Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that a plan to cut the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s workforce was unlawful. But Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has criticized that ruling and defended plans for a leaner workforce at FEMA. The back-and-forth has put the emergency management agency’s slimmed down workforce back in the spotlight. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday joins me.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in the National Institutes of Health, like most federal research organizations, has a big data problem. NHLBI already is sitting on 12 petabytes of data and more comes in every month in the form of two dozen studies. Sweta Ladwa is the chief of the Scientific Solutions Delivery Branch within the Information Technology and Applications Center (ITAC) at NHLBI and she tells Federal News Network’s executive editor Jason Miller about how they are trying to bring some standardization to all of their data.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Congress directed DOD to modernize and professionalize its security cooperation workforce. A new GAO review finds the department has made significant progress, while still facing some important implementation challenges. Joining me with more details is Jim Reynolds a director in GAO's International Affairs and Trade team.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Navy and the Indiana National Guard recently unveiled what they describe as the nation's first ground-based sled track capability for testing aircraft countermeasures. The facility can simulate flight conditions at speeds approaching Mach 1 while giving engineers more opportunities to test before taking systems into the air. Here to tell us how it all works is Nancy Maloy, from Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The U.S. Copyright Office is hosting an event today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Copyright Act. My next guest says the anniversary offers a chance to look back at why the law was created, what it protects, and the role the Copyright Office plays in supporting creators. Miriam Lord is Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Public Information and Education.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

• The Copyright Act turns 50 this year, and the Copyright Office is marking the occasion today with a look at how the law has evolved alongside American creativity
• Testing military systems in the air is expensive. The Navy has found a way to do more of that work on the ground
• The Defense Department has expanded its security cooperation mission dramatically. Now it's trying to build a workforce that can keep up

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Trump administration has lost more political appointees than any other recent president in the first year and a half of their term. And Trump appointees who have already left spent record-short amounts of time in their positions. The rapid and widespread departures are creating unprecedented turnover rates, according to new research from the Partnership for Public Service. For more, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman sat down with the author of that research report, Chris Piper.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Pentagon is moving away from government-unique cost accounting rules towards standards that are widely used in the commercial sector to make it a lot easier for commercial firms to do business with the department. While it is a huge step for the Defense Department, putting it into practice is going to take a long time. Federal News Network’s Anastasia Obis has more.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Federal agencies are exploring how AI can improve customer service without losing the human expertise complex cases require. My next guest says the most important changes may happen behind the scenes, helping employees navigate increasingly complicated interactions. Kevin McCreight is vice president of account management at TTEC Digital.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Cost Accounting Standards Board has approved the biggest overhaul of CAS coverage in more than two decades. The changes raise key thresholds and create a new path for some contractors to move out of full CAS coverage on existing contracts. For details on what changed and what the board is trying to accomplish, I'm joined by Dan Ramish of Haynes Boone.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.