The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking to rebuild its workforce after cutting more than a quarter of its employees last year, according to its top officials. But CDC employees heard similar messages from leadership months ago and have yet to see much hiring. Instead, the agency is relying on temporary reassignments to address staffing gaps a strategy that is putting a toll on th...

In the three weeks since the General Services Administration updated its proposed regulations for the basic safeguarding of data within large language model artificial intelligence systems, vendors and other interested parties have officially submitted only a handful of comments. But that is not because there isn’t a lack of interest or questions about the new proposed rule that GSA would apply to...

Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton In the military, mission success depends on understanding what people can actually do—and matching them to the missions that need them For pregnant Medicaid patients, finding care depends on information that's supposed to point them in the right direction, but may not Federal agencies make thousands of decisions about the workforce every day. A new OPM...

Getting the right person into the right role has long been one of the military's toughest workforce challenges. The Pentagon is testing new ways to identify individual capabilities and use them in assignment and career decisions. The approach focuses on measurable performance rather than credentials alone. Joining me to explain what's changed to support this approach is Senior Scientist and Portfo...

Access to care starts with knowing where care actually exists. New findings from the HHS Inspector General show that the provider information Medicaid patients and state officials rely on is often inaccurate or incomplete. Joining me now is Laura Kordish, Regional Inspector General for Evaluation and Inspections at Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. See Privacy Po...

Hiring someone is only the beginning of the government's relationship with an employee. A newly finalized OPM rule expands the agency's authority to pursue suitability actions for certain misconduct that occurs after hiring, raising new questions about accountability and workforce management. Federal News Network's Eric White spoke with Michael Fallings, Managing Partner at Tully Rinckey, to find...

A new Defense Department inspector general report finds that the military services have policies for reviewing allegations of abuse at on-base child development centers, but they don't always carry them out the same way. Investigators found inconsistent communication between Family Advocacy Programs and child care officials, leaving some installations without timely information needed to make staf...

An overhaul to the federal workforce’s performance management system is now set in stone. A final rule from the Office of Personnel Management removes a previous ban on using forced distribution system. It also prohibits employees from challenging the ratings they receive. OPM's new rule marks the first major update to performance management in decades. Here with more, Federal News Network’s Drew...

For years, VA modernization conversations have focused on systems and software. John Bartrum says the more important question is what veterans and clinicians experience when those systems either help care flow or get in the way. I spoke with the VA's departing under secretary for health about where technology can improve care delivery across the nation's largest healthcare system. See Privacy Poli...

Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton The Veterans Health Administration is modernizing everything from clinical systems to care coordination. But the real test is whether veterans and providers actually experience a better healthcare system Federal agencies are being asked to move faster, but speed starts with something more basic: a good business forecast See Privacy Policy at https://art...

When agencies define requirements clearly, industry can respond with better solutions and fewer surprises. When they don't, costs rise and timelines slip. The Professional Services Council has been measuring those trends and recently issued their new acquisition scorecard. PSC CEO Jim Carroll joins me now with more details. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Not...

The Defense Department significantly reduced the size of its civilian workforce in 2025. The department however, started shedding its employees prior to 2025. A government watchdog found that the Pentagon didn’t consistently analyze the impacts of these reductions, either during the 2025 downsizing or in prior years. It also found that the Pentagon has no plan to assess lessons learned from its 20...

Last year, hundreds of Department of Homeland Security employees were reassigned to different jobs. Some were shifted over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to bolster the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Now, the DHS inspector general is looking at whether those reassignments were done legally. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday joins me. See Privacy Policy at htt...

Today on "The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton" NIST's National Vulnerability Database has largely been a helpful resource, but needs some help to continue that Many pointed to the policy issues with the proposed NDA's the Trump administration wants federal employees to sign, but what about the constitutional factors? Some federal careers are built to end early, and that changes everything about ho...

A list of potential cyber vulnerabilities, rightfully called the National Vulnerability Database, is one of the many ways the National Institute of Standards and Technology aims to help industry and government cyber officials keep track of possible weaknesses in IT systems. However, a recent review of the NVD by the Commerce Department's Inspector General, found that a backlog has developed over t...

The Office of Personnel Management's proposal to institute a standardized NDA that federal workers could be required to sign as a condition of employment has made for much discussion in federal workforce circles. While many are concerned with the chilling effect it could have on workers, some are wondering about the possible violation of first amendment rights. One of them is the organization Prot...

For law enforcement officers and others, retirement can come in the late 40s or 50s with decades still ahead to fund and plan. That shift changes how they think about saving, second careers and long-term risks. Joining me to discuss the mind and investment shift required is federal retirement expert, Tammy Flanagan. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at h...

Federal unions and nonprofit groups are asking a federal court to temporarily bar USDA from carrying out a reorganization that that will move thousands of employees across the country. USDA leaders have repeatedly said the upcoming relocations will not lead to much attrition among its ranks. But internal documents contradict this claim. In newly uncovered documents, USDA wrote it’s counting on a “...

The Office of Personnel Management plans to take a more hands-off approach to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. A new proposal would make agencies, rather than OPM, responsible for surveying their own employees. OPM is also seeking to cut some currently required questions and add back in some different ones. Here with more, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman. See Privacy Policy at https://a...

Today on The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton For military families with special‑needs children, the Exceptional Family Member Program is essential, but not simple When an agency shuts down, the story usually focuses on policy and program impacts. This one looks at the people left behind The practice of project management isn’t static and neither is the exam See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/...

For families who rely on it, the Exceptional Family Member Program can shape everything from assignments to access to care. Jessica Hulter knows that firsthand from years spent navigating the system while caring for her daughter, and her experience sheds light on what it takes for military families to find their way through it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy...

A new study is taking a close look at what happened to the workforce after the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development, tracking the effects on jobs, finances and health. It offers one of the first large-scale pictures of how that loss of mission played out for employees and their families. Here to share her research findings and recommendations is former USAID foreign service off...

The latest version of the PMP exam reflects a shift toward how project work actually gets done today. It puts more weight on real‑world judgment and less on textbook recall. Joining me to walk us through what's different and why it matters is Dr. Kelly Heuer, VP of Learning at the Project Management Institute. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https:/...

Defense contractors face a new restriction. A new law now prohibits the Pentagon from contracting with companies that retain consultants lobbying for certain Chinese firms blacklisted by the department. For more, Federal News Network’s Anastasia Obis spoke with Covington’s Election and Political Law lawyer Zachary Parks. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice...

The Office of Personnel Management wants to make easier to remove federal employees for performance or misconduct reasons. In a new 81-page proposed rule that came out last week, OPM and the Merit Systems Protection Board are jointly seeking to change the administrative procedures used to fire employees and the review of such actions before the board. For more on the proposed changes, Federal News...