The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

In theory there is a debt-ceiling deal between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. But it is not law yet. With days until the theoretical deadline, Congress has a lot of work to do. For the outlook, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director Loren Duggan.

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Low-risk investments generally have low returns. By law, the Postal Service must invest retiree assets in U.S. Treasury securities. The Office of Inspector General took a look at how much USPS would have had now, with a stock-and-bond mix. Wow. For more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Research Specialist Joy Sanzone.

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Deep in the weeds of agency management, you find something called the FITARA scorecard. FITARA stands for Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act. It became law in 2015. Twice each year, agencies receive a scorecard from Congress on how they did managing their IT activities. Now a team, under the IT trade group ACT-IAC, has come up with a list of recommendations for revising the FITARA scorecard. To fet the the whys and wherefores, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke in-studio with former federal CIO Alan Balutis along with the the Executive Director of the Policy Center at the MITRE Corporation, Dave Powner.

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

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Following two decades of gradual hiring reforms, chief human capital officers have more plans underway to try to improve recruitment and retention for the federal workforce.

Recent efforts from the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council, composed of federal human capital leaders, have included establishing an executive steering committee, and increasing agencies’ ability to hire multiple candidates off a single job announcement. Celebrating 20 years of work from the council, agency leaders reviewed successes and areas for growth at an anniversary ceremony on May 18.

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The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to bring its employees back into the office more regularly this fall, and is setting a new minimum requirement for in-person work.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough, in an all-staff email sent Wednesday, said the department will require employees with telework agreements in the National Capital Region to work a minimum of five days in the office each two-week pay period.

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On Memorial Day, we recall those who didn't return. The tragic pattern of those who return only to take their own lives, that's an ongoing challenge. Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with a man who says the number of veteran suicides is likely undercounted. He is Michael Carmichael, a 22-year veteran of Army Special Forces and Founder & CEO of Check-A-Vet.

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One of the biggest obstacles for small businesses to work for the Defense Department is the need for a facility clearance.

It comes down to the old chicken or the egg discussion. The small business needs a facility clearance to win contracts. But that same company can’t get a facility clearance unless they have a sponsor on a contract.

Carlen Capenos, the director of small business programs for the Defense Information Systems Agency, said DISA has a plan to crack this conundrum.

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This interview is sort of postscript to the Federal Drive series, "The Worst Place to Work in the Federal Government."  The focus, thus far, has been on the Federal Bureau of Prisons, part of the Justice Department. The Bureau's stated mission, in part, is, "To provide reentry programs to ensure inmates' successful return to the community." The BOP Mission Statement also references "custody and care, not jails and guards." Federal Drive host Tom Temin takes a look a look at one success. Eddie Ellis was convicted of manslaughter, did part of his sentence in the Florence, Colorado super-max prison, and returned to society. He now works for juvenile-sentencing reform. This is a personal, intimate, and instructive interview.

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All week the Federal Drive has examined the Bureau of Prisons, which ranks as, "The Worst Place to Work in the Federal Government," according to the annual listing derived from employee viewpoint survey results and compiled by the Partnership for Public Service. To finish the series, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talks with Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters, who has been on the job for almost a year.

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