The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

An update to the long-running cloud-computing security program known as FedRAMP, has entered a new phase. Comments closed Friday, and now the authorities at the General Services Administration and Office of Management and Budget are percolating. For what the industry is hoping for, we turn to Stephanie Kostro, the Executive Vice President for Policy at the Professional Services Council.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

The Defense Department ranks high among federal agencies seeking expertise in quantum computing, the next big thing in computing. DoD agencies have established several ways to recruit and hire people with chops in quantum sub-skills. But the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds, they're not all following the best practices for getting the people they need. More now from Candice Wright, the GAO's Director of Science, Technology Assessment and Analytics .

GAO REPORT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received some good news as the year closed. It achieved a clean financial audit opinion, with no material weaknesses. It even won praise from its inspector general. For how this happened, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Chief Financial Officer Vinay Singh.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

The Defense Department’s long-awaited proposed rule for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program lays out DoD’s plan to introduce the CMMC requirements over the next three years.

The proposed rule, released today and scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Dec. 26, would establish requirements “for a comprehensive and scalable assessment mechanism” to ensure defense contractors are implementing required security protections.

DoD already has a provision in its contracts requiring companies that handle controlled unclassified information to protect it in accordance with controls set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

Agencies don’t have to worry about a 1% sequestration on discretionary funds kicking in for a few more months.

The Office of Management and Budget says the requirement to reduce discretionary spending under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), signed into law in June, wouldn’t take effect until “after full year appropriations are enacted, or April 30, whichever comes first.”

“OMB will take no action on Jan. 1, 2024, and no additional action should be taken by agencies to reduce impacted discretionary funding, even though a short-term continuing resolution will be in effect at that time,” OMB wrote in frequently asked questions on 2024 discretionary spending sent to agencies on Dec. 22. “If any discretionary appropriation account remains on a short-term CR past April 30, OMB is required to issue a final sequestration report that compares the annualized appropriation levels provided by all discretionary appropriations bills under current law as of April 30 against the [FRA’s] section 102 interim spending limits. A breach of the section 102 spending limits would require OMB to order a sequestration to bring the current law discretionary appropriations in line with those interim spending limits.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

What a mess. Border security, foreign military aid, and the lack of a 2024 budget agreement have turned into a sort of Gordian Knot for Congress. Happy New Year indeed. For what could happen this week, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director Loren Duggan.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

The chief operating officer of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has received recognition from a leading university public administration program. Orice Williams Brown, who has worked at GAO for more than 30 years, got the Excellence in Federal Leadership Award from the public administration and policy department at American University. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Ms. Brown.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

President Joe Biden finalized a 5.2% federal pay raise for many civilian employees for 2024.

But it’s important to note the 5.2% figure is only an average. The actual numbers federal employees will see in their paychecks next year depend on where they work, thanks to locality pay.

Biden’s alternative pay plan called for a 4.7% across-the-board raise that all feds on the General Schedule receive, plus an average of a 0.5% locality-based adjustment. The 0.5% part of the raise is what accounts for the differences in pay.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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