Category: Congress

When to express an opinion and when to zip it up, when on the job

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Whether its the war in Ukraine, the war in Israel, the House speaker race or any of a zillion controversial topics, everyone has an opinion. As federal employees, can you express your opinions out loud and not get fired for it? For advice, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with federal employment attorney John Mahoney. Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin This question, I guess, is coming up in a lot of offices. It’s not exactly Hatch Act issue, but if you loudly and express an opinion and Lord knows there’s…

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They helped write a big law and now they help to carry it out

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Somebody had to actually write the trillion dollar infrastructure bill back in 2021. Its proponents expect it to help modernize old bridges and highways, among other things. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin‘s guests helped Congress craft the bill. Now they’re leading the Transportation Department team helping to implement it. For their work, they won this year’s Service to America medal for management excellence. Gloria Shepherd is Executive Director of the Federal Highway Administration and Maria Lefevre is the Executive Director of the Office of the Undersecretary of Transportation. Interview…

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Yes, people, the House leadership failure also affects acquisition

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The longer the House of Representatives remains in stasis, the closer the next budget deadline comes without any action to resolve it. There is lots at stake, including how the federal acquisition function will operate. Not that acquisition was getting any easier with so many new rules coming. For a look at the situation, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin talks with federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen. Interview Transcript:  Larry Allen Tom, here we are again. And with so many variables, it’s really difficult to predict what’s going to…

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Senate bill would improve death benefits for civilian feds

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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) offered up a companion bill aiming to improve death benefits for civilian feds. The new legislation would offer 10 times the current benefit amounts for families of civilian workers who are killed on official duty. The bill would also offer more money to the families to cover funeral expenses. The goal of the bill is to bring benefits for civilian employees in line with what military members and Foreign Service employees already get. Sinema’s bill comes after the introduction of the bipartisan House version earlier this…

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As the world turns, the House speaker meltdown enters its third week

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As the world turns, most of it is probably scratching its collective head at the United States Congress. As the latest crisis, Israel’s war against terrorists, enters its second week, President Biden pledged support. So what can we expect this week on the Hill? For more on the matter, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talks with Zach Cohen, Bloomberg Government congressional reporter. Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin  Zach, good to have you back. Sure thing. And of course, there is the speaker parade beauty contest. I don’t know what you call it, but…

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We dissect the final buy-American guidance out from the White House

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When Congress passed the so-called Bipartisan Infrastructure law two years ago, it also strengthened buy-American requirements for construction projects. Now the final guidance is out from the White House on the BABA part of the law, Build American, Buy American. For analysis, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin  with Haynes Boone procurement attorney Dan Ramish. Interview Transcript:   Dan Ramish So, Tom, the final guidance. There was hope that it would clarify some of the points that came up in the proposed guidance, which was issued back in February. But I think…

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