Federal Drive with Tom Temin

The Senate managed to pass an important bill last week, authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration. That makes the House "it," so to speak. The Senate will move onto some federal bread-and-butter issues, though: Telework and technology procurement. For an update, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director Loren Duggan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New military aircraft designs don't necessarily require super jet engines or hundreds of billions in development costs. A case in point: The Navy's bid for a light plane that can take off and land in less than a football field. The Naval Air Systems Command recently hired a company called Electra to study the developmentofsuch an electrically-powered plane. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the founder and CEO of Electra.aero, John Langford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seems every agency is chasing after ways to use artificial intelligence. AI brings special challenges for security. Now the National Security Agency (NSA) has published what it calls guidance for strengthening AI system security. For what's in it, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the Acting Chief of the NSA's AI Security Center, Tahira Mammen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: The ultimate secure agency issues advice for secure artificial intelligence. The Navy hired this company to develop a new type of aircraft. The House is 'it' this week, when it comes to agency authorizations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A key member of the Postal Service’s leadership board is calling on the agency to slow down its network modernization plans, citing persistent mail delays in regions going through these changes. Ron Stroman, a member of the USPS Board of Governors, and a former deputy postmaster general, said Thursday that “we need to slow down new network changes until service has gotten close to our service targets for 2024.” Stroman called for USPS to slow down a major part of its 10-year reform plan, a day after a quarter of the Senate made a similar request to the agency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S.Development Finance Corporation fired a whistleblower who refused to sign off on a road project in Africa. That is according to theProject onGovernment Oversight. POGO reports, the project didn't meet the agency's standards for displacement of people and the fired analyst who wouldn't sign off on it. For more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with POGO senior investigator Nick Schwellenbach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Postal Service managed to cut hiring times thanks to some reforms back in 2019. But for thousands of job postings, it gets no applicants. Those are among the top findings of an audit by the Postal Inspector General. For details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the Deputy Assistant IG for Finance, Pricing and Human Capital, Alan MacMullin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Postal hiring reform helped, but there's more work to do. Do whistleblowers get the bum's rush at this finance agency? A new OMB push to get a handle on the 10,000 federal websites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lawmakers on the House and Senate Armed Services committees have previously signaled openness to boosting the Pentagon’s budget beyond the 1% cap imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Now,top appropriators who allocate funding for the Pentagon are pushing for a higher topline number, but negotiations on going beyond the budget caps are “not going well.” “We are a long way from increasing the caps.There’sa number ofpolitical reasons why that’s the case. What I would tell the folks on both sides of the aisle is that if we don’t do a good job in deterrence right now, it’s going to cost us a hell of a lot more money later,” Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said during the Ash Carter Exchange conference Wednesday. “The negotiations on the budget caps are still in flux.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices