GovExec Daily

Most Americans and most elected officials agree that waste, fraud and abuse of government programs are bad things. But, agreement on defining and measuring these common problems does not come as easily. With COVID-19 relief money moving around via the levels of government over the last three years, fraud has once again come into the public consciousness. As such, the Government Accountability Office recently released two reports on fraud measurement and, specifically, unemployment fraud numbers during the pandemic.

Natalie Alms is a staff writer at FCW covering federal technology policy, service delivery, customer experience and the government's tech workforce. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, she joined the podcast to talk about the GAO reports and fraud measurement.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec

The United States Treasury Department reached the $31.3 trillion debt ceiling last week, prompting the department to implement "extraordinary measures" to buy more time until a default on the government's obligations. The new Republican-led House of Representatives has vowed to cut spending in connection to the debt limit, but has not committed yet to raise the debt limit, as has been standard.

Doug Criscitello is a former official with the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget. He is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He joined the podcast to discuss the debt limit.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec

The three years of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the United States' scant public health infrastructure. The federal system's flaws have been on display, with inconsistent guidelines and lawsuits between federal, state and local governments, all aided by a media environment that is deeply divided by tribalism. The Center for Strategic and International Studies recently put forward a report titled Building the CDC the Country Needs with recommendations for modernizing the agency, but the report is hardly the final word.

On Wednesday's podcast, GovExec Daily's Adam Butler and Ross Gianfortune discussed what the CDC pandemic response has been and how it could have been executed more effectively.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec

Six years ago, the election of Donald Trump as president sparked a wave of federal employees becoming dues-paying union members. In the years of Trump's presidency, the White House brought forward a plan to merge OPM and GSA, stepped up rhetoric about "deep state bureaucrats" and rolled out a series of executive orders making it easier to fire federal workers and clamping down on unions' role at federal agencies. It has been, in short, a roller coaster.

Senior reporter Erich Wagner is the reporter behind the GovExec feature story headlined "State of the Unions: A New Normal." He joined the podcast to talk about the state of organized labor.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec

Read Erich's story here: https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2023/01/federal-employee-unions-new-normal/381812/

Another year of the COVID-19 pandemic has come and gone, with a healthy dollop of inflation and economic uncertainty added. Women continue to be affected by the economic atmosphere in the United States and the world. In the wake of this, the National Women's Business Council, a nonpartisan federal advisory council, recently released its annual report. As women business owners and entrepreneurs move with the economic changes, the report has recommendations for 2023 and the years ahead.

Jaime Gloshay is member of the National Women's Business Council and Co-Founder of Native Women Lead. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, she joined the podcast to discuss the NWBC's annual report and women in business.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec

Hiring and retaining workers are challenges every organization has to face, but a new proposed rule may further complicate the process. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission has proposed a rule that would ban noncompete provisions as well as some training repayment agreements. While such a ban could expand the pool of potential employees to hire, it could also severely hurt retention.

Michael Fallings is the Managing Partner of Tully Rinckey PLLC's Austin office, where focuses on federal sector labor and employment law. He joined the podcast to discuss the proposed rule concerning noncompetes.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec

As its first legislative act in the 118th Congress, the House approved a repeal of $71 billion in IRS funding. Money and staffing for the tax agency have been key points of contention in Congress over the last few decades, resulting in longer wait times for anyone seeking customer service from the agency. After last year's funding promises and a recent bill introduced to defund the IRS entirely, the question of the efficacy of the tax agency is once again at the front of the national conversation.

John Koskinen sits on the board of the National Academy of Public Administration and was the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service from 2013-2017. His decades of experience in government include work at the Office of Management and Budget and the President's Council on Y2K. He's also a 2021 inductee to the GovExec Government Hall of Fame. He joined the podcast to discuss the fight over the tax agency.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into the spotlight like it has not been before. The agency's role in messaging, guidance and research has been criticized across the political spectrum and across academia, politics and analysis. Recently, the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a report titled Building the CDC the Country Needs with recommendations for modernizing the agency.

Courtney Bublé is a reporter here at GovExec. She joined the podcast to discuss the CSIS report and the future of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec

Modernization has been a keyword for agencies throughout government in the 21st century. Paper records are a big part of the digitization effort, but what if your agency's role is to be a steward of the preservation and documentation of government and historical records? In the case of the national archives and records administration, it means that the agency has an extra responsibility to make its work accessible to the public and be responsible in its digital record preservation of records.

As part of GovExec Media's Genius Machines event series recently, Nextgov Senior editor Aaron Boyd spoke to NARA Chief Innovation Officer Pamela Wright, about how the agency is modernizing. In this episode, you'll hear part of their conversation about NARA as it remakes itself into a digital-first agency.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec

While critics allege that federal civil service protections exist to protect lazy or useless bureaucrats, the professional civil service does the actual work of administration of public policy programs. In recent years, rhetoric that focuses on the deconstruction of the administrative state has had a deleterious effect on the civil service and government. But, the Biden administration has used its time to rebuild government and confidence in governing, perhaps leaving room for optimism.

In the second part of a two-part discussion, Lisa Parshall spoke to the podcast about the legacy of Trump-era policies like the Schedule F Executive order, the new edition of her book Directing the Whirlwind: The Trump Presidency and the Deconstruction of the Administrative State and her optimism about the state of government administration in the post-Trump era.

***

Follow GovExec on Twitter! https://twitter.com/govexec