Category: Congress

Meet the new chief scientist at the government’s premier oversight agency

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The Government Accountability Office, the chief oversight arm of Congress , has a new chief scientist. He joins the agency after having been chief scientist at Noblis, a nonprofit research and consulting institute with many federal clients. For more, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin  spoke with Dr. Sterling Thomas. Interview Transcript: Tom Temin Well, first of all, why the jump from the private, nonprofit sector into government in the congressional branch? Sterling Thomas Yeah, it was a tough decision, actually. I’ve had a nice, long and very wonderful career at…

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National Defense Authorization Act moves a lot of chess pieces

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The National Defense Authorization Act, which Congress finished just days ago, moves the marker on several matters peripherally connected to the armed forces. Covington and Burling attorneys Alex Hastings and Michelle Pearce dropped by the Federal News Network studios in Chevy Chase, Maryland to talk with the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview Transcript:  Tom Temin Let’s start with the big picture here because there’s a lot of specific provisions throughout this bill. But what fundamentally is Congress and the national security establishment, which informs much of what happens in…

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Big pay raise for troops in defense bill sent to Biden. Conservatives stymied on cultural issues

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed a defense policy bill Thursday that authorizes the biggest pay raise for troops in more than two decades, overcoming objections from some conservatives concerned the measure did not do enough to restrict the Pentagon’s diversity initiatives, abortion travel policy and gender-affirming health care for transgender service members. The $ 886 billion bill was approved by a vote of 310-118 and now goes to President Joe Biden after the Senate had overwhelmingly passed it Wednesday. It is likely the last piece of major legislation Congress…

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Christmas cometh; whither the Defense Authorization bill?

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It’s down to the wire for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, over which the House and Senate are still working out differences. This as Congress prepares to depart for the holidays. For the details, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with Bloomberg Government Deputy News Director Loren Duggan. Interview transcript: Tom Temin So they just need to vote, or what’s left yet to do, so that they make their annual deadline of end of calendar year? Loren Duggan Yeah, this is all about getting the final product across the…

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Better data protests could benefit, agencies, vendors alike

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When it comes to data on bid protests, the data is lacking to say the least. Beyond the annual bid protest report to Congress from the Government Accountability Office, agencies track few other outcomes from protests. David Drabkin, a fellow at the Stevens Institute of Technology Acquisition Innovation Research Center and a former senior procurement executive for the General Services Administration, said by not collecting and understanding this data, agencies are missing a host of opportunities to improve the acquisition process, the contracting workforce and industry response to solicitations. Dave…

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‘Telework is not one-size-fits-all’: Agencies defend hybrid work for feds in front of House lawmakers

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Agency leaders are still adjusting their return-to-office plans after the Biden administration called for an increase to “meaningful” in-person work and cuts to telework for the federal workforce. The administration, in large part, has emphasized the importance of using data to measure productivity, engagement and other factors that telework affects, according to the initial return-to-office memo from the Office of Management and Budget in April. But left unsatisfied with the telework data available from agencies, lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee pressed harder on a handful of federal…

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