Earlier this year, the Thrift Savings Plan transitioned to a new recordkeeping service and, with it, launched a series of new services for participants. But, that transition proved to be rocky, with technical issues and long phone wait times for users trying to resolve problems with their accounts. This month, the Government Accountability Office confirmed it will investigate what went wrong with the TSP’s tough transition. GovExec Senior Correspondent Erich Wagner covers the federal workforce. ...
Aug 22, 2022•15 min•Season 3Ep. 121
Concerns about precise wording. Insisting on doing everything through proper “channels.” Referring to matters decided upon at the last meeting during a new meeting. Huge committees. These are probably familiar issues to modern public sector managers, but these problems were identified by the CIA’s precursor, the Office of Strategic Services, in its Simple Sabotage Field Manua l, published in 1944. In a new report titled “Mission Not Meetings: How government leaders could avoid self-sabotage,” Mc...
Aug 19, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 120
Everyone wants better performance out of the federal government, but few pay enough attention to metrics like those found on Performance.gov. In fact, the federal government released quarterly performance updates for agency priority goals just this past July, but it was largely ignored. Why don’t more people pay attention to government performance metrics? Shelley Metzenbaum was the founding president of the Volcker Alliance. Before that, she served as former associate director for performance a...
Aug 18, 2022•27 min•Season 3Ep. 119
Homeland Security Department Inspector General Joseph Cuffari has been accused recently of mishandling investigations into missing text messages from Secret Service agents in the lead up to the Jan. 6 Capitol violence in 2021. He is also currently under the cloud of a separate investigation by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. So far, the Biden administration has only said it is following the investigation around Cuffari. GovExec correspondent Courtney Bublé cove...
Aug 17, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 118
Technology is increasingly a part of every American’s life, from our smartphones to our artificial intelligence-aided news and advertising experiences online via social networks. Commerce and industry uses artificial intelligence and Congress could, perhaps, use AI to modernize policymaking. Joe Mariani is a research manager with Deloitte’s Center for Government Insights. His research focuses on innovation and technology adoption. He testified recently in front of the House Select Committee on t...
Aug 16, 2022•17 min•Season 3Ep. 117
The Defense Department is the largest and most funded agency in the federal government. Its budget is measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars and some of the publicly-traded firms with which the Pentagon contracts have market caps over 100 billion dollars. The ethics around this come into play when members of congress who control the Defense budget legislation also own stocks in the very publicly-traded companies that may benefit from that Pentagon budget. Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette is a Gov...
Aug 15, 2022•25 min•Season 3Ep. 116
A federal judge on Friday unsealed the warrant that let the FBI search Donald Trump’s Florida home earlier this week, revealing that the former president is under investigation for a series of violations of the law, including running afoul of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice. On Friday, GovExec Daily went live on Twitter Spaces with GovExec reporter Courtney Bublé and Clearancejobs.com editor and Govexec contributor Lindy Kyzer to discuss The Mar-a-Lago search, classification and fed...
Aug 13, 2022•45 min
On Sunday, the Senate passed the multi-billion dollar Inflation Reduction Act. The plan would provide funding boosts for agencies operations and staffing levels as part of the bill's $369 billion investment in energy security. bill includes $80 billion over 10 years for the Internal Revenue Service, funding that could be used to hire as many as 87,000 employees over the next 10 years. GovExec reporter Eric Katz is covering the bill. He joined the podcast to talk about what’s in it and what it wi...
Aug 12, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 115
Earlier this week, the FBI searched the Florida home of former President Donald J. Trump. According to reports, the search may be related to an investigation into whether Trump had unlawfully taken files when he left the White House. The news brings into focus the treatment of official government files and what kind of consequences can be brought against those mishandling official documents… from rank-and-file feds all the way up to the former president. Dan Meyer is an attorney and Managing Par...
Aug 11, 2022•16 min•Season 3Ep. 114
According to the Department of Justice, the percentage of women in law enforcement jobs has remained stagnant for decades, hovering around 10-15% of total officers. For federal law enforcement positions, the number is approximately the same, with 13% of the total being women. Recently, GovExec correspondent and frequent GovExec Daily guest Courtney Bublé interviewed Cathy Sanz, president of the group Women in Federal Law Enforcement, about gender issues in federal policing . In this episode, you...
Aug 10, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 113
About a year ago, the United States and the world watched as Afghans scrambled toward the Kabul airport. The Taliban was taking back the city and thousands of Afghans were trying to leave the country by any possible avenue, risking their lives along the way. Releasing this month, the Kabul Falling eight-part podcast series recounts stories of people who lived through the Taliban takeover. Executive produced by Project Brazen, the series is hosted by British journalist Nelafur Hedayat who left Af...
Aug 09, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 112
Federal employees have options when it comes to their retirement, including plenty of options within the Thrift Savings Plan. The TSP website provides an overview of the program, but the choices that public servants make with their TSP options should not be taken lightly and more information is always helpful. Even against the backdrop of the last few years of economic uncertainty, the TSP is a huge part of feds’ lives. Abraham Grungold is a longtime federal employee, the owner of AG Financial S...
Aug 08, 2022•17 min•Season 3Ep. 111
The number of criminal referrals sent by the Border Patrol and other Customs and Border Protection officers have recently begun to rise. April 2022 saw the first month in more than two years that such referrals topped the 2,000 mark. Dr. Austin Kocher is an Assistant Research Professor in the Newhouse School of Public Communication and a researcher with the Transactional Research Access Clearinghouse, a research institute at Syracuse University that uses Freedom of Information Act requests to st...
Aug 05, 2022•18 min•Season 3Ep. 110
Last month, the Supreme Court decided that Congress may not authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to address an issue of great economic and political importance or significance unless Congress speaks precisely in allowing it to do so. According to analysts, environmentalists and even Presiden Biden, this “major question” issue is a step backward for the environment and for the administrative state’s ability to address problems like climate change. Dr. Donald F. Kettl is professor emeritu...
Aug 04, 2022•18 min•Season 3Ep. 109
Government efforts toward better gender equity in government are not new. But, despite these efforts, the percentage of women in federal law enforcement jobs has decreased since 2008. The federal percentage of women in law enforcement jobs continues to hover around 10-15%, mirroring the numbers in police departments nationwide. GovExec correspondent Courtney Bublé has two stories on GovExec.com right now about women in law enforcement. She joined the podcast to discuss the issues around gender a...
Aug 03, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 108
It’s been nearly a year since the Department of Justice the U.S. Department of Justice established an Election Threats Task Force to address the rise in threats against election workers, administrators, officials, and others associated with the electoral process. As the world saw during the Jan 6 hearings, poll workers like Shaye Moss faced dire threats and bogus claims of wrongdoing for simply believing in democracy. Recently the Alliance for Securing Democracy released a report headlined “Dete...
Aug 02, 2022•26 min•Season 3Ep. 107
While the nation is still feeling the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis, the American economy is in a bit of a rut. The pandemic economy hit women particularly hard and fears that the United States may be heading toward a recession hang overhead. Firms and entrepreneurs are weathering the storm, but how can businesses deal with the economic climate we’re all experiencing? Pamela Prince-Eason is a National Women's Business Council Member and CEO/President of the Women’s Business Enterprise ...
Aug 01, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 106
According to reports, a second Donald Trump presidential term would bring back and expand on Schedule F, the controversial proposal to upend the civil service. Former aides said that some in Trump’s orbit are already making lists of public servants to transfer into Schedule F and potentially fire, indicating that a second Trump term would involve massive purges of federal employees. GovExec reporter Eric Katz is covering the story. He joined the podcast me now to discuss how a second Trump admin...
Jul 28, 2022•25 min•Season 3Ep. 104
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, Congress has tasked the Small Business Administration with administering more than $1 trillion through relief programs like the Paycheck Protection Program. Hannibal “Mike” Ware, the Small Business Administration inspector general, is tasked with the jobs of combating fraud and alerting the SBA of the ways to prevent it. Recently, GovExec correspondent and frequent GovExec Daily guest Courtney Bublé interviewed Ware about his role in combating abu...
Jul 27, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 103
In-office work and telework are often seen as a zero-sum game, but hybrid work can make offices, including in the federal government, more flexible. In a new report titled “Hybrid Work in Government,” Cisco surveyed public sector employees about their feelings about hybrid work. Marcus Moffett is Chief Technology Officer and Senior Director of Engineering and Architecture of Cisco's U.S. Public Sector. He joined the podcast to discuss the report and the future of public sector hybrid work. *** F...
Jul 26, 2022•17 min•Season 3Ep. 102
Federal employees have to make a lot of important choices while working in order to have a successful and pleasant retirement. No matter where they work or how old they are, feds know that a lot of decisions need to be made before federal employees retire. Some of these choices can have lifelong consequences and need to be carefully evaluated. The GovExec Daily podcast often features guests who examine some of the ways that public servants can use information to inform their decisions about the ...
Jul 25, 2022•10 min•Season 3Ep. 101
Last year, President Joe Bides mandated federal workers to be fully vaccinated or request a medical or religious exemption by late november, but the deadline was pushed back, both by court injunctions and by the administration itself. A court most recently selected to hear an appeal to the vaccine mandate in September, further pushing back enforcement of the mandate. Stephanie Rapp-Tully is a partner and federal employment attorney with Tully Rinckey PLLC’s Washington, D.C. office. She joined th...
Jul 21, 2022•14 min•Season 3Ep. 100
Monkeypox is a disease that surfaces periodically, but the current wave of it has some public health officials worried . The world is still mired in new COVID-19 variants, causing thousands of cases, so another public health emergency is certainly not welcome. The Biden administration has empowered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to respond to the monkeypox as U.S. cases of the disease rise. GovExec correspondent Courtney Bublé is covering the monkeypox outbreak. She joined the po...
Jul 20, 2022•16 min•Season 3Ep. 99
The term “blood diamonds” entered the popular lexicon in the past few decades, to be replaced somewhat by “blood minerals” or “conflict minerals.” In short, many armed groups and conflicts are financed and sustained by illegally selling mined resources like diamonds, gold, tungsten and other financially lucrative materials. The problem is international, and the United States Geological Survey is partnering with international organizations to track and monitor the conflict mineral trade worldwide...
Jul 19, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 98
The G Fund is now the biggest amongst the five core Thrift Saving Funds funds. The fund has more than $200 billion invested in it. That’s a big deal, but what does that mean for TSP investors? Dallen Haws is a financial planner and host of the Haws Federal Advisors YouTube channel and podcast. He is also the author of the book Building Wealth in The TSP: Your Road Map to Financial Freedom as a FERS Employee. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, he joined the podcast to talk about the G Fund and w...
Jul 18, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 97
The last few years have seen a new labor and management environment wherein organizations and workers are navigating a changing power dynamic. In some instances, workers have wielded more agency. Organizations and workers are experiencing this pendulum shift in different ways and can certainly come away with different conclusions. Stephanie Creary is an organizational behavior scholar and assistant professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research is f...
Jul 15, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 96
In a decision last month, the Supreme Court ruled that state governments have the authority to prosecute certain cases on tribal lands. As with many of the decisions this term, the ruling was not without controversy, with one tribal leader saying the decision goes against the “basic principles of congressional authority and Indian law.” M. Alexander Pearl is a law professor at the University of Oklahoma law school and an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. He is a nationally recognized sch...
Jul 14, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 95
Public service is an attractive career path because of its stability, especially against the backdrop of a volatile economic situation in the United States. But, hiring has been an issue for the federal government for years and continues to struggle to bring in younger and early-career talent. Attracting and retaining such talent is key for a modern government and technology could be one of the keys to transforming government hiring. Todd Gustafson is President of HP Federal. He joined the podca...
Jul 13, 2022•14 min•Season 3Ep. 94
After the Supreme Court's West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency decision, former agency leaders and public management experts have lamented the potential chilling effects on regulatory agencies. The decision, some have argued, marks the loss of the administrative state's ability to solve big problems like climate change. Heather McTeer Toney is Vice President for Community Engagement at the Environmental Defense Fund. From 2014-2017, she served as the Regional Administrator for the En...
Jul 12, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 93
Last month the TSP opened its mutual fund window to more options, leaving many organizations – like US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment – pleased with the announcement. Nothing's perfect and, like with most things, there are limitations around the options. Bryon McGannon is the Director of Policy and Programs for US SIF. As part of our #MoneyMonday series, he joined the program the address those issues and much more about the TSP's changes. *** Follow GovExec on Twitter!...
Jul 11, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 92
