The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

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

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Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) hold on Senate-confirmed Defense Department nominations will likely not end before Congress’ August recess. It’s a move that leaves not just nominees, but military and civilian DoD families in a state of limbo. The trickle-down effect means a hold on plans for family moves, school admittances and spouse employment.

Secure Families Initiative (SFI), a military family advocacy group, sent a petition to Tuberville and Senate leadership on Monday requesting the block be lifted. Members of the group delivered the petition with more than 550 signatures to the offices of Tuberville, as well as Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

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The nominee to lead Cyber Command is eyeing new programming and budgeting authorities that will allow CYBERCOM to set training standards, build out its warfighting forces and partner more closely with industry.

The bureaucratic but significant change was included more than two years ago in the Fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. The law says that, starting with the fiscal 2024 budget, the head of CYBERCOM will have direct control over the planning, programming, budgeting and execution of resources for the Cyber Mission Force.

Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh, who currently serves as the deputy commander at CYBERCOM, called the forthcoming change a “critical moment” in the 13-year-old command’s history that will put it on par with more established warfighting organizations like U.S. Special Operations Command.

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

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Other Transaction Authority (OTA) acquisitions have become popular in the Defense Department and other agencies, to the tune of billions of dollars a year. OTA's have guardrails against abuse of this method of buying. The Office of the under secretary of Defense for acquisition and sustainment earlier this month released fresh OTA guidance that seeks to dispel what it calls some of the myths. For analysis, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin turned to Haynes Boone procurement attorney Zach Prince.

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Congress authorized the creation of the Office of the National Cyber Director back in 2021, and the White House issued the National Cybersecurity Strategy earlier this year. So, how's it doing implementing said strategy? Well the Government Accountability Office looked to answer that very question with a "Snapshot" of where things stand. To learn more, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke to Marisol Cruz Cain, Director of the Information Technology and Cybersecurity team at GAO.

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For the Transportation Security Administration, what happens in Las Vegas certainly does not stay there. TSA recently opened a new officer training center near the Las Vegas Airport, and new hires trained there take their knowledge all over the country. For an update, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with TSA's Assistant Administrator of Training and Development, Kim Hutchinson.

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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.

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In the four months since his Senate confirmation, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel has been on a listening tour.

Werfel has been talking to employees, the union representing employees, citizens and anyone else who will talk to him.

One of the constant challenges he heard was around the safety of IRS revenue officers and agents who were conducting unannounced home visits, and the ever-growing concern from citizens about scam artists posing as tax agency officials.

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In today's Federal Newscast, Military spouses call on Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama to end his block on Senate confirmed military appointments.

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