Shows / The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton provides expert insights on current events in the federal community. Read more interviews to keep up with daily news and analysis that affect the federal workforce. The Federal Drive is found at FederalNewsNetwork.com and 1500 AM in the Washington D.C. region.
Episodes
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Coming up today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton When agencies don't have all the answers, the public still expects to hear from them. New research…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Army CECOM positions itself as a premier AI development hub
The Army’s Communications-Electronics Command is positioning itself as a premier artificial intelligence development hub at the heart of the service’s…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Pentagon creates new team to look for wasteful spending
The Pentagon is creating a new team to look for wasteful spending. It says the Force Agility and Streamlining Team will point out duplication of effort…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
A dispute involving the National Academies continues to test the suspension and debarment system
A recent presidential directive involving a possible debarment review drew attention to how the federal suspension and debarment system works. The National…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Federal agencies are already making decisions about quantum computing
Quantum computing may still be developing, but the planning decisions facing agencies aren't. Federal leaders already have guidance for preparing their…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Many of the disability-compliance measures federal contractors rely on are going away
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has eliminated many disability-related compliance requirements that federal contractors have followed for…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Coming up today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton Federal agencies may not know exactly when quantum computing will arrive, but they already have…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Public trust in government down to 27%, research shows
Americans’ trust in government remains persistently low, according to the latest research from the Partnership for Public Service. The organization reports…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Reservists sue over years of unpaid differential pay
A new class action lawsuit is seeking to recover years of back pay for federal employees who served as military reservists. Federal News Network’s Anastasia…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
A growing coalition wants Congress to think about wildfires as a national-security challenge
Supporters of the Fix Our Forests Act are urging Congress to include the measure in the annual defense authorization bill. Their argument is that wildfires can…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Military families are navigating a challenging fall, and many are building a new sense of home and community
Six months into Operation Epic Fury, military families are dealing with the realities of deployments while many are still settling into new duty stations after…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The closer Congress gets to Election Day, the harder it becomes to choose between governing and campaigning
With the election approaching, senators would normally rather be home talking with voters. Instead, Senate leaders appear prepared to keep members in…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Monday, September 28, 2026
Coming up today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton The closer Congress gets to Election Day, the harder it becomes to choose between governing and…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Military spouse commission holds its first meeting to consider priorities
The White House's new military spouse commission held its first meeting this week to lay out which problems it wants to tackle first. The panel of nearly two…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Election officials are showing what AI adoption looks like when accountability comes first
Government agencies are still figuring out how to use artificial intelligence without losing public trust. Election administrators may be further along than…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Modernizing government technology takes more than faster procurement
The government's overhaul of the Federal Acquisition Regulation is intended to make it easier for agencies to adopt commercial technology. But buying…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Friday, September 25, 2026
Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton Election officials are showing what AI adoption looks like when accountability comes first Modernizing government…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Democratic lawmakers urge Congress to reject Trump administration's planned pay freeze
House and Senate Democrats are urging congressional leaders to reject the Trump administration’s planned federal pay freeze for 2027. The lawmakers also see a…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Future of Air Force's China Aerospace Studies Institute uncertain
The Space Force is looking to bring in hundreds of service members from across the military as it works to expand its workforce. Meanwhile, the Department of…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
A federal pension can make retirement more secure. It can also change the tax picture in ways people don't expect
Many federal employees assume their taxes will go down when they retire. But a pension, Social Security benefits and required withdrawals can all add to…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The CDC has put federal overdose data into a single place designed to support faster decisions
Drug overdoses move fast. The CDC wants communities to get from overdose data to action more quickly. A new overdose prevention data channel brings several…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The same criminal networks that move people across the border often move drugs, too
Fentanyl seizures have declined as Homeland Security Investigations devoted more resources to immigration enforcement. That has renewed debate about how best…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Thursday, September 24, 2026
Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton A federal pension can make retirement more secure. It can also change the tax picture in ways people don't expect…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Mullin defends FEMA staffing cuts after court ruling
Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that a plan to cut the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s workforce was unlawful. But Homeland Security Secretary…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
NIH testing a ‘converter box’ to solve its big data problem
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in the National Institutes of Health, like most federal research organizations, has a big data problem. NHLBI…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
DoD has expanded its security cooperation mission, now it builds the workforce to keep up
Congress directed DOD to modernize and professionalize its security cooperation workforce. A new GAO review finds the department has made significant progress…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Testing military systems in the air is expensive. The Navy has found a way to do more of that work on the ground
The Navy and the Indiana National Guard recently unveiled what they describe as the nation's first ground-based sled track capability for testing aircraft…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Copyright Act turns 50, and the Copyright Office looks back at how the law has evolved
The U.S. Copyright Office is hosting an event today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Copyright Act. My next guest says the anniversary offers a…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Coming up today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton The Copyright Act turns 50 this year, and the Copyright Office is marking the occasion today with a look…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
DoD moves to replace government-unique accounting standards with GAAP
The Pentagon is moving away from government-unique cost accounting rules towards standards that are widely used in the commercial sector to make it a lot…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Political appointee turnover at unprecedented levels under Trump administration
The Trump administration has lost more political appointees than any other recent president in the first year and a half of their term. And Trump appointees…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
As AI takes on more routine tasks, the value of human judgment may actually increase
Federal agencies are exploring how AI can improve customer service without losing the human expertise complex cases require. My next guest says the most…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Some government requirements exist for a reason. Others can end up consuming more effort than risk
The Cost Accounting Standards Board has approved the biggest overhaul of CAS coverage in more than two decades. The changes raise key thresholds and create a…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The government is looking for ways to take friction out of the acquisition system without losing accountability
The latest FAR overhaul package includes changes affecting how agencies buy products and services and how much discretion acquisition professionals may have in…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Tuesday, September 22,
Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton The government is looking for ways to take friction out of the acquisition system without losing accountability…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Air Force plans to rehire after cutting below ‘established requirements’
The Air Force and Space Force are asking Congress for thousands of new civilian positions, acknowledging they cut too deep to meet mission requirements in…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
SBA gets and earful over proposed changes to small business size standards
The Small Business Administration got an earful on Thursday over proposed changes to the small business size standards. The comments ranged from supportive of…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
If bipartisan support were enough to pass legislation, Congress would be heading home with a shorter to-do list
The House has adjourned until after the election, but a growing number of issues with support from both parties remain unresolved. Why does Congress seem…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Military investigators are encountering a growing number of cases involving drones
Drones are showing up in everything from military operations to criminal investigations. As that technology spreads, investigators need new tools and training…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Navy is taking a fresh look at how everyday life affects readiness, one test case starts in the dining hall
Many of today's sailors are between 18 and 24 years old and Navy leaders are rethinking whether traditional shore-side dining facilities still meet their…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Monday, September 21, 2026
Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton The Navy is taking a fresh look at how everyday life affects readiness. One test case starts in the dining hall…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Lawmakers are still in the dark about what Golden Dome would entail
There is a lot of work that needs to be done to build broad support in Congress for the Trump administration’s ambitious Golden Dome missile defense system, in…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Lawmakers surface Coast Guard housing, quality-of-life issues
The Coast Guard is hitting its recruiting targets and making historic investments in ships, aircraft and shore-based infrastructure. That’s thanks to funding…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Artificial intelligence is making it easier to create fake identities and harder for agencies to tell who's real
New fraud tactics are exposing weaknesses in the way government verifies identity. As artificial intelligence makes fake identities more convincing and easier…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
One federal office complex is becoming a test case for a larger question: how should government measure the value of the property it owns?
A planning panel has recommended replacing the Forrestal Building and redeveloping the site with a mix of housing, commercial and public uses. The proposal is…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
When military information and financial incentives meet, a forecasting tool can become something else entirely
Recent debate over military-related prediction markets has focused attention on who can participate and what they may know before the market does. Some…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Friday, Sept. 18, 2026
Artificial intelligence is making it easier to create fake identities and harder for agencies to tell who's real One federal office complex is becoming a test…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The long journey that led to the decision to finally cancel the CIO-SP4 governmentwide acquisition contract came down to a simple realization
The NIH IT Acquisition and Assessment Center, or NITAAC, found there was better than 90% duplication of what it offered and what was already available through…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Government agencies are bringing technology companies into the problem-solving process a lot earlier
The federal government is under pressure to move capabilities into the field faster. One result is a growing willingness to bring industry, researchers and…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
In national security technology, some of the most important ideas are now arriving at federal labs from outside government
For decades, technology transfer usually meant moving inventions out of government laboratories and into the marketplace. Now some small technology companies…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Winning a government contract may not end scrutiny of what a bidder claimed in its proposal
Moving technology into government faster doesn't eliminate the need for accountability. A recent Court of Federal Claims decision kept alive a protest over a…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - - Thursday, September 17, 2026
In national security technology, some of the most important ideas are now arriving at federal labs from outside government Government agencies are bringing…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Trump administration’s DRP cost $6.7B last year, watchdog estimates
Agencies’ spending on paid administrative leave surged sixfold last year. Those costs were largely due to the Trump administration’s deferred resignation…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Cyber leaders remind organizations to focus on basics
Fears about the risks of artificial intelligence continue to dominate conversations in Washington. Those concerns include the potential for AI to enable…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
DIU working to address bottlenecks in working with DoD
For small and non-traditional businesses that want to do national security work, some of the biggest challenges can be getting security clearances — both for…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Building more homes and building more affordable homes are not always the same thing.
For years, policymakers have searched for ways to make housing more affordable. One think tank argues the problem isn't simply a shortage of homes, but a…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
Millions of people are doing exactly what policymakers say they should do: working. Many still qualify for public assistance.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office looked at workers receiving Medicaid and SNAP and found many are employed, often full time, and…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
People who benefit from a government program often know things the people who designed it don't
Changes to Washington DC's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program sparked a debate about policy. A National Academy of Public Administration working…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
The Federal Drive - - Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Building more homes and building more affordable homes are not always the same thing People who benefit from a government program often know things the people…
- The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
OPM details expectations for new RIF rules
Federal employees’ performance ratings will now be the top consideration during future reductions in force. That’s as a final rule from the Office of Personnel…