The electro industry powers everything from national security to AI leadership, but a shortage of skilled workers threatens progress. The National Electrical Manufacturers' Association sees veterans as the solution and backs the Veterans Energy Transition Act to make it happen. We’ll explore the stakes and the bill with Peter Ferrell, senior director of government relations at NEMA.

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The Department of Education has finalized regulations that redefine Public Student Loan Forgiveness eligibility, barring organizations with a “substantial illegal purpose.” Randall Thomas, Partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius explains what this means for borrowers, employers and compliance going forward.

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Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

• A final regulation issued on Halloween has reshaped the Public Student Loan Forgiveness program
• A new bill could turn military experience into energy-sector strength
• Defense, health care, oversight and spending; these four fronts are exposing deep divides on Capitol Hill

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More than a dozen federal statistical agencies are falling behind on producing high-quality data sets that impact the U.S. economy and government policy. The American Statistical Association finds changes under the Trump administration have led to certain public-facing data sets being delayed, suspended or canceled. It’s also flagging declines public trust scores in data sets produced by the federal government. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more.

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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency doesn’t want to leave companies hanging when they reach out with a bold new innovation or tech development. So CISA this month unveiled its “Industry Engagement Platform,” where people can sign up to communicate directly with agency officials. For more on the new platform, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday spoke with the chief information officer at CISA, Bob Costello.

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Federal retirement numbers at the Office of Personnel Management are continuing to skyrocket. In November, OPM took in another 23,000 applications from retiring employees. That’s on top of more than 20,000 that entered OPM’s systems in October. Together, those numbers mean retirement applications are triple the volume they were at this time last year. In total, OPM’s retirement inventory is now closing in on 50,000 applications that are still awaiting finalization. 

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Months of disruption have left some federal employees disengaged and others burned out. Laurin Parthemos of Kotter explains what leaders must do to restore stability and psychological safety and find a "new normal" going forward.

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The NDAA rewrites the playbook for cost accounting and pricing, with changes that could ease burdens but raise new questions. We’ll explore the details and the stakes with Zach Prince, partner at Haynes Boone.

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Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

• New rules in the NDAA aim to cut red tape in defense contracting—but will they deliver?
• Federal leaders face the challenge of restoring stability and agency performance after months of workforce disruption

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It took several years, including some false starts, but the Defense Department’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program in now a reality. The final rules are in place, and several hundred contractors have already earned their third party certifications. But most of the initial implementation work will happen over the next year. For a look at the work ahead, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday talked with Matthew Travis. He’s the CEO of the Cyber Accreditation Body, the nonprofit organization that helps manage the certification process.

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