GovExec Daily

During the 35-day government shutdown that spanned 2018 and 2019, furloughed federal employees found themselves without paychecks for over a month. While most federal employees got back pay for the shutdown, the financial stream of losing income was great for many feds. As government shutdowns become more common in recent years, federal employees and contractors will have to be more judicious about how they protect themselves financially.

Clark Kendall is a financial analyst and president & CEO of Maryland-based wealth management firm Kendall Capital. He joined the podcast to discuss how feds can prepare financially for the next government shutdown.

The novel coronavirus crisis has brought to light many systemic problems in American governance and the civil service. Like other major disasters, the pandemic presents an opportunity to reshape the future of work in the federal service.

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 Escaping Jurassic Government: How to Recover America's Lost Commitment to Competence, The Politics of the Administrative Process, System Under Stress and The Next Government of the United States. His latest piece on our site is headlined "The Failure of Government's Post-COVID Imagination" He joined the show to talk about the post-pandemic civil service and potential for reform.

Guidance from the Biden administration released recently announced that covered federal contractors and subcontractors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and show proof of it by December 8, unless they are granted an exemption. As that date approaches, firms will have to navigate the ins and outs of the mandate.

Eric Leonard is a partner with Wiley Rein LLP and Martha Vázquez is an associate at Wiley Rein, a firm specializing in regulatory, litigation, and transactional matters. Vázquez is also the co-author of a post on our site headlined "Potential Traps for Federal Contractors with the COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate." They joined the podcast to discuss how contractors will have to prepare for the new rules.

Congress passed a continuing resolution on Thursday that will fund the government until Dec. 3. Funding was set to run out at midnight, which would have triggered a government shutdown. Eric Katz has been covering the shutdown threat . He joined the podcast to discuss the story and the next steps for Congress.

In what has become a semi regular occurrence, a shutdown threat has hung over agencies this fall. The uncertainty around the continuing resolution negotiations has left federal employees scrambling to plan for their finances once again.

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

A seemingly constant conversation around the Defense Department and innovation is the interplay between the private sector and the Pentagon. Contractors and commercial firms want to get their innovative ideas to the Defense Department and Pentagon officials want to speed up the process by which they adopt new innovations from the commercial sector.

As part of GovExec Media's Roadmap to Modernization event recently, Defense on Deputy Editor Brad Peniston spoke to Art Trevethan, Director of Corporate Ventures at the Army Applications Lab. In this episode, they talk about how the military draws from the private sector and how it finds, funds, and develops the next generation of weapons and systems.

The immigration system in the United States consists of different systems, including but not exclusive to detention, processing and adjudication. The government keeps plenty of records on all these systems. While the politics of the immigration system can be malleable, the data is pretty concrete.

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 discuss his work and immigration data.

The evacuation of Afghanistan in connection to the military withdrawal there has drawn criticism. Afghan allies have needed visas to leave the country and get to the United States, but are faced with a long, complex and difficult process to obtain visas.

Shelley Inglis is the Executive Director of the Human Rights Center and Research Professor of Human Rights and Law. She comes from the United Nations Development Programme where she held various management positions working on peacebuilding, democratic governance, rule of law and human rights. She is the author of an analysis headlined "Perilous Situation for Afghan Allies Left behind Shows a Refugee System That's not up to the Job." She joined the show to talk about the refugee system and the situation of Afghan refugees.

The coronavirus pandemic has shown the importance of government work in stark reality over the past 18 months. The Government Hall of Fame and The Theodore Roosevelt Government Leadership Awards were started in 2019 to honor those who have achieved great things as federal officials and industry leaders.

GovExec this week announced the Government Hall of Fame and Theodore Roosevelt Government Leadership Award winners. Tom Shoop is editor at-large at GovExec Media. He joined the podcast to discuss the Government Hall of Fame and the Teddies.

The seven-day average for American coronavirus deaths reached 2,000 again this month, matching similar numbers of the spring of 2021. But, vaccine news has sparked some optimism lately on the booster and children front.

Courtney Bublé writes the Coronavirus Roundup on Govexec.com. She joined the show to discuss vaccines and other news that she's been covering about the pandemic.