GovExec Daily

On Tuesday morning, President Joe Biden officially announced that he will run for reelection. In his announcement, he cited Social Security and echoed his faith in American government. Since his election in 2020, Biden has positioned himself as a friend to government employees, seemingly in direct contrast to his predecessor – and potential 2024 foe – Donald Trump.

Courtney Bublé joined the GovExec Daily podcast to talk about the Biden announcement and what his first term has meant for federal employees.

***

Follow GovExec on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/government-executive

Passed in 1994, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act is a law that, among other things, protects service members by allowing them to regain their civilian jobs following a period of uniformed service. MSPB recently refined federal employees' rights under USERRA.

Allen Shoikhetbrod is an employment attorney and the Managing Partner of Tully Rinckey PLLC's Albany office. He joined the podcast to talk about the Uniformed Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and the new protections therein.

The Thrift Savings Plan is very popular with participants. A 2022 survey found that 88% of those investing with the TSP were satisfied with it. As the TSP has seen in prior surveys, participants who contribute more are more satisfied with the plan, which suggests that the famed TSP millionaire's club are likely among those happy with the TSP.

Abraham Grungold is a financial professional as the owner of AG Financial Services , a longtime federal employee and a member of the exclusive TSP millionaires club. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, he joined the podcast to talk about the strategies for the TSP and his experience with it.

***

Follow GovExec on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/government-executive

The promise of Login.gov when it was launched was to have a single, secure signon for U.S. government sites. Since it launched to replace Connect.gov, however, Login.gov has not fulfilled all of its promise, with concerns about security being highlighted in a recent GSA inspector general office report.

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 latest news about Login.gov.

In the 21st century, Americans are used to having many easy interactions online, albeit mostly in the private sector. We interact with sites like Amazon and Google often and have come to expect that our interactions will be seamless and effective. Government does not have the same expectations, but many Americans do want to interact with government online and modernization is a key goal of federal officials.

Deloitte Consulting recently released a report titled "The Digital Citizen: A Survey of How People in the United States Perceive Digital Government Services," which examines how Americans interact with digital government and how they feel about it.

Michele Causey is a Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting, where she leads digital government transformation practice. She joined the podcast to discuss the report and digital government.

Despite the negative talk of the swamp or the deep state, the last few years have shown the import of government in the lives of Americans. From the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines to disaster recovery to the other services that government and stakeholders bring forward, public servants play a huge part in our society.

At GovExec's Evening of Honors Gala on April 20, Government Executive and FCW will honor industry stakeholders, current and former government officials who have made historic achievements and advances across government. Tom Shoop is editor at large and the former executive vice president and editor in chief at GovExec Media. He joined the podcast to discuss the Government Hall of Fame and GovExec's Evening of Honors.

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 brought forward, among other things, the windfall elimination provision and government pension offset, two rules that impact public servants and their retirement. In the forty years since, concerns about the rules have come forward and this year, Rep. Abigail Spanberger asked her constituents how they experience the GPO and WEP, with thousands responding to a survey.

Rep. Spanberger is a Democrat representing Virginia's 7th district in the United States House of Representatives. She recently reintroduced the Social Security Fairness Act to eliminate the WEP and GPO. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, she joined the podcast to discuss the windfall elimination provision, the government pension offset and the results of her survey of her constituents.

Intelligence agencies are prioritizing a number of workforce initiatives this year, including thousands of job openings at the National Security Agency and DEIA efforts at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. As part of ongoing hiring initiatives, intelligence agencies are looking for strong candidates for open IT and cyber positions.

As part of a recent Federal Computer Week webcast, FCW reporter Chris Riotta interviewed Christine Parker, acting senior adviser to the Chief Human Capital Officer for NSA. And LaLisha Hurt, industry advisor for the public sector federal at Splunk. In this episode, you'll hear part of their conversation about workforce and hiring priorities in the intelligence community.

***

Follow GovExec on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/government-executive

With a workforce of approximately 60,000 Social Security Administration administers retirement and disability benefits. But, union officials representing the agency's workforce have noted burnout and poor service delivery at SSA. The union has also called for more funding for the agency in the wake of inflation and national economic conditions.

GovExec senior reporter Erich Wagner covers the federal workforce. He joined the podcast to talk about the Social Security Administration's workforce concerns.

***

Follow GovExec on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/government-executive

A common complaint about the security clearance process is the incongruity between the timelines promised to applicants and the actual timeline of the process. But, new reporting benchmarks are underway right now, with the potential to make things clearer.

Lindy Kyzer is the editor of ClearanceJobs.com, a former Defense Department employee and a GovExec contributor. Her latest post on our site is headlined "Say Good-bye to the Security Clearance Status Quo." She joined the podcast to discuss her post and the way the clearance process may change.

***

Follow GovExec on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/government-executive