The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

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

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Federally Employed Women (FEW) has a new president, and she's got ideas. To delve into those ideas, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with FEW President Pamela Richards, who also happens to be a Supervisory Investigative Research Analyst at the Government Accountability Office.

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The National Archives is more than just a bunch of warehouses filled with old paper. Archiving and managing records is a profession unto itself. Now the Archives' National Historical Publications and Records Commission has established a leadership institute at the University of Virginia. For the details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with UVA archivist Brenda Gunn and the Commission's Director for Access Programs, Nancy Melley.

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A month after the initial decision, a new explanation has emerged for the Pentagon’s sudden decision to cancel the $374 million program it’s been working on for the past several years to replace its much-maligned Defense Travel System (DTS).

But for Capitol Hill, the latest rationale has raised almost as many questions as it’s answered — enough to prompt lawmakers to call Defense officials to testify at a July hearing and to demand documents that could help explain the sudden change in course.

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The Defense Department is moving to improve oversight of personnel with access to classified information, appoint “top secret control officers” and establish a joint office for insider threats after a junior Air National Guardsman allegedly leaked troves of highly classified data on the Discord website.

The new actions are laid out in a June 30 memo signed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. They are based on a 45-day review Austin ordered in April after 21-year-old Jack Teixeira was arrested for being the alleged perpetrator of the leaks.

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Usually, contractors protest to the government over matters related to money. But there's a long history of non-monetary damage, usually related to interpretation of a contract. To hear more about a recent case that has affirmed this line of claim, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish.

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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is among the oldest enduring federal programs. Now, the Agriculture Department has found a way to help recipients eat well even if they live in what's known as a food desert: no access to supermarkets or high quality food. Two finalists for Service to America Medals brought SNAP to online food buying. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the two Sammies finalists: Lisa Gafaldi, a Senior Technical Adviser to the SNAP program and Shelly Pierce, Director of the SNAP Policy and Innovation Division.

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A bill with bipartisan backing would give substantial raises to federal firefighters. Their union says they make close to minimum wage for this dangerous work, and they haven't had a raise in a generation. For more on the Federal Firefighter Pay Equity Ac, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Greg Russell, the government affairs representative of the International Association of Firefighters.

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

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The Office of Personnel Management is asking agency leaders to take it up a notch to support federal employees’ mental health and wellness.

Every agency’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) has a set of traditional offerings to help feds through personal and work-related issues — including mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and financial and legal services. EAPs are voluntary programs that feds can opt into, when or if they’re looking for those services.

But now OPM is calling on agencies to revamp their EAPs and start including even more resources for feds, to create what the agency called Employee Wellness Programs (EWPs). New employee wellness guidance, which the agency published in May, expands on OPM’s EAP revitalization efforts.

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