Advertise on podcast: The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth raised eyebrows this week with a plan to cut another 10% of generals and admirals in the next three months. He confirmed that goal in a speech to troops at Quantico on how the department has changed in the past year, and what's coming up next. Federal News Network reporter Rachel Cohen joins me now with her takeaways. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Army has officially lifted its civilian hiring freeze, nearly 20 months after President Donald Trump imposed a governmentwide hiring freeze on his first day back in office. Federal News Network’s Anastasia Obis has more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A new report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General examines how durable medical equipment fraud schemes continue to target Medicare. Investigators found many of those schemes rely on exploiting trusted suppliers, physician orders and beneficiary information rather than breaking through technical defenses. Commander Patrick Nuebert, operations officer in the Office of Investigations at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, joins me with more insight. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Once fraudsters learn how to exploit trusted systems, the challenge becomes finding them sooner. A new Justice Department fraud division and detection center are designed to bring together data, investigators and prosecutors in an effort to do exactly that. Joining me with the details is Matt Hanson, partner at King & Spalding. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Building better detection systems is only part of the equation. Regulators also have to decide where to concentrate enforcement resources. The SEC recently launched a dedicated financial reporting and accounting unit, a move that could reshape risk calculations for companies, auditors and audit committees. My next guests say the move could affect how companies, auditors and audit committees think about risk and compliance. Alonzo Llorens is a partner and Tiffany Rowe is counsel at Parker Poe. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton Medicare fraudsters often don't need to break into the system. They just need to exploit parts of it that were designed to be trusted The government has always chased fraud after somebody finds it. The Justice Department is betting data can find it first The SEC has decided some risks deserve dedicated enforcement teamsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Federal employees and retirees will once again see their health insurance premiums rise in 2027. The Office of Personnel Management has released details on what’s changing next year for participants in the Federal and Postal insurance programs. The announcement comes just ahead of this fall’s Open Season. Here with more, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

During last fall’s record-long government shutdown, agencies posted messages on their websites and in press releases that blamed the funding lapse on Congressional Democrats. Now, the office tasked with enforcing the Hatch Act found some of those actions “might” have violated the law. But it won’t investigate any further. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday joins me. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Census Bureau is considering removing race and ethnicity questions from the 2030 Census. Data advocates argue the change would affect far more than demographic research, making it harder to identify disparities in health, education and other areas where outcomes often depend on who is being measured. Here to explain why visibility matters are Denice Ross of the Federation of American Scientists and Meeta Anand of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Researchers studying World Trade Center responders are still uncovering health effects linked to the attacks of September 11. The findings show how long it can take for risks to become visible, and why those lessons matter when government prepares for the next disaster. Here to share his latest research is Dr. Roberto Lucchini, professor of environmental health sciences at Florida International University. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton A proposal to remove race and ethnicity questions from the census could leave the country flying blind in places where lives are at stake Twenty-five years after 9/11, researchers are still discovering health effects among first responders. Some of the most important information arrives long after the decisions have been madeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Navy has been working for years to modernize how it hires, pays, promotes and retires its sailors. The service has made some significant progress lately – it finally moved sailors’ personnel and promotion records and applications from an aging data center to the cloud and rolled out updates to MyNavy Portal. Federal News Network’s Anastasia Obis has more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Trump administration's 18-month effort to improve federal services reached a major milestone yesterday with the launch of America.gov. President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a one-stop shop for federal services and putting the General Services Administration in charge of managing the site. For more on what it means for agencies and the public, Federal News Network executive editor Jason Miller joins me now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Questions about workforce reductions and pay are capturing headlines across government. But federal employees and retirees are also focused on longer-term issues ranging from artificial intelligence to the future of Social Security. Joining me with takeaways from the annual NARFE conference is John Hatton, Staff Vice President for Policy and Programs at NARFE. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Military families move frequently, but the experience of growing up overseas can create connections that last a lifetime. Decades later, many former military brats are still finding one another and reconnecting with a shared sense of identity and belonging. Joining me with more is Joe Condrill, Founder of Overseas Brats. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.