GovExec Daily

The national midterm elections are fast approaching, with candidates campaigning for offices across the United States. The Election Assistance Commission, the federal elections clearinghouse, turns 20 this year during a midterm year and EAC chair Thomas Hicks says his group has been helping state and local governments prepare for the midterm elections using lessons learned from recent previous elections.

Recently, GovExec correspondent and frequent GovExec Daily guest Courtney Bublé interviewed Hicks about the ways he and his agency are preparing for the midterm elections. In this episode, Courtney's speaks to Hicks about the EAC's work with other federal agencies and other levels of government to make elections fairer and more secure.

Once again, Congress is negotiating a short-term funding bill as the risk of a government shutdown looms. The Oct. 1 deadline is in less than two weeks, but lawmakers say that they have settled on a continuing resolution that would fund the government until mid-December,but they have yet to determine exactly which provisions will be in it.

GovExec Senior Correspondent Eric Katz has been covering the spending bill negotiations. He joined the show to discuss the state of things in Congress as the deadline looms later this month.

The Employee Benefit Research Institute's 2022 Retirement Confidence Survey found unmarried women workers and retirees have lower retirement confidence than their married counterparts and are more likely to have lower incomes and assets. In a recent issue brief headlined "The Perfect Storm — Factors Contributing to Lower Retirement Confidence Among Women Who Are Not Married" our guest today unpacks the data on women's retirement confidence.

Craig Copeland is Director of Wealth Benefits Research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, he joined the podcast to discuss the survey, its findings and how women are set up for retirement.

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The professional civil service are the ones consistent and reliable application of the law and regulations throughout the federal government. Political interference – particularly through personnel rules like the scuttled Schedule F classification – can interfere with that fair application of rules.

This week, multiple organizations representing thousands of feds lent their support to the Preventing a Patronage System Act, which brings forward rules prohibiting federal employee reclassification from the competitive to the excepted service. The Senior Executives Association, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and the Professional Managers Association all sent letters to Congress showing unified support for the bill, which passed the House on Thursday.

Chad Hooper is Executive Director of the Professional Managers Association. He joined the podcast to discuss the Preventing a Patronage System Act and the civil service.

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According to new research from Eagle Hill Consulting, more than a third of government employees say they haven't taken a vacation in the last 12 months. Expenses topped the reasons given for eschewing vacation time, with self-imposed pressure coming next.

Frank Konkel is the Executive Editor of Govexec sibling site Nextgov. He has a story about the survey headlined "More Than 1 in 3 Government Employees Haven't Taken a Vacation in Last Year, Survey Says." He joined the podcast to talk about government workforce issues like delaying or eschewing vacation.

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The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the ways that we look at office space. While many organizations have brought office workers back to physical locations, telework has become a fact of life for most of us in America. The federal government is no different, with agencies expanding telework since March 2020. The Government Accountability Office recently released a report on the state of federal office space, saying that the future will have to account for remote work and telework in the federal government.

Courtney Bublé has a post on our site right now headlined "Most Agencies Plan to Cut Back on Office Leases and Square Footage in the Next 3 Years, Watchdog Finds." She joined the podcast to discuss the story and the future of federal government office space

Ever since an Aug. 8 search warrant was exercised on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, the federal government's classification process has been elevated into the national conversation. But, of course, most people who handle classified information – properly or not – are regular, non-former presidents. What happens to them?

Lindy Kyzer is the editor of ClearanceJobs.com, a former Defense Department employee and a GovExec contributor. She has a post on our site right now headlined "Here's What Can Happen When the Average Clearance Holder Mishandles Classified Information." She joined the podcast to discuss her post and what happens when someone doesn't handle classified info properly.

The American public has gotten a crash course in inflation over the last two years, but there are still a lot of questions about the state of the American economy. Inflation affects people's wallets, but it also affects the national mood and it affects people's long-term planning.

Leah Hartman is the distinguished lecturer and chair of finance, accounting, and marketing at the Pompea College of Business at the University of New Haven. She previously served as the head of research at both The Delaware Bay Management Company, and SKY Harbor Capital Management. As part of our #Money#monday series, she joined the podcast to discuss inflation and the state of the American economy.

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Federal employees know the word "bureaucracy" is often seen as derogatory in the popular imagination. It's not about systems or rules, but rather a synonym for byzantine regulations that show no benefit to those experiencing them. But maybe bureaucracies, from private supply chain systems to the federal government, are necessary.

Marina Nitze is a fellow at New America's New Practice Lab. Previously, she served as the Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under President Obama. Nick Sinai is a Senior Fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Previously, he served as U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer in the Obama White House. They joined the podcast to discuss their book Hack Your Bureaucracy, misunderstandings about bureaucracies and how to get things done.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci announced recently that he will leave government this coming December. Though Fauci has done groundbreaking work on HIV/AIDS, worked under eight presidential administration, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director has come into the common consciousness over the last two years as one of the faces of the pandemic response and a target for anti-vaccine activists, partisan bad actors and conspiracy theorists.

Recently, GovExec correspondent Courtney Bublé interviewed Dr. Fauci about his career in government and public health. In this episode, you'll hear their conversation.

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