impact like never before. For more on how the increased level of scrutiny is putting the 8(a) contracting program in the cross hairs, Federal News Network 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.

It took several years, including some false starts, but the Defense Department's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program in now a reality. The final rules are in place, and several hundred contractors have already earned their third party certifications. But most of the initial implementation work will happen over the next year. For a look at the work ahead, Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday talked with Matthew Travis. He's the CEO of the Cyber Accreditation Body, the nonprofit organization that helps manage the certification process.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A federal judge in San Francisco is temporarily blocking the State Department from finalizing hundreds of employee layoffs. Foreign Service employees were slated to be officially separated from the agency last week. But federal employee unions are making the case that State and several other agencies aren't fully adhering to a provision in the shutdown-ending spending bill. That provision temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out layoffs. 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 Pentagon's plan to fix its decades-old material weaknesses, specifically its inability to reliably track government property in the possession of contractors, is failing. The Defense Department inspector general warns that if the services don't implement a department-wide solution soon the Pentagon risks missing its goal of achieving a clean audit opinion by 2028. For more, Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis spoke with Mark Thomas, DoD IG's supervisory auditor.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Former federal employees say they lost their jobs as part of the Trump administration's plans to remove diversity, equity and inclusion programs. But some claim their most recent jobs had nothing to do with DEI. They're now part of a class-action lawsuit challenging their removal. For more on this case, Federal News Network's Jory Heckman spoke with an attorney representing the plaintiffs, Mary Kuntz. But first you'll hear from one of the plaintiffs themselves Mahri Stainnak. 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 just laid out its President's Management Agenda. The PMA details the administration's vision to drive changes in government for the next few years. But with many of President Trump's goals already underway, the PMA's priorities may look familiar. Here with more, 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.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have left their jobs this year, due to the Trump administration's efforts. Now, the Office of Personnel Management is telling agencies to start rethinking their senior executive staffing too. The request comes as OPM introduces a number of other changes for federal managers. Here with the latest, 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.

In the Army, a new acquisition bureaucracy is starting to take shape. It means new names for some longstanding Army organizations. But at its core, the reorganization is about letting Army officials manage the acquisition system as portfolios of capabilities, with less of a focus on individual programs. That idea's been championed by outside reform advocates for years. But now it also has the support of the secretary of Defense. We get the details 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.

The State Department's diplomatic workforce is feeling overburdened, under-resourced and more likely to leave in the next few years. That's according to a recent survey from the American Foreign Service Association. The State Department conducted widespread layoffs this year. It also closed and consolidated hundreds of offices as part of an agency reorganization. Foreign Service officers say they're spread thin because of these changes. 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.

This year continues to be challenging for the federal workforce. While federal offices reopened and hundreds of thousands of federal workers went back to work after the longest shutdown in history, many say nothing is back to normal. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis has more from an exclusive Federal News Network survey. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Technology Modernization Fund is running out of time. In eight days, the reauthorization will expire for the eight-year old governmentwide account to help agencies update IT systems. That is unless Congress acts to extend the TMF. For more on what it would mean if the Technology Modernization Fund would expire, Federal News Network 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 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has just advanced an array of bills, including many that would impact the federal workforce. Some legislation, such as a bill to overhaul the probationary period, passed just along party lines. But other bills, like one that would standardize training for federal executives, received unanimous committee support. Here with the latest, 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 Department of Health and Human Services is centralizing the processing of reasonable accommodation requests from its employees. As a result, it's facing a months-long backlog. HHS employees say the department is making it harder for employees with disabilities to receive telework as a reasonable accommodation as the Trump administration enforces a return to office mandate. For more on this, we're joined by Federal News Network's Jory Heckman.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A new federal spending forecast is out and it paints two different pictures for defense and civilian agencies. The Professional Services Council projects that defense spending will keep climbing through 2035. But civilian agencies aren't so lucky, analysts predict that non-defense budgets are likely to remain flat or shrink. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis has more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Senior executives have some new training and development opportunities from the Office of Personnel Management. The optional courses cover many of the Trump administration's new priorities for the federal workforce. OPM initially launched the trainings in November, but the agency says there will be continuous updates to the content moving forward. For more, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman sat down with OPM Director Scott Kupor. Here's part one of their conversation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Senior executives have some new training and development opportunities from the Office of Personnel Management. The optional courses cover many of the Trump administration's new priorities for the federal workforce. OPM initially launched the trainings in November, but the agency says there will be continuous updates to the content moving forward. For more, Federal News Network's Drew Friedman sat down with OPM Director Scott Kupor. Here's part two of their conversation.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 wants to shake up how it works with value-added resellers. In a draft memo obtained by Federal News Network, the Pentagon would place a 5% cap on most fees charged by resellers. DoD will start with a specific special item number or SIN for IT products. For more on what DoD is planning, Federal News Network's executive editor Jason Miller joins me now with exclusive details.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Customer satisfaction with benefits and services provided by the federal government is higher than it's been in nearly two decades. That's despite a tumultuous year where agencies have seen a major downsizing of the federal workforce. Scores are higher on average, but the latest scorecard from the American Customer Satisfaction Index shows a few agencies are seeing lower scores. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman spoke with associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University and director of research emeritus at ASCI, Forrest Morgeson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Senior executives across government have some new opportunities for development. The Office of Personnel Management has just launched two new training series. They'll focus on topics like budget, policy and human capital management while also incorporating many of the Trump administration's overhauls to the federal workforce this year. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman gets more from OPM Director Scott Kupor.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The D.C. Armory transformed into a place of gratitude last week as D.C. National Guard members and their families lined up for free Thanksgiving meals at an annual event hosted by the nonprofit Operation Homefront. With grocery prices rising and many service members still feeling the financial strain of the recent shutdown, the organization says demand for assistance has surged. Food requests alone are up 57% from last year. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis spoke with Operation Homefront Senior Director Vivian Dietrich about their Holiday Meals for Military program. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Forty former state attorneys general signed a letter urging Congress to fund judicial security after threats tracked by the US Marshal Service surged in recent years. Federal News Network's Jared Serbu spoke with Former Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel to learn how federal judges took the unprecedented step of asking for help and what's driving intimidation from federal courtrooms to state judiciaries nationwide.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Future Tech Enterprise fed 29 years of procurement responses into an AI model and cut an RFQ team from seven people to one. Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with CEO Bob Venero to understand why he believes the Defense Department should use the same technology to evaluate bids faster and cheaper. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

EPA enforcement cases have plummeted, even as non-compliance rates climb. Now, a major staffing cut at the Justice Department's environmental section and a federal shutdown that paused inspections leave enforcement at a crossroads. Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Former EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator Stacy Geis about the resource drain crippling environmental enforcement and whether states can fill the widening gap.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A new survey finds that nearly every service member living in privatized military housing has experienced serious problems in their home and many of those issues go unresolved. The Change the Air Foundation recently launched the Safe Military Housing Survey, one of the most comprehensive efforts yet to collect data the Defense Department has never been able to track accurately. The nonprofit found that three quarters of respondents were dealing with mold and microbial growth, which is extremely hazardous to a person's health. For more, Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis spoke with Erica Thompson, a military spouse and the military families' liaison for the Change the Air Foundation, and Brandon Chappo, director of public policy at the foundation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When it comes to getting spare parts for military systems, it's not always as easy as simply placing an order. Sometimes the original manufacturers no longer exist. Sometimes wait times are excruciatingly long. That's one reason the Navy wants to make the best use it can of the materials it already owns. A new effort by Naval Supply Systems Command aims to help do that by reusing as many items as possible from decommissioned units, instead of sending them away for disposal as surplus property. Robert Medina is the deputy director for NAVSUP's West Coast Consumable Asset Reutilization Program, and Doug Murphy is the material management and warehouse utilization product and service lead. They talked about it with Federal News Network's Jared Serbu. Murphy speaks first. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Albania has appointed an AI system named Diella as a cabinet-level ‘minister' overseeing public procurement. The move raises big questions about accountability, transparency, and whether algorithmic governance is a glimpse of the future or a risky one-off. Federal News Network's Eric White explores what this means for democracy and decision-making with Sam Adebayo, a contributor for Forbes.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Congress directed the Trump administration to rescind shutdown-era layoffs as part of a spending deal that ended the government shutdown. Some employees targeted by layoffs say they haven't been brought back and that the language in the continuing resolution supports their push for reinstatement. But agencies say some of their reductions in force will remain in effect. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman is here with the details. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Trump's transition into the White House earlier this year was not exactly usual. The administration departed from several norms of the presidential transition process, leaving open some big questions for the future. The Partnership for Public Service has some key takeaways from the latest presidential transition along with recommendations for reforming the process. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman gets more from the Partnership's vice president of government affairs, Jenny Mattingley.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 Personnel Management has kicked off another major human resources modernization effort. And unlike its effort to consolidate 119 different HR systems across the government, this one came with little fanfare. OPM is planning to revamp the USA Hire platform, which provides agency hiring managers candidate assessment tools, with the goal of making evaluations more efficient and leading to higher quality of applicants. For more on OPM's newest HR IT modernization initiative, Federal News Network 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.

USDA issued just five Animal Welfare Act fines in the 14 months after the Supreme Court's SEC v. Jarkesy decision, down from 63 in the prior period. Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Animal Welfare Institute attorneys Ashley Ridgway and Joanna Makowska to understand what a securities fraud case has to do with animal protection enforcement.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Army is taking the next step in its ambitions to start using small nuclear reactors to power critical infrastructure on at least some of its bases. This week, the service started the solicitation process for its Janus program via the Defense Innovation Unit, and assuming the technology works out the way the Army thinks it will, we now also know some of the first bases that are most likely to benefit from it. Details here 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.

Imagine entering the Carousel of Progress at Disney World, but instead of showing you the possibilities of life in the future, it showed you what a government of the future may look like. That's the aim of The Future State Initiative. In collaboration with the Federation of American Scientists, it conducted an exercise imagining what the U.S. government should look like in 2050. Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Loren DeJonge Schulman, Senior Advisor for Government Capacity at the Federation of American Scientists.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A federal union is suing the Bureau of Prisons over the recent cancelation of its collective bargaining agreement. The lawsuit comes after BOP ended its contract in September, arguing that the union had become an "obstacle to progress." The American Federation of Government Employees is now alleging that the agency's decision violated the law. Here with more, 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.