GovExec Daily

The CARES Act was passed in March 2020 during the initial phase of the COVID-19 crisis. With trillions of dollars at stake, the law established three entities tasked with overseeing the money going out: The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, the Congressional Oversight Commission and the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery.

GovExec correspondent Courtney Bublé has a package of stories on our site right now looking back at the two years of CARES Act oversight by these and other entities. She joined the show to talk about her reporting and COVID-19 oversight since early 2020.

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In the pursuit of raising trust in government, the Biden administration is now setting goals for customer service as part of a slate of updates to the President's Management Agenda. The update is part of an emphasis on mission delivery and customer experience which was a focus of the president's management agenda vision document released in November.

Natalie Alms is a staff writer at FCW covering federal technology policy, service delivery, customer experience and the government's tech workforce. She joined the podcast to discuss the PMA update and government customer service.

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A newly-proposed USDA contracting regulation would require every contractor on every bid to certify their compliance with every statute, list every violation they have ever had and define what was done to mitigate the violations. Our guest today writes in a post on our site that the regulation, if enacted, would be a mess for compliance and is likely illegal.

Stan Soloway is president and CEO of Celero Strategies, LLC and a GovExec contributor. He formerly served as deputy undersecretary of Defense for acquisition reform and director of the Defense Reform Initiative during Bill Clinton's administration. He has a post on our site right now headlined "USDA's New Proposed Labor Regs for Contractors Go Way Too Far." He joined the podcast to discuss his piece and the proposed USDA rules.

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Every American has to deal with the IRS in some way. From COVID-19 stimulus payments to tax credits to the annual filing date, Americans deal with the agency on a regular basis. As the Biden administration emphasizes customer service, the tax agency has to balance these responsibilities constantly. But, in the middle of record staffing shortages and a lack of funding, the agency has been operating in survival mode.

As part of Government Executive, Route Fifty and Nextgov's Customer Experience summit event recently, GovExec reporter and frequent GovExec Daily guest Courtney Bublé spoke to former IRS chief John Koskinen and National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins. In this episode for our #moneymonday series, they discuss how the IRS is serving citizens during an exceptionally difficult tax season. ***

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Customer service is a topic that has become more important in recent years and especially in recent months with executive action, and legislative priorities. The IRS, in particular, often finds itself in the center of these conversations, especially now, during tax season.

As part of Government Executive and Nextgov's Future of Work event recently, Nextgov Executive Editor Frank Konkkel spoke to Annette Jones, assistant to the chief taxpayer Experience Officer at the Internal Revenue Service. In this episode, Jones discusses the ways that the IRS customer experience is evolving.

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President Joe Biden released his second budget plan late last month, calling for nearly across-the-board increases for agencies. The blueprint features a series of provisions that would affect federal employees, including a pay raise number and moves to make government a "model employer"

GovExec senior reporter Erich Wagner covers the federal workforce. He joined the podcast to discuss the budget and other pay and benefits stories that he has been following.

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As pandemic restrictions fall and more employers begin the process of moving to hybrid work, the management lessons learned from two years of remote work. Being able to work from anywhere has changed relationships in the workplace and employers are now learning how that is manifesting.

Dr. Brianna Barker Caza is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Caza has studied how workers use internal and social resources to address stressful work attributes. She joined the podcast to discuss the remote disconnect and the pandemic.

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President Joe Biden released his second budget proposal and in it, the White House laid out its priorities for the economy, climate and public health. If enacted, the plan would boost discretionary domestic agency funding by 9.5% over current levels.

Doug Criscitello, a former official with the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, is currently a Managing Director with Grant Thornton Public Sector LLC and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He joined the podcast to discuss the Biden budget blueprint.

Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global supply chains were already in disarray because of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in shortages, disruptions and price inflation. The war and EU and U.S. sanctions against Russia have put further strains on supply chains, prompting higher energy prices and fears of famine.

Dr. David Simchi-Levi is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the director of the MIT Data Science Lab. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, he joined the podcast to discuss the supply chain and inflation consequences of the war in Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has gone on for more than six weeks now, with American public support mostly falling on the side of the Ukrainian cause. Americans have volunteered in support of Ukraine, including traveling there and the Ukrainian government has even created a web site dedicated to accepting donations directly for Ukraine's military. These avenues of support, however, can be dicey for security clearance holders.

Dan Meyer is a federal employment attorney and Managing Partner of Tully Rinckey's D.C office. He joined the podcast to discuss security clearances and the war in Ukraine.

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