Fed Gov Today

Former ODNI and DOD Chief Information Officer, John Sherman, joins the show to break down the sweeping implications of the Intelligence Community Efficiency and Effectiveness Act of 2025 . If passed, this legislation could dramatically reshape the structure, mission, and operational dynamics of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the broader intelligence community. Sherm...

The Fed Gov Today TV Show airs on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. E.T. on ABC 7. You can also watch on Demand on Youtube . Listen to Fed Gov Today on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or anytime at FedGovToday.com .

Today we dive into one of the most significant procurement transformations happening across the federal government—the consolidation of acquisition under the General Services Administration (GSA). Former FAS Commissioner and Alpha Tango Strategies founder, Alan Thomas, joins the show to dissect what’s driving this bold shift and why it matters to agencies, vendors, and small businesses alike. You’...

Francis welcomes Dr. Jerry McGinn—Executive Director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University and former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense —for a deep dive into one of the most urgent and complex questions in federal policy: Can the government truly lead innovation at scale?  Jerry unveils new research showing a staggering 220% increase in Other Transac...

Listeners will learn how the L Funds work, why nearly 25% of participant allocations are now going into them, and how they automatically shift investments toward safer assets as retirement nears. Jim Kaplan, Director of External Affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, joins the show to break down what that milestone means and why it matters for your retirement planning. Jim also...

The Fed Gov Today TV Show airs on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. E.T. on ABC 7. You can also watch on Demand on Youtube . Listen to Fed Gov Today on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or anytime at FedGovToday.com .

Former Director of the Office of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) at the Department of Defense, Doug Schmidt, unpacks one of the most pressing challenges in national security: the future of weapons testing in a rapidly evolving, tech-driven military landscape. Schmidt lends his insider perspective on the implications of a new directive from the Secretary of Defense —one that dramaticall...

Former Federal CIO, Clare Martorana , unpacks the complex, fast-evolving role of data in driving government performance and public service. Clare explores how federal agencies are racing to keep up by improving data management, modernizing IT infrastructure, and nurturing cross-agency collaboration. She speaks openly about the patchwork progress across the federal ecosystem and the urgent need for...

The Fed Gov Today TV Show airs on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. E.T. on ABC 7. You can also watch on Demand on Youtube . Listen to Fed Gov Today on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or anytime at FedGovToday.com .

Former Federal CIO, Suzette Kent , joins Francis to dissect the pivotal modernization challenges facing every federal agency. With the future of the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) hanging in the balance—especially as the Trump administration’s FY 2026 budget proposes zero dollars for it—Kent offers a candid, insider perspective on what the next generation of federal IT funding could (and shou...

The Fed Gov Today TV Show airs on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. E.T. on ABC 7. You can also watch on Demand on Youtube . Listen to Fed Gov Today on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or anytime at FedGovToday.com .

Your retirement strategy just got a crucial update! Two top leaders from the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, Jim Kaplan, Director of External Affairs , and Jim Courtney, Director of the Office of Participant Experience—join Francis to break down what's changing, what’s staying, and what it all means for your money. Listeners will get the inside scoop on the imminent retirement of...

Today, Francis is joined by Fazal Mohammed, Senior Manager for Solutions Architecture at AWS , who unpacks how federal agencies are rapidly modernizing and closing the innovation gap with the commercial sector. You'll hear how cloud platforms are empowering a new generation of "citizen developers" to build agile, scalable solutions that once took years to implement. Fazal explains h...

Today, Francis sits down with Lance Scott, Chief Technology Officer of the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program , for a deep dive into one of the most ambitious federal health IT undertakings in history.  You’ll hear how three foundational pillars—data deduplication, provenance tracking, and automated data ingestion—are enabling real-time, intelligent access to critical h...

The Fed Gov Today TV Show airs on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. E.T. on ABC 7. You can also watch on Demand on Youtube . Listen to Fed Gov Today on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or anytime at FedGovToday.com .

Today, Francis sits down with Dan Mathews to explore a foundational question: How can the federal government effectively reduce its real estate footprint?   Mathews shares firsthand insights from his tenure at PBS, detailing how federal agencies are rethinking their physical presence to align with hybrid work trends and long-term cost savings. Listen and learn how interagency coordination, budgeti...

Former OPM Associate Director, Ron Sanders , joins Francis to unpack a bold new hiring memo from the Office of Personnel Management and the Domestic Policy Council that could transform how agencies bring in new talent. You will learn about the unprecedented introduction of four mandatory essay questions for federal job applicants—a move aimed at curbing mass, low-effort applications and filtering...

The Fed Gov Today TV Show airs on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. E.T. on ABC 7. You can also watch on Demand on Youtube . Listen to Fed Gov Today on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or anytime at FedGovToday.com .

Learn how the most significant overhaul of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in four decades could reshape the way the federal government buys goods and services.  Julie Dunne, former Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA and now Principal at Monument Advocacy , joins Francis to explain the key changes already in motion and what’s still to come. She details how the revision...

Today, we explore a pivotal moment for agency leaders as budget season intensifies on Capitol Hill. With funding and restructuring requests on the table, Francis speaks with Tim Soltis, former Deputy Controller at the Office of Management and Budget , about what it takes to turn policy ideas into operational success. Soltis brings insights from his recent article, where he proposes a bold restruct...

In today’s conversation you’ll hear why software is now just as critical as hardware in modern military operations—and what the Department of Defense is doing to keep pace with this shift. Former Deputy Navy CIO Commander, Julie Vida , joins Francis to explain how evolving battlefield realities, from GPS denial to cyber threats, are driving a transformation in how the Pentagon develops, acquires,...

Today, we dive deep into the future of artificial intelligence in government, guided by a remarkable dataset: over 10,000 responses to the Trump administration’s request for information on a new federal AI action plan. Former Department of Commerce CIO and now president of Cambio Digital Transformations, Simone Szykman , joins the show to discuss the five key themes he and his AI assistant—ChatGPT...

The Fed Gov Today TV Show airs on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. E.T. on ABC 7. You can also watch on Demand on Youtube . Listen to Fed Gov Today on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or anytime at FedGovToday.com .

Will Schmitt, Chief of the Technical Portfolio Management Division , joins the show from TechNet Cyber in Baltimore. He reveals how DoD is categorizing Zero Trust approaches into three key courses of action (COAs): legacy uplift strategies, commercial service providers (like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Oracle), and standalone government-operated environments such as Dell-hosted clouds. Schmitt...

Colonel Jeffrey Strauss of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) joins the program to discuss one of the Department of Defense’s most urgent challenges: technical debt. Colonel Strauss explains how divesting from legacy technology—sometimes as granular as removing individual network cards—frees up capacity and resources that can be reinvested in modern solutions. He likens the effort to pe...