The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

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

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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is constantly generating new screening requirements, equipment that can sense or detect something and sound an alarm if need be. It falls to the Homeland Security Department's Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL), operated by the Science and Technology Directorate, to work with TSA and potential vendors to evaluate-and-test a particular technology. In the third of four interviews in this week's series with TSL leadership, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the Developmental Test and Evaluation Alarm Resolution Branch Manager, Dr. Jason Stairs.

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A technology trade association is urging Congress to update the law that lets the FCC auction off radio spectrum held by the government. In fact, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation basically said the government continues to hog much spectrum that could be more efficiently used by industry. For details, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Joe Kane, ITIF's Director of broadband and spectrum policy, Joe Kane.

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Lots of people flowing past the U.S. southern border really are refugees, who deserve protection. Now the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services have jointly started up a way to let regular citizens help refugees resettle in the United States. It's called Welcome Corps. For more on Welcome Corp, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with the Senior Adviser for the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at State, Rosanna Kim.

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The Biden administration is looking to a familiar face to put tens of billions of dollars to good use at the IRS. President Joe Biden last year nominated Danny Werfel, a former acting IRS commissioner, to serve as permanent commissioner for a five-year term. If confirmed, Werfel would be the first IRS commissioner to spend a significant portion of the $80 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act meant for the agency to rebuild its workforce and modernize its legacy IT over the next decade.

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The Federal Aviation Administration assured Congress Wednesday that it’s taken steps to avoid a repeat of last month's air traffic meltdown. But the agency’s leader said it will take at least another two years before the aging IT infrastructure at the heart of the issue is fully replaced with more modern technology. The FAA messaging system that issues Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) went offline on the evening of January 10th, and wasn’t fully restored until 9am the next morning. While it was offline, the FAA ordered a complete halt to all aircraft departures nationwide for nearly two hours — the first time the U.S. has seen a nationwide ground stop since the Sept. 11 attacks.

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

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As part of the Federal Drive's continuing expansion of coverage of pay, benefits and working conditions for federal employees, Federal Drive host introduces a new voice, who listeners will hear from in monthly interviews. John Hatton is Staff Vice President for Policy and Programs at NARFE, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. He joined Tom Temin in studio.

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The pandemic relief fraud numbers keep piling up. A billion here, a billion there. Was anybody watching? For an overview of what we know now, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke to the Director of Forensic Audits at the Government Accountability Office, Rebecca Shea.

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Luggage and passenger screening is a complicated applied science. An idea has to be verified before it can be built into prototype equipment for testing and eventual production. For instance, in an airport. Determining whether the basic technology can reliably detect what it is supposed to, such as a dangerous chemical, is the function of the Independent Test and Evaluation Division of the Transportation Security Laboratory or TSL. The lab is operated by the Science and Technology Directorate of the Homeland Security Department. In the second of this week's series of four interviews on location at TSL in Atlantic City, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with the Test and Evaluation Director Lee Spanier.

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