The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Last year's Chips and Science Act spawned new programs across the government. Among them is a $500 million Commerce Department initiative known as Tech Hubs. Now Commerce's Economic Development Administration is asking the public how the Tech Hubs program might work. For details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Alejandra Castillo, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development.

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The Department of Veterans Affairs is telling Congress a new multi-billion-dollar Electronic Health Record is the best way to provide care for its patients — despite a troubled rollout and House lawmakers threatening to pull the plug on the project. Whether or not the VA is able to get the rollout of its Oracle-Cerner EHR back on track this summer as planned, agency officials told members of the House VA Committee that the VA will need to rely on its legacy EHR, VistA, for another five-to-10 years, if not longer.

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With a new national cyber strategy focused on the security of critical infrastructure, the Energy Department’s lead cyber directorate is working to set cybersecurity requirements for federal investments in clean energy technologies, while also overseeing a new review of digital threats to the electric distribution system. Meanwhile, DOE is finalizing an update to its own cyber strategy that will align with the recently released national plan.

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Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja faced a bombardment of tough questions from Congress about the agency’s operations and the future of the federal workforce. House Republicans on the Oversight and Accountability Committee pressed Ahuja for answers on improper payments in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, efforts on federal hiring reform, two management-level OPM employees’ cases of sexual harassment, a retirement case backlog and much more during a March 9 hearing. Among the broad array of topics on OPM’s operations, members continued circling back to one that has become quite familiar: telework.

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

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The White House is proposing the largest pay raise for federal employees and military service members in more than 40 years. The fiscal 2024 budget request is asking Congress for a 5.2% federal pay raise. The pay raise request is one of several efforts the Biden administration is signaling for how it wants to support the federal workforce through the budget.

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Without using the manufacturing capacity of allied nations, the United States probably cannot fill its own national security needs. One reason, according to a study by Bloomberg Government, is the apparent shortage of skilled manufacturing labor in the U.S. For more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Senior Data Analyst Paul Murphy.

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Rhode Island officials have deployed a way to streamline identity management for businesses and individuals. It promises to make life easier for government and its constituents. For the details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Elizabeth Tanner, Rhode Island's Secretary of Commerce.

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The National Science Foundation, as listeners of this podcast heard from director Sethuraman Panchanathan the other day, received a new billion dollars in funding from the Chips Act. To help deal with a record budget, NSF is adding a new office called the Office of Business Information Technology Services, or BITS. For the details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with NSF Chief Operating Officer Doctor Karen Marrongelle.

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

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