Government Matters

Irv Dennis, chief financial officer at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, discusses what the agency has learned from being part of the Centers of Excellence program, and how they’re looking to foster a collaboration culture.

Michael Horowitz, CIGIE chairman and inspector general at the Department of Justice, discusses new tools for Oversight.gov, and why it’s important that they track vacancies at IG offices.

Liz Hempowicz, policy director of the Project on Government Oversight, and Jon Rymer, former Defense Department IG and principal at Lynch Consultants, discuss the challenges facing the inspector general community

Tim McManus, chief operating officer at the Partnership for Public Service, discusses how distance from HQ can impact morale at agencies.

Seamus Daniels, program manager & research associate for defense budget analysis at CSIS, discusses the latest markup of the FY20 Defense Authorization Act, and the impact budget caps could have on it.

Eric Crusius, partner at Holland and Knight, discusses the impact of the new provisions made in the 2020 NDAA on contractors and small businesses, and how “mega-trends” will change moving forward as a result of some of these provisions.

Capt. Kathryn Beasley, (USN Ret.), director of Government Relations and Health Affairs at the Military Officers Association of America, discusses concerns about potential cuts to military healthcare programs, and the impact it could have on 18,000 military personnel.

Chris Dougherty, senior fellow at CNAS, discusses a new report on why the U.S. needs to change up its strategies, and why we can’t assume ‘sanctuary’ in domains now.

Aaron Mehta, deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent at Defense News, and Jerry McGinn, executive director of the Center for Government Contracting at the George Mason University School of Business, discuss the massive merger between Raytheon and UTC, and what it means for the contracting landscape.

Steve Lenkart, executive director of the National Federation of Federal Employees, discusses his organization’s efforts to keep the Forest Service Civilian Conservation Centers from being privatized.

Mika Cross, vice president of employer engagement and strategic initiative at FlexJobs, discusses the Office of Personnel Management’s newly released playbook and toolkit for workforce reshaping and upskilling in the federal government.

Emily Haas, Sammies 2019 finalist and senior research behavioral scientist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, discusses the human element of improving mine safety.

Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners, discusses the current state of government e-commerce plans, and the questions raised by their use.

Mike Hettinger, president of Hettinger Strategy Group, and Rich Beutel, principal at Cyrrus Analytics, detail their views on the draft federal data strategy, and why it’s important for government innovation.

Jeff Neal, senior vice president at ICF and former Chief Human Capital Officer at DHS, discusses the Office of Personnel Management reorganization and how to rectify the agency’s resource shortage.

Veterans Affairs Inspector General Michael Missal discusses his office’s latest report to Congress, and the recommendations they make regarding leadership and governance at the agency.

A panel of industry experts share their views on the OMB data strategy action items, and what it means for chief data officers, contractors, and overall data use in government.

Aaron Boyd, Senior Editor of NextGov and Jason Miller, executive editor at Federal News Network, discuss the growing retirement backlog, the draft federal data strategy and Technology Modernization Fund appropriations.

Greg Touhill, president of Cyxtera Federal Group, discusses the growing emphasis on zero-trust strategies in the security space, and the impact it has on federal technology.

Richard Spires, CEO of Learning Tree International and former IRS CIO, discusses the six-year plan to overhaul systems at the agency, and why incremental modernization is the best approach.

Jessica Lucas-Judy, director of strategic issues at GAO, dives into the recommendations to reduce duplication, and what agencies can do to save the government money and resources.

Susanna Blume, senior fellow and deputy director of the defense program at CNAS, discusses the drafts for the 2020 NDAA, and why it might see a contentious conferencing.

Deborah Lee James, former Secretary of the Air Force, details her views on the House version of the NDAA, and why it might be lacking some large programs.

Brenda Farrell, director of DoD Strategic Human Capital Management at GAO, discusses a new report on racial and gender disparities in the DoD justice system, and why keeping detailed data on the subject is important.

John Kelly, acting inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security, discusses the semiannual report, and why it’s important for DHS to always adjust to new threats.

Kim Weaver, director of external affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, discusses improvements the TSP has made to customer service.

John Wagner, deputy executive assistant commissioner at the Office of Field Operations in US Customs & Border Protection and Sammies 2019 finalist, discusses how facial recognition will greatly improve security at airports.

Chris Mihm, managing director of strategic issues at GAO, details the new report on reducing duplication and overlap, and how the government can implement the recommendations.

Jeremy Grant, managing director of technology business strategy at Venable and Sarbari Gupta, president & CEO of Electrosoft, discuss OMB’s new policy for identity management, and how it could mean the end of security cards as we know them.

Mark Cancian, senior adviser in the International Security Program at CSIS, and Molly Reynolds, senior fellow for governance studies at Brookings, discuss the current state of congressional budget negotiations.