The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

President Donald Trump's government wide hiring freeze makes some exceptions for the

Veterans Affairs Department, but it's not entirely clear which positions are actually excepted. Trump's pick to run the VA Doug Collins defended the hiring freeze during his confirmation hearing. He also says VA will use every tool at hand to fire poor performing employees. Federal News Network's Jory Heckman has the latest.

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By the time the azaleas bloom in Washington, agencies will get a new plan to improve their hiring processes. It will have the goal of bringing down federal hiring to 80 days. President Donald Trump's executive order signed on inauguration day, would require this plan to address nine broad areas, most of which have been priorities for past administrations. Federal News Network's Jason Miller joins me with the latest.

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President Donald Trump has issued more than two dozen executive orders in his first couple of days in office. Many of them will impact the federal workforce. One executive action, for instance, orders a federal hiring freeze at federal agencies. Another tells agencies to return their federal employees to work at the office. We get more now from Federal News Network's Drew Friedman.

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Two horses of the so-called government tri-fecta the House and Senate, that is find themselves deep in the business of the new administration. The Trump administration. For what's immediately ahead, we turn to Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director Loren Duggan.

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For the new Congress, an A-I proposal from the last Congress. Federal Drive with Tom Temin

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The last Congress spent some solid effort to create a set of principles and recommendations for dealing with artificial intelligence. Members of the bipartisan task force on AI want to ensure U.S. leadership, while mitigating the threats to privacy and safety. Task force member Don Beyer, who represents Virginia's eighth district.

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Two top Department of Homeland Security executives were unexpectedly dismissed by the new Trump administration earlier this week. Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan was relieved of her duties Monday night, and David Pekosky, the head of the Transportation Security Administration, was also let go Monday morning. We get more now from Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday.

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A new industry and government consortium has joined the federal scene. This one is devoted to maritime security in Southeast Asia, or MARSEC. Joining me with who's in it and what they plan to do, the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for south and southeast Asia, Laura Updegrove.

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President Trump spent his first day in office dealing with immigration and energy policy undoing as much of the previous agenda as he could. The less obvious changes like where to substantially cut government spending will come later. Whatever happens will eventually get around to contractors. My next guest says that if past is prologue, it makes sense to look at what Trump did the first day around. David Berteau is president and CEO of the Professional Services Council. Yesterday, in the hours before inauguration, he joined me in studio.

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Voters decisively last rejected a Democratic successor to the Biden administration. That didn't stop Biden's team from unleashing a small storm of regulations in its last couple of months. For highlights of the so-called Fall 2024 Unified Agenda and how much of it will evaporate under the Trump administration we turn to the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center. Joining me now analyst Sarah Hay and senior policy analyst Zoey Xie.

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