The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

With a big and contentious election coming on, there's a new Hatch Act sheriff in town. Attorney Hampton Dellinger was recently confirmed as Special Counsel, leading the Office of Special Counsel. For some current topics, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin was joined in studio by Hampton Dellinger.

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As House appropriators outline plans to make steep government spending cuts for fiscal 2025, Democrats are warning that reduced agency budgets would lead to federal employee layoffs, and by extension, worsening federal services.

The fiscal 2025 financial services and general government appropriations bill is now heading to the full appropriations committee for consideration. Members of the GOP-led House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee advanced the legislation — along party lines and without amendments — during a markup Wednesday morning.

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Maj. Gen. Jeth Rey ended his three-year tenure as the director of the Army’s Network Cross Functional team last week. When he started in 2021, Rey laid out a four-pronged vision to move the Army toward a data-centric environment.

Rey, who moved to a new job at the Pentagon as the director of architecture, operations, networks and space at the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6, said the Army has made tremendous progress to become a data-centric organization over the last three years.

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For many people, thinking about retirement, is axiomatic. Pay off that mortgage on the house. It might be wise to think through this strategy a little more carefully. For why, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with private wealth advisor Thiago Glieger of RMG Advisors.

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An information technology team at the IRS has won recognition for a system that lets taxpayers submit correspondence online. More than a quarter million pieces of mail have already been avoided and officials expect a rate of 125 million pieces of digital mail a year. For their work and its impact on tax-processing efficiency, they're finalists in this year's Service to America Medals program. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin visited with project director Wanda Brown, who spoke on behalf of the team.

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The Supreme Court will soon decide whether to overturn a 40-year-old decision that is come to be known as the Chevron Deference. Chevron basically supported administrative latitude of agencies in carrying out laws passed by Congress. The latest case is called Loper Bright Enterprises versus Raimondo. Yes, that is, Commerce Secretary Raimondo. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talks with Texas A & M associate law professor Daniel Walters.

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On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin:

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VA Secretary Denis McDonough says a “series of massive mistakes” led to his department approving nearly $11 million in bonuses to career executives who weren’t eligible to receive them.

“You cannot read the statute and say that this was an acceptable use of that statute,” McDonough told members of the House VA Committee at a hearing Tuesday.

VA’s inspector general office, in a report released last month, found the department improperly awarded $10.8 million in critical skills incentives (CSIs) to more than 180 executives last fall.

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Congress should refrain from legislation that would require automobile makers to equip cars with AM radio receivers. That's according to the guest Federal Drive Host Tom Temin's guest, who argues the technology is largely obsolete and no one listens. Gary Shapiro is president of the Consumer Technology Association.

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The numbers keep getting bigger, but it's the same old story. Duplication and overlap in federal programs wastes billion. In its latest annual report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds 112 ways Congress and agencies could reduce redundancy. For the details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with GAO's Director of Strategic Issues, Jessica Lucas-Judy.

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