GovExec Daily

About a year ago, the United States and the world watched as Afghans scrambled toward the Kabul airport. The Taliban was taking back the city and thousands of Afghans were trying to leave the country by any possible avenue, risking their lives along the way.

Releasing this month, the Kabul Falling eight-part podcast series recounts stories of people who lived through the Taliban takeover. Executive produced by Project Brazen, the series is hosted by British journalist Nelafur Hedayat who left Afghanistan as a child approximately 20 years ago.

Bradley Hope is a journalist, one of the founders of Project Brazen and an executive producers of Kabul Falling. The first three episodes of the series are out now wherever you get your podcasts. He joined the show to talk about the podcast and the anniversary of the fall of the capital city.

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Federal employees have options when it comes to their retirement, including plenty of options within the Thrift Savings Plan. The TSP website provides an overview of the program, but the choices that public servants make with their TSP options should not be taken lightly and more information is always helpful. Even against the backdrop of the last few years of economic uncertainty, the TSP is a huge part of feds' lives.

Abraham Grungold is a longtime federal employee, the owner of AG Financial Services and a member of the exclusive TSP millionaires club. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, he joined the podcast to talk about the Thrift Savings Plan and the economic climate of the last few years.

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The number of criminal referrals sent by the Border Patrol and other Customs and Border Protection officers have recently begun to rise. April 2022 saw the first month in more than two years that such referrals topped the 2,000 mark.

Dr. Austin Kocher is an Assistant Research Professor in the Newhouse School of Public Communication and a researcher with the Transactional Research Access Clearinghouse, a research institute at Syracuse University that uses Freedom of Information Act requests to study the federal government. He joined the podcast to talk about his research about the increase in criminal immigration referrals at the border.

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Last month, the Supreme Court decided that Congress may not authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to address an issue of great economic and political importance or significance unless Congress speaks precisely in allowing it to do so. According to analysts, environmentalists and even Presiden Biden, this "major question" issue is a step backward for the environment and for the administrative state's ability to address problems like climate change.

Dr. Donald F. Kettl is professor emeritus at the University of Maryland and former dean of its School of Public Policy. He is the author of many books, including the Politics of the Administrative Process, System Under Stress and The Next Government of the United States. He has a GovExec.com post headlined "How the Supreme Court's West Virginia v. EPA Decision Will Upset the Administrative World." He joined the podcast to discuss the EPA decision and what it means for the administration of government.

Government efforts toward better gender equity in government are not new. But, despite these efforts, the percentage of women in federal law enforcement jobs has decreased since 2008. The federal percentage of women in law enforcement jobs continues to hover around 10-15%, mirroring the numbers in police departments nationwide.

GovExec correspondent Courtney Bublé has two stories on GovExec.com right now about women in law enforcement. She joined the podcast to discuss the issues around gender and federal policing.

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It's been nearly a year since the Department of Justice the U.S. Department of Justice established an Election Threats Task Force to address the rise in threats against election workers, administrators, officials, and others associated with the electoral process. As the world saw during the Jan 6 hearings, poll workers like Shaye Moss faced dire threats and bogus claims of wrongdoing for simply believing in democracy.

Recently the Alliance for Securing Democracy released a report headlined "Deterring Threats to Election Workers: Recommendations for the Department of Justice's Election Threats Task Force" that outlines some suggestions for the task to use to better fight threats. David Levine is the Elections Integrity Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy and one of the authors of the report. He joined the podcast me to discuss the efforts to subvert the administration of U.S. elections.

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While the nation is still feeling the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis, the American economy is in a bit of a rut. The pandemic economy hit women particularly hard and fears that the United States may be heading toward a recession hang overhead. Firms and entrepreneurs are weathering the storm, but how can businesses deal with the economic climate we're all experiencing?

Pamela Prince-Eason is a National Women's Business Council Member and CEO/President of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. She joined the podcast to talk about the current economic climate and how it is affecting women entrepreneurs.

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Eliminating the triumvirate of waste, fraud and abuse in government is a cause in which most Americans believe, but the actual nuts and bolts of wasteful spending specifically can be hard to quantify. The group Citizens Against Government Waste annually enumerates what it considers to be the worst in pork barrel spending in its Congressional Pig Book, the most recent of which was released last week.

Thomas Schatz is President of Citizens Against Government Waste. He joined the podcast now to discuss the 2022 Congressional Pig Book.

According to reports, a second Donald Trump presidential term would bring back and expand on Schedule F, the controversial proposal to upend the civil service. Former aides said that some in Trump's orbit are already making lists of public servants to transfer into Schedule F and potentially fire, indicating that a second Trump term would involve massive purges of federal employees.

GovExec reporter Eric Katz is covering the story. He joined the podcast me now to discuss how a second Trump administration would use Schedule F to reshape government.

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Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, Congress has tasked the Small Business Administration with administering more than $1 trillion through relief programs like the Paycheck Protection Program. Hannibal "Mike" Ware, the Small Business Administration inspector general, is tasked with the jobs of combating fraud and alerting the SBA of the ways to prevent it.

Recently, GovExec correspondent and frequent GovExec Daily guest Courtney Bublé interviewed Ware about his role in combating abuse of the relief programs and the ways his office uses information to that end. In this episode, you'll hear Courtney's interview with Ware on how he sees data, and collaboration as tools for COVID-19 oversight.

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