The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees get their paychecks issued by the National Finance Center, which is operated out of New Orleans by the Agriculture Department. The whole place is in danger of meltdown because of staffing, budget, technology, and even storm damage problems. That is according to detailed study, under the auspices of the National Academy of Public Administration. To learn more about the study, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Margie Graves, the former Deputy Federal Chief Information Officer, who is now with IBM.

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

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In another effort to try to usher young talent into the federal workforce, the Office of Personnel Management is proposing changes to decade-old parameters for the Pathways Program.

The new proposed regulations from OPM, in part, look to expand eligibility for the recent graduates’ Pathways Program, to include individuals who may not have a college degree, but who have completed different “technical education programs.” By counting experience in the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Job Corps and the Registered Apprenticeship Program, OPM said it hopes to make the program overall more inclusive, and help agencies attract a broader, more diverse pool of early-career applicants.

The proposal comes amid a more recent push toward skills-based hiring, which makes the Pathways Program’s current regulations, dating back to 2012, limited in comparison.

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The Veterans Health Administration is looking to exceed its year-end hiring goals, during a year in which the agency already broke records to grow its workforce.

Undersecretary for Health Shereef Elnahal told reporters Tuesday that the VHA in July surpassed 400,000 employees for the first time in the agency’s history.

“There has never been a period of time in VA history where the health care system has had this many employees. That 400,000 threshold is a first,” Elnahal said.

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Advance contracts and GSA contracts for state and local governments, are a couple of the avenues by which the federal government and its acquisition system will get aid to fire-ravaged Maui. For more on that, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with Federal Sales and Marketing Consultant Larry Allen.

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The Social Security Administration (SSA) is on the Government Accountability Office's High-Risk List. It is there primarily because of its long-term fiscal uncertainty and questions about whether, in the long run, it can pay the benefits it owes retired Americans. But SSA also has an other internal management problem, stemming from its Office of Inspector General. That's according to Federal Drive Host Tom Temin's guest: Faith Williams, Director of the Effective and Accountable Government Program at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO).

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It doesn't have boiling flasks or people in white coats, but a lot happens in the Procurement Innovation Lab (PIL) operated by the Homeland Security Department. For an update, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the PIL's new director, Katherine Crompton.

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

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Congress has passed just one of 12 bills needed to fund the government next fiscal year. When members return early next month, the question of further funding for Ukraine in its war with Russia will enter the funding debate. For what that could mean, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin turned to WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller.

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By law and regulation, certain products are barred from purchase by federal agencies, like telecommunications products made in China. Yet the General Services Administration's office of Inspector General has found, that somehow prohibited products have made their way onto the Multiple Awards Schedule contracts. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Deputy Assistant IG for Acquisition Program Audits, Barbara Bouldin and with the Regional IG for Auditing, Michelle Westrup.

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