The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

The usual uncertainty over budget negotiations, coupled with the debt-ceiling brinksmanship, mean contractors should be highly prepared. This as federal spending continues to set records. For one view of the situation, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen.

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The biennial list of high risk federal programs, published last week by the Government Accountability Office, is both promising and discouraging. It shows that more appropriations can help and also that money is not always the answer to improving programs. As the Federal Drive does every two years when the list comes out, host Tom Temin gets executive analysis from the man who runs the GAO, Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.

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The U.S. Agency for International Development has updated its policy for promoting the rule of law in countries where the agency operates. The new approach emphasizes what USAID calls people-centered justice. To examine what that is all about, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with USAID's Miranda Jolicoeur, the team lead for justice, human rights and security.

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A recent decision from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has allowed a lawsuit against the U.S. Air Force to move forward as a class action suit. It involves a group of current, former and prospective civilian employees who are also deaf. They claim that the department did not provide some basic accommodations that it is required to by law, which made it even more difficult for them to communicate these concerns to management. To learn more about the case, Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Sean Betouliere, who is a senior staff attorney at Disability Rights Advocates, and Wendy Musell from the Oakland, California Law Offices of Wendy Musell.

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Congress last week took up several issues close to the federal bureaucracy. There was the Small Business Administration and its struggles with defaulted COVID loans, the Veterans Affairs Department and its troubled Electronic Health Record project, and the GAO's High-Risk List. With what to expect in the week ahead, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane.

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With recreational marijuana use at an all-time high and more states legalizing weed every year, confusion over federal policies around drug use and security-clearance eligibility could discourage many young people from entering a career in national security. That is the conclusion of a new survey, the results of which were rolled out in a report published today by ClearanceJobs and the Intelligence and National Security Foundation. The survey polled students and young professionals aged 18 to 30 currently living or attending school in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., California, Florida, Texas and Colorado.

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The Defense Department has been under investing in facility upkeep for years, and its maintenance backlog keeps getting bigger. DoD says it’s now rolling out new tools that won’t necessarily solve the problem, but will at least help officials make better decisions on exactly how they’re spending their maintenance dollars.

According to the Government Accountability Office, the department has a deferred maintenance backlog of at least $137 billion. But that figure is almost certainly a major underestimate, for several reasons. For one, it’s based on 2020 data. It also doesn’t account for the facilities that are already past their useful lifespans — and nearly a third of DoD’s facilities meet that criteria.

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In today's episode of The Federal Drive with Tom Temin:

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The Office of Inspector General at Housing and Urban Development is boosting efforts to end sexual abuse and unsanitary conditions in HUD-backed housing. For details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with HUD Inspector General Rae Oliver Davis.

PSA on Sexual Harassment

PSA on Environmental Justice

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The Biden administration recently declared a new approach to federal regulation it said would modernize and streamline it. The new framework has drawn opposition from business. For one point of view, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Chad Whiteman, the Vice President of Environment and Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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