The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

The government will once again spend a trillion dollars more than it takes in this year. Maybe two trillion. Nothing seems to stop the ever rising debts. Nor the warnings that the nation is on an unsustainable fiscal track. The latest alarm comes from Congress's own Government Accountability Office. Here with details, the GAO's director of strategic issues, Jeff Arkin.

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The Trump administration's mass firings of federal employees face challenges. A group of unions has sued the administration in federal court, and multiple fired employees have filed a joint complaint before the Office of Special Counsel Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday brings us the latest.

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Robert Storch had a long and successful federal career. He's had tough, sensitive jobs. Including deputy inspector general at the Justice Department, then IG of the National Security Agency, then IG of the Defense Department. He was let go by President Donald Trump in a purge of IG's governmentwide just a few weeks ago. Bob Storch joins me in studio to reflect on how things got this far.

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Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin

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The government barely avoided a shutdown last month. Anything could happen in March though, when the latest continuing resolution expires. Federal employees will get paid. But they could face an interruption in pay deposits for the duration of a furlough. For those who live paycheck to paycheck, that could be tough. We get some practical advice from federal retiree Abe Grungold of AG Financial Services.

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Thousands of federal employees who were still in the first year of their position, they're out of work today, the impact of the Trump administration's decision to fire probationary employees will be felt for years, and that's according to our new online poll. Federal News Network's Jason Miller joins me to discuss what feds are saying.

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Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin

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A recent challenge sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology tasked drone designers with creating a system to help first responders map indoor environments. Whether it's a burning building or an active shooter scene, the potential of such technology could save a lot of lives. To find out more about the challenge, we welcome Terese Manley, Unmanned Aircraft System Portfolio Lead at NIST, she was also the Prize Manager for this particular challenge.

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President Donald Trump's hiring freeze which was enacted as soon as he entered office could not have come at a worse time for the National Parks Service. The agency that relies heavily on seasonal workers was in the beginning stages of staffing up for what looks to be another busy season. Now parks officials and experts are warning that some of the nation's most treasured parks that were already having trouble keeping up as popular tourist destinations may face even more crowd control issues. For more on this, we welcome Tim Whitehouse, executive director of the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

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A lot to do for Congress as it' finishes off it's first month with a new administration. The branch itself has not impeded any of the White House's agenda so far. It of course has it's own policy initiatives to consider, oh and there is the matter of funding for the government which runs out in less than a month. For a breakdown of what's going on, we welcome back Loren Duggan, editorial director for Bloomberg Government.

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