Government Matters

Preparing for wildfires and hurricanes during a pandemic

LTG Laura Richardson (USA), Commander of United States Army North (Fifth Army), discusses how the US Army North is working with FEMA on the coronavirus response while also preparing for the hurricane season that is beginning

The National Defense Authorization Act and contractors

Wesley Hallman, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Policy at the National Defense Industrial Association, and Alan Chvotkin, Executive VP & Counsel at the Professional Services Council, provide takeaways from the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act

Reconciling the House and Senate versions of the NDAA

Lauren Williams, Staff Writer at FCW, and Scott Maucione, Defense Reporter at Federal News Network, examine the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act and differences between the two

FEMA’s challenges in managing the coronavirus response

Chris Currie, Director of Emergency Management, Disaster Recovery and DHS Management Issues at GAO, explains some of the challenges that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has faced in responding to the pandemic

Emphasizing collaboration in government

Terry Gerton, President and CEO of NAPA, discusses NAPA’s recommendations for the next administration to improve collaboration in government by using the process of the Cross-Agency Priority Goals

Sammies finalist develops interconnected, hospital-based 3D printing network

Dr. Beth Ripley, Chair of the 3D Printing Advisory Committee at the Veterans Health Administration, explains the effort she is leading for the VA that provides care to patients using 3D printed versions of their organs

The National Defense Authorization Act and the CMO job

MG Arnold Punaro (USMC-ret.), CEO of The Punaro Group, discusses why the Chief Management Officer position should be reformed and what changes should be made

Updates on the Force Structure Assessment and shipbuilding plan

Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, provides updates on the Navy’s Force Structure Assessment, 30-year shipbuilding plan, and operations and maintenance funding

Getting spare parts to F-35’s

Theresa Hull, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, Acquisition, Contracting and Sustainment at the DoD OIG, details what the DoD OIG found when tracking problems Lockheed Martin has had with providing parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

New Broad Agency Announcement at NGA

Cindy Daniell, Director of Research at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, explains how the new Broad Agency Announcement issued this month at NGA will help make it easier to work with researchers

The future of the Chief Management Officer role

Peter Levine, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Defense Analyses, discusses the proposed changes in the House and Senate drafts of the National Defense Authorization Act to get rid of the Chief Management Officer role

Envisioning a new National Cyber Director role

Ron Marks, President of ZPN Cyber & National Security Strategies, discusses which recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, including a National Cyber Director role, are likely to end up operationalizing in the NDAA

Top policies to watch in the National Defense Authorization Act

Mackenzie Eaglen, Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, discusses what to watch in terms of strategy and readiness in the National Defense Authorization Act

Approaching the PMA with best practices from the private sector

Mallory Barg Bulman, Research Director of Finance Process Excellence at Gartner, discusses updates to the President’s Management Agenda and best practices government can use from the private sector to implement changes

Strategies to move towards frictionless acquisition

Gregory Giddens, Partner at Potomac Ridge Consulting, explains frictionless acquisition, an acquisition Cross-Agency Priority Goal in the President’s Management Agenda

Reopening concerns at federal agencies

Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen discusses concerns about bringing federal employees back to offices too soon and placing them at unnecessary risk

CMMC accreditation body to start training independent assessors

Katie Arrington, Chief Information Security Officer for Acquisition at the Department of Defense, provides updates on cybersecurity standards and explains the CMMC accreditation body’s new training course for independent assessors to evaluate compliance with CMMC standards

Treasury named Quality Service Management Office

David Lebryk, Fiscal Assistant Secretary at the Department of the Treasury, describes the objectives of the new Financial Management Quality Service Management Office

Latest developments in the presidential transition process

Robert Shea, Principal at Grant Thornton Public Sector, describes what agencies are doing to plan for the reelection or election of a new president and prepare for the next administration

Thrift Savings Plans updates in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

Greg Klingler, Director of GEBA Wealth Management, discusses the Thrift Savings Plan and investment patterns during the coronavirus pandemic

Expanding telehealth options for veterans during the coronavirus

Dr. Neil Evans, Chief Officer of the Office of Connected Care at the Department of Veterans Affairs, discusses the explosion of telehealth since the pandemic began and efforts by the VA Office of Connected Care to make it easier for veterans to use this capability

Updates on defense appropriations for 2021

Susanna Blume, Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense Program at CNAS, provides updates on the House Appropriation Committee’s Defense spending bill for fiscal 2021 and its alignment to the National Defense Strategy

Governing and protecting AI data and technology

Anissa Nash, Program Director for Audit and Cyberspace Operations Directorate at the DoD OIG, discusses the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center’s work on building a framework and standards for artificial intelligence

Updates on the Chief Management Officer role

Jerry McGinn, Executive Director of the Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, explains his viewpoint that the CMO office should be eliminated

Planning for the return to the office

Chris Mihm, Managing Director of Strategic Issues at GAO, discusses key considerations and provides recommendations for agencies coming up with reopening plans

What federal employees can do if they’re called back to an unsafe workplace

Joanna Friedman, Partner at The Federal Practice Group, discusses options federal employees have if they do not think they can safely return to their workplace

The Pentagon operations and maintenance budget

LTG Tom Spoehr (USA ret.), Director of the Center for National Defense at The Heritage Foundation, explains why Congress should give the Department of Defense the ability to roll over some of the money in its operations and maintenance budget

Cloud-to-cloud record preservation at the National Archives

Leslie Johnston, Director of Digital Preservation at the U.S. National Archives, explains how NARA’s new Digital Preservation Framework is helping agencies transfer their records to the National Archives cloud as part of a digitization effort driven by law

Updates on the tenth FITARA scorecard

David Powner, Director of Strategic Engagement & Partnerships at MITRE, talks about the tenth FITARA scorecard and areas where the scorecard could evolve going forward

The future of Alliant 2 and governmentwide acquisition contracts

Nick Wakeman, Editor of Washington Technology, discusses what went wrong with the Alliant 2 contract and what the future of governmentwide acquisition contracts will look like