they | Voter.org

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

October 28, 2023 Help, they, write, Helped, carry0 comment

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…

What do congressional minions actually do when they try to reconcile bills, anyhow?

September 6, 2023 anyhow, congressional, Actually, they, bills, minions, reconcile0 comment

The detailed work in Congress is done not by members, but rather by the 30,000-odd staff members. Right now, a group of overworked, and probably underpaid, minions are what they call “conferencing” over one of the most important yearly laws: the National Defense Authorization Act. Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with on of those former “minions.” Among other things, she was Senior Defense Adviser to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Michele Pearce is currently an attorney with Covington and Burling. Interview Transcript: Tom Temin And we should say that you…

What do people really mean when they say government should operate like a business?

June 30, 2023 really, like, mean, operate, People, Business, Should, they, government0 comment

When the nearly endless debates over the debt ceiling were raging on, the United States didn’t look very businesslike to the rest of the world. Internally, though, you never stop hearing that federal agencies should operate more like a business. This is both true and not true, according to my next guest. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin got commentary from American University professor Bob Tobias. Interview Transcript: Tom Temin Somehow, at these times when things are stressful on the political front or whenever people turn to federal agencies like…

Firefighters get what they want in the new Defense Authorization law

January 1, 2023 want, Defense, they, firefighters, Authorization0 comment

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on Apple Podcasts or PodcastOne. Like much of the legislation enacted in the past couple of years, the National Defense Authorization Act has something for everybody. That includes the nation’s federal and military firefighters. For more, the Federal Drive turned to the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Edward Kelly. Interview transcript: Tom Temin Let’s just establish that the NDAA mainly concerned federal firefighters, military firefighters, but they are also represented by your union. Edward…

Republicans Think They Can Win the COVID Funding Fight

March 19, 2022 Republicans, Fight, they, think, funding, Covid0 comment

If a new coronavirus variant surges in the United States this year—perhaps the one currently tearing through Europe—there’s a reasonable chance that the country will be unprepared to fight it. You can thank Congress for that. Last week, lawmakers passed a massive spending bill without any additional funding for COVID-19 relief, despite White House pleas for more. Democrats would like to fulfill the administration’s request. But Republicans have taken the position that Congress has already done enough. “We don’t need COVID funding,” GOP Representative Randy Feenstra of Iowa told me.…

It’s Time for Parents to Lead on Education Because They ‘Know Their Children Best’

January 4, 2022 parents, children, Best, Their, Education, lead, they, Time, It's, know, Because0 comment

When it comes to children’s education, parents know best, Laura Zorc says. As the mother of four kids herself, Zorc has been fighting for education reform since 2013, when her home state of Florida began adopting Common Core education goals. She successfully rallied a group of parents to stand against the federally funded learning standards. Now, she is training parents across the nation to be advocates for their own children in the classroom. “Just because we send our kids to these government public schools, that does not mean the moment…