The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

The question of who should get access to the so-called “lower three,” or the part of the broadband spectrum ranging from 3.1GHz to 3.45GHz, has the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and industry in a stand-off with the Department of Defense. A new report due to be released next month could be the key to ending the stalemate.Congressional authority to auction off parts of the broadband spectrum to industry expired in March, and while telecommunications companies and the FCC continue their push to renew the auctions, leaders in both the Pentagon and Congress say the lower three is vital to national security interests. The lower three is used for some of the Pentagon’s radar capabilities. Both sides are waiting for the results of a report due to be released in September about the risks and capabilities of the lower three.

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As you look higher up in the ranks of the federal workforce, you’ll find less diversity among some of the government’s senior-most leaders.

That lack of diversity in the Senior Executive Service — the cohort of federal senior leaders serving just under agencies’ top political appointees — has been evident for decades. Notably, though, it has improved in just the past few years.

Over time, the SES has grown in numbers and become more diverse along the way, but it’s still not fully representative of the federal workforce’s overall demographics, the Partnership for Public Service said in a report published Tuesday.

“As public servants, a primary responsibility is being a steward of the public good,” Max Stier, the Partnership’s president and CEO, told Federal News Network. “Having a government made up of a broad swath of our population is more representative of the people. Diversity across the board is something that improves performance, improves the public’s perception of public service, and more broadly, it’s something that you should be keeping an eye on, which is part of the reason why we’ve done this report.”

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As the nation marked the 75th anniversary of desegregation in the military and the federal workforce, it celebrated progress — but the occasion also served as a reckoning. A combination of congressional concerns about quotas and recruiting problems for the armed services reveals a fault line in how the military should set policies to increase diversity.

“I think we as a nation have always been three steps forward, two steps back. And every time there is a movement toward equal rights, there has been a counter-movement for that,” retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, who served as the vice chairman of the Congressional Naming Commission, which renamed DoD bases honoring Confederates, told Federal News Network. “Whether it’s after Reconstruction, or it’s the reaction to the civil rights movement, or the reaction to a black president, or the reaction to the call for equal justice after George Floyd.”

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The Coast Guard is famous for its field units up-and-down the coasts. They're the ones who launch search-and-rescue missions when fishing boats capsize or canoes drift into shipping lanes. But the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found the field units often don't have emergency food and water for themselves. For more on this, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Heather MacLeod, GAO's Director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues. (GAO REPORT HERE)

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Frontline contracting officers contend with a lot of policy. One thing about policy, it's always changing. And that can get in the way of basic efficiency and pricing considerations. At last week's National Contract Management Association (NCMA) World Congress in Nashville, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin discussed the topic with John Tenaglia, the principal director of pricing and contracting at the Defense Department, and Janice Muscopf, the director of price, cost and finance.

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Two recent Supreme Court decisions changed the calculus for contractors when it comes to dealing with the False Claims Act. The court altered long-standing definitions of "reckless disregard" and "deliberate ignorance." And it gave the government more discretion over dismissing whistleblower cases under the false claims act. For analysis, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin turned to long-time procurement attorney and a partner at Center Law, Alan Chvotkin.

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

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The Postal Service no longer teeters on the brink of a crisis. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is trying to keep it that way.

USPS no longer finds itself in the same dire shape it was in at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. When DeJoy took office in June 2020, the agency was on track to lose $20 billion that year, and stood less than two months away from running out of cash to operate.

The agency, even with some financial intervention from Congress — $10 billion in emergency pandemic funds and $3 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act to purchase more electric delivery vehicles and charging stations — is still far from fully digging itself out from its long-term financial challenges.

But DeJoy, sitting at a conference room table at his USPS headquarters office, is talking about what it’ll take for the organization to not just survive, but thrive.

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The White House’s new strategy for expanding the national cyber workforce carves out a key role for agencies by positioning the federal government as a leader in adopting skills-based hiring practices, while officials will also consider the creation of a Federal Cyber Workforce Development Institute.

The “National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy” released today by the Office of the National Cyber Director lays out the Biden administration’s approach to meeting both immediate and long-term cyber workforce needs. It comes on the heels of the administration releasing its implementation plan for the overarching national cyber strategy.

And it comes as the demand for cybersecurity skills continues to outpace the supply of qualified personnel.

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

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