The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Electromagnetic spectrum which enables wireless communications is both scarce and in high demand. Until now, deciding who can use a particular frequency has been a zero sum game. The government auctions it off, and the winner has it for keeps. My next guest says the current spectrum management process is unsustainable. She led a major MITRE Corporation study, which suggests what it calls a dynamic approach to spectrum management. MITRE's chief spectrum economist Carolyn Kahn joins me now.

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That plan of president-elect Donald Trump to slice the government down to size. It's known as the Department of Government Efficiency. The outside advisory group headed by Elon Musk is getting some traction in Congress. Here with the latest, WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller.

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There's a new feature coming soon for participants in the Thrift Savings Plan. A little over a year from now, starting in January of 2026 participants will be able to make Roth in plan conversions in the TSP with some important tax implications. That's not the only thing changing there. Federal News Network's Drew Friedman caught up with the TSP Director of External Affairs, Kim Weaver.

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You can find lots of reasons why it takes more than two years to build the annual defense budget. A big one is the fact that DoD acquisition systems and its financial management systems don't talk to each other, at least not very well. That's a problem the Pentagon is starting to solve, though programs, big and small are beginning to use a common data lexicon, and officials are hoping for some big management gains. Thanks to that added visibility we get details from Federal News Network's Jared Serbu. 

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The Department of Veterans Affairs said last summer it would need a lot more money this fiscal year than first appropriated, $12 billion more. Well now the Veterans Health Administration has revised that requirement down to about six and a half billion dollars. For why, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman asked VAs Under Secretary for Health, Shareef Elnahal.

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Most contractors may not know it, but the Space Systems Command has special authority to put them on what it calls the contractor responsibility watch list. Well now the Space Force has put one contractor on that very list. In fact, it's the first use of the watch list that we know of. Federal News Network's Anastasia Obis has more.

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It's the season of seasons. Thanksgiving season. Christmas season. And for federal employees, it's nearly *open* season. It has a lot of moving parts. Federal. Long time expert in all things having to do with federal employment and post-employment Tammy Flanagan.

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In her years at Customs and Border Protection, my next guest rose from a newbie uniformed officer to senior executive port director for Newark-New York. That means the fourth busiest airport, and *the* busiest port. TenaVel Thomas joins me now.

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Today on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin

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The efficiency department hasn't arrived yet, but many agencies try and optimize costs already. A case in point the Office of Personnel Management. When thinking of new technology projects, OPM officials are trying to get a handler on potential costs earlier. I got more detail when I spoke with OPM's deputy chief information officer, Melvin Brown.

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