The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

In an effort to expand new personnel vetting procedures well beyond national security positions, agencies will soon have to begin implementing “continuous vetting” requirements for a larger subset of the federal workforce.

The Office of Personnel Management is now directing agencies to ramp up preparations to start continuous vetting (CV) procedures for employees in “non-sensitive public trust positions,” beginning in fiscal 2024.

OPM defines this section of the workforce as positions in both high and moderate risk levels. These include jobs involving, for instance, policymaking, public safety and health, law enforcement, fiduciary responsibilities or “other duties demanding a significant degree of public trust,” OPM said.

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.

Big changes are coming to the Army’s recruiting apparatus after several consecutive years of recruiting shortfalls, including an elevation of the stature of the service’s recruiting command, a new career field for military recruiters, and new goals that target a wider demographic of young people.

The Army finished 2023 with 55,000 new recruits, significantly short of the 65,000 it had aimed for in the fiscal year that ended on Saturday. And not all of them are in uniform quite yet: About 4,600 went into the service’s delayed entry pool, held in reserve for what’s expected to be another tough recruiting year in 2024.

Christine Wormuth, the secretary of the Army, said officials always knew the 65,000 target was a “stretch goal,” and it’s not yet clear how many new accessions the Army will be able to achieve this year.

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 continuing resolution, which lasts until November 17, takes a six-and-a-half week bite out of fiscal 2024's calendar. In a sense, it resets the countdown to a government shutdown, especially if House Republicans succeed in ousting Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which, in case you hadn't heard...happened. Contractors have been sorting out what it all means. For an update, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with 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.

Computational chemistry may not be at your top concern, but in reality, it's a key to solving some of the world's biggest problems. It takes a massive amount of computing power, something not everyone has had access to until now. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is collaborating with Microsoft Corp. and Micron Technology to make computational chemistry broadly available to applied researchers and industrial users. For more, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with the PNNL scientist leading the effort, Karol Kowalski.

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 White House recently established a new interagency council. It's called COFFA, the Council on Federal Financial Assistance. It will consist of grant-making agencies with the aim of making financial assistance more accountable and equitable. For more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Deidre Harrison, the Deputy Controller at the Office of Management and Budget.

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.

Federal employees prepared for a government shutdown that was all but certain — until it wasn’t.

Congress averted a government shutdown on Saturday evening by passing a continuing resolution. The stopgap funding bill gives lawmakers until Nov. 17 to reach a bipartisan spending deal for the rest of fiscal 2024.

Several federal employees told Federal News Network on Saturday morning — before the House put the 45-day continuing resolution to a vote – that they tightened their household spending as much as possible, not knowing whether they’d receive their next paycheck on time.

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.

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.

Recent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office found that on average, "enlisted personnel receive cash compensation that is higher than that received by about 90% percent of civilians of the same age and education.” So what's the best way to capitalize on that? To find out, Federal Drive Executive Director Eric White spoke with Trevor Nolan, the author of the new book "Military Money: How To Thrive On A Government Salary."

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.

Veterans may not be the only ones suffering heat-related illnesses (HRI) from rising temps around the nation, but the Veterans Affairs Department nonetheless wants to make sure it addresses the increasing number of HRI cases its seeing at its facilities. Recently, the agency published an assessment that shows 18 years' worth of HRI-related data among Veterans. To get a breakdown of what trends the agency found and what it's doing to address them, Federal Drive Executive Producer spoke to Thomas Osborne, the director of VA's National Center for Collaborative Healthcare Innovation.

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.