The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Agencies and federal contractors are officially no longer allowed to request a job applicant’s criminal history — at least until after they make a conditional job offer.

It’s a practice that many agencies have already adopted, but new final regulations from the Office of Personnel Management broaden the efforts and make it an official rule. OPM first proposed regulations in 2022.

Specifically, OPM’s final regulations detail implementation of the Fair Chance Act, a bill enacted as part of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation expanded on OPM’s initial “ban the box” policy from 2016.

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The Labor Department has revived an old idea: Salaried private-sector employees who work overtime. Well, you can't just compensate them with pizza. A rule proposed last week would mandate overtime for people making up to $55,000 a year. The current ceiling is $35,000. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke to someone with the federal-contractor view of the rule: Executive Vice President for Policy at the Professional Service Council, Stephanie Kostro.

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The detailed work in Congress is done not by members, but rather by the 30,000-odd staff members. Right now, a group of overworked, and probably underpaid, minions are what they call "conferencing" over one of the most important yearly laws: the National Defense Authorization Act. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with on of those former "minions." Among other things, she was Senior Defense Adviser to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Michele Pearce is currently an attorney with Covington and Burling.

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Is quantum computing the next big thing or forever in the future? The answer lies in whether there's a practical way to make the crucial components for quantum computers. Now they require expensive, bulky and energy-intensive super-cooling, like to nearly absolute zero. Now a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program seeks a breakthrough in quantum computing science so it can work at warmer temperatures. For the particulars, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with DARPA Program Manager Dr. Mukund Vengalatorre.

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

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The Small Business Administration is stepping up efforts to ensure startups have access to the capital they need to accelerate breakthroughs in artificial intelligence – especially in matters of national security.

Bailey DeVries, director of SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation, said the agency is doubling down on efforts to support small firms that are pushing the boundaries of AI research as part of a “customer-centric” transformation at the agency.

“There is a big buildout in the agency to have a more customer-centric view and more customer-centric support. That means connecting the dots broadly across programs,” DeVries said last Thursday during a webinar hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center. “That requires a lot of funding, and that’s a different world than we’ve operated in the past – and one that will create many efficiencies if we’re able to invest in those improvements and enhancements for the agency.”

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The Senate has returned to Washington. The House remains on recess for another week. Either way, Congress faces a haystack of work, and precious little time in the fiscal year to do it. For an update, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government congressional reporter, Zach Cohen.

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Few people know the innards of Defense department finance, as well as Bob Hale. He was comptroller and chief financial officer. He was an assistant Air Force secretary for financial management. And he spent a dozen years at the Congressional Budget Office, heading its defense group. Among his current gigs: Chairman of the Congressionally-chartered commission examining DoD's Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) process. In this exclusive extended interview, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin, talks with PPBE Chairman Bob Hale.

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

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Long considered complicated and time-consuming, and with well over 100 different hiring authorities, the federal recruitment process is finally positioned for a much-needed transformation.

But without the right investments in time, resources and staffing, agencies will struggle to expand small-scale successes from the last few years.

For years, if not decades, presidential administrations and Congress have tried to get creative, finding loopholes and other piecemeal ways to weave through the government’s convoluted, red-taped process for hiring new employees —the reason agencies have so many hiring authorities in the first place.

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