GovExec Daily

The White House announced on Thursday that the deadline for the vaccine mandate for federal contractors will be pushed back about a month to January 4. But the firms contracting with the government still have unanswered questions from their workforces as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

Kelly Kroll is a partner at Morris, Manning & Martin LLP and has worked on federal, state, and local government contract formation and administration matters. She joined the show to talk about the vaccine mandate and how contractors are approaching it.

As Congress continues to negotiate an infrastructure bill, the role of public-private partnerships are key in the bill's provisions. With the success of Operation Warp Speed in the development of the COVID-19 vaccines, a new look at such partnerships is due.

Dr. David Van Slyke is Dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He was also recently named to the Defense Business Board for fiscal 2022. He joined the podcast to discuss public-private partnerships.

The Nov. 22 deadline for federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is a few weeks away and we're now looking at states and federal employee groups suing the Biden administration about the mandate.

GovExec correspondent Courtney Bublé writes the Coronavirus Roundup. She joined the show to discuss the lawsuits against the mandate.

Ever since the 2016 presidential election, voter fraud, election security and disinformation have been major topics in the national conversation. On Tuesday, millions of Americans will cast ballots in local elections across the U.S. Given the current concerns surrounding the validity of the election results, it's critical that election officials reassure voters that the process is safe. Ross Underwood is an elections technology advisor with the Canton Group. He joined the show to discuss why Americans should trust that their vote is safe and secure.

Federal law enforcement takes many forms, from the U.S. Marshals to FBI agents to Bureau of Prisons employees. But often overlooked are the U.S. Park Rangers of the National Park Service. They are the ones who are the front line of law enforcement in the hundreds of parks, monuments, recreation areas and other units of the National Park System. These rangers are facing diminishing numbers , a greater workload, and a lack of equipment and training, creating an increasingly dangerous situation.

Paul D. Berkowitz is a retired National Park Service supervisory special agent. He's also the author of a post on our site right now headlined "The Law Enforcement Staffing Crisis at the National Park Service." He joined the podcast to discuss his post and the situation at NPS.

The deadline for most federal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they are granted an exemption, is November 22. Some feds have maintained that they will fight the mandate in court, while others may just quit and others will apply for exemptions. With the deadline approaching, members of Congress have questions about the workforce implications of the mandate.

Eric Katz is a reporter at GovExec. He joined the podcast to talk about the state of the vaccine mandate for federal employees.

Last week, Senators on the Senate Appropriations Committee unveiled the initial Senate versions of nine fiscal year 2022 spending bills. Absent was any language on feds' pay, thus effectively endorsing the White House's 2.7% average increase for next year.

Erich Wagner covers the federal workforce. He joined the podcast to discuss the status of the pay raise and other pay and benefits stories that affect federal employees.

For years, a man named Leonard Francis bribed U.S. Navy officers with cash, booze, luxury items and prostitutes in return for fraudulent multi-million-dollar deals. Eventually the Navy began an operation to entrap the man known as "Fat Leonard." Detained for years, Francis spoke to our guest today for a podcast series on the scandal and the ways the misogyny, graft and corruption evident in it resonate even today.

Brazen Original podcast Fat Leonard is available across platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and others. Tom Wright is a journalist and the co-author of the book Billion Dollar Whale about Malaysian playboy Jho Low. He's also the host of Fat Leonard. He joined the show to talk about the Fat Leonard scandal and what he's learned in producing the podcast.

The U.S. in 2021 is a nation-state confronting a series of complex societal challenges that have no easy answer. Climate change, racial injustice and a raging pandemic are just some of the threats that American government will have to confront. This will fall to public servants to execute policy and innovate in the service of the mission of government.

Beth Simone Noveck is a professor at Northeastern University, where she directs The Governance Lab. She's also the author of the book Solving Public Problems: A Practical Guide to Fix Our Government and Change Our World. She joined the podcast to talk about the book and innovation in public service.

The COVID-19 crisis has been devastating to the world. It has taken millions of lives worldwide and at least 700,000 American lives. As the American public health response continues, learning from the mistakes of this crisis will be critically important for the next crisis.

Katherine Barrett and Richard Greene, are principals of Barrett and Greene, Inc and are nationally-known authorities in performance management, health policy and other public administration issues. Dr. Donald F. Kettl is professor emeritus at the University of Maryland and former dean of its School of Public Policy.

They are co-authors of a new report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government, Managing the Next Crisis: Twelve Principles for Dealing with Viral Uncertainty and a post on our site about that report headlined "Three Pandemic Lessons for the Next Crisis." They joined the podcast to discuss their report and the lessons to be learned from te COVID-19 situation.