The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Shaping environmental outcomes isn’t limited to writing legislation. In many cases, it comes down to knowing how federal decisions actually get made, through regulation, procurement, data and funding choices that shape behavior across the system. That’s the approach being taught to climate professionals by Mai Sistla, Senior Climate Policy Advisor at the Aspen Policy Academy. See Privacy Policy at...

The Defense Department is proposing a sweeping rule that would significantly expand the government’s scrutiny of foreign ownership and influence across the defense industrial base, requiring tens of thousands of uncleared contractors to comply with security requirements historically applied only to companies handling classified information. For more, Federal News Network’s Anastasia Obis spok...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s grant processes are about to get a little more transparent. That’s because a new law requires FEMA to publish a dashboard of public assistance claims stemming from federal disasters. That requirement comes as the administration and Congress consider broader reforms to FEMA. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday joins me.  See Privacy Polic...

Coming up today on "The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton" The Army is testing whether rail networks can carry medical evacuation in modern warfare What happens to the human body when missions become longer, more demanding and harder to support from Earth? As federal missions grow more complex, technology transfer is getting a credential meant to sustain expertise and credibility over time See Priva...

Using allied rail systems in Europe, the Army is testing how rail evacuation could expand medical capacity during large‑scale conflict. Here with more details on what's being tested by this exercise is Col. Crystal Belew, Commander of the 519th Hospital Center. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

A joint effort bringing together Navy medicine, the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA and academic researchers is reshaping how the government studies human performance under changing gravity. The focus is building durable capability for longer, more demanding missions. My guests are Rich Folga and Dr. Michael Schubert. Dr. Schubert is Professor in the ENT Department at Johns Hopkins University...

The Federal Laboratory Consortium has introduced a professional designation designed to strengthen how federal labs move research into real‑world use by building recognized, transferable expertise. The goal is to create a clearer marker of credibility for agency leadership, industry partners and the workforce itself. My guest is Andy Myers, technology transfer lead at the Kansas City National Secu...

House Republicans are demanding more information about the costs of settlements for federal employee disputes with their agencies. A new letter from leaders on the Oversight committee argues that agencies are settling too often, instead of fighting cases they could likely win. But the letter is also coming under scrutiny from federal employment attorneys. Here with more, Federal News Network’...

The Postal Service generally pays its own bills through its own revenue. That’s been the way it has operated for more than 50 years. But the agency is floating the possibility of Congress stepping in to provide more financial assistance to keep the agency from running out of cash early next year. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy an...

Coming up today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton Managing disaster risk is about how risk is understood, priced and communicated across the system The size of the federal grants system is well known, how well it’s set up to manage that scale is another question Receiving federal funds now comes with a different kind of risk calculus for grantees See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privac...

Insurance pricing plays a powerful role in signaling where disaster risk is increasing and where the federal government is increasingly exposed when coverage breaks down. We’ll examine a proposal that would bring the federal government into the reinsurance market, how that could affect those signals and what questions leaders should ask before shifting risk further upstream. Professor Ben Collier...

As the federal government takes on more financial risk, a GAO review of government‑wide grants management points to staffing limits, data mismatches and unclear roles that complicate how funds are awarded and overseen. The findings suggest persistent operational challenges that accounting fixes alone haven’t solved. Jeff Arkin is director of strategic issues at the Government Accountability Office...

A tougher federal anti‑fraud posture is changing how grants and contracts are scrutinized, especially when routine compliance decisions come under review after problems emerge. We’ll look at where scrutiny is showing up, who’s being held accountable and what recipients are expected to get right with Michael Anderson, counsel at Smith Anderson. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Ca...

A Trump-appointed advisory committee is urging sweeping overhauls at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The FEMA Review Council approved its final report to the president last week. The group’s report do not include earlier, draft recommendations that would have cut FEMA’s workforce by up to 50 percent. Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday joins me with the details. See Privacy Polic...

The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee was originally scheduled to sunset in September 2025. But the pandemic watchdog has an ongoing mission; it’s overseeing another broad tranche of funding. The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act signed into law last year will keep the PRAC up and running for at least another 8 years and tasks the committee with keeping tabs on the budget reconciliation bill. K...

Coming up today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton If you feel unsure about retirement, you’re asking the right question Innovation has expanded choice in consumer finance, but it’s also exposed limits in how well regulation keeps up and who ends up bearing the risk Fixed‑price contracts assume stable requirements. Federal missions rarely cooperate, and the friction between the two is back in...

For many federal employees, retirement planning stalls at the same point: uncertainty about whether the numbers, timing, and assumptions really hold up. Instead of chasing certainty, there’s a better way to assess readiness. Joining me to explain how feds can evaluate retirement readiness using structure rather than stress is Certified financial planner Thiago Glieger. See Privacy Policy at https:...

From fintech tools to new credit models, consumer finance has changed faster than the regulatory framework around it. Todd Zywicki says that gap is a central focus of the new Institute for Consumer Financial Choice at George Mason University, which is designed to bring more empirical research into consumer‑finance policy debates. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priva...

Federal execution increasingly turns on how risk is managed across contracts and capabilities. Recent policy signals are testing whether existing structures can absorb that pressure. Here to break down the root issues is Stephanie Kostro, president of the Professional Services Council. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not...

Military spouses were on Capitol Hill last week to push lawmakers to support legislation aimed at expanding access to capital and Small Business Administration resources for military spouse entrepreneurs , The effort's advocates say this could help address the persistently high military spouse unemployment rate and improve military retention. Federal News Network’s Anastasia Obis has more. Se...

The Office of Personnel Management is being urged 'not' to shut down the Combined Federal Campaign. More than 40 Democrats penned a letter to OPM, warning that ending the CFC would be “disastrous” for the organizations that rely on it. The letter comes as the Trump administration is signaling a possible decommission of the decades-old program. Here with more, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman....

Coming up today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton From the battlefield to the benefits system: how government decisions during war echo long after service ends Veterans have seen this story before and they’re paying close attention to what comes next Congress is heading into a busy legislative stretch, even as larger questions hang over its future See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/priva...

At stake in the Bagram bombing case is whether contractors retain broad immunity when supporting military operations and how much legal distance the government can place between itself and the work it assigns. The outcome could shape how the Defense Department handles oversight and risk‑sharing in future conflicts. I talked with Lisa Himes, of counsel with Rogers Joseph O’Donnell. See Privacy Poli...

When GI Bill abuse surfaced years ago, veterans’ benefits kept flowing to schools that met higher‑education standards but failed veterans themselves. Now, as accreditation standards are back under review, advocates say lessons from that era still haven’t fully been applied. They’re pushing to give Title 38, the veterans’ benefits law a clearer role in determining which schools qualify for GI Bill...

Lawmakers return for a packed two‑week work period, with several major bills queued up for action. At the same time, unresolved redistricting fights around the country are raising longer‑term questions about the shape and capacity of the next Congress. Loren Duggan, managing editor at Bloomberg Government, joins us to sort through both the immediate agenda and what’s coming next. See Privacy Polic...