The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

A major State Department plan for its biggest reorganization in decades is underway. The department laid off more than 1300 employees on Friday, impacting both civil service and Foreign Service employees. In total, the department is looking at a 15% overall cut to its workforce. It says it's now moving on to the final phase of its reorganization plan. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Getting through a federal security clearance investigation has always been a little harrowing. The process is also often the reason it takes so long to get federal workers hired. But recently, some say the process itself has become political, and that poses a danger to national security. Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner has recently introduced legislation with Senator Susan Collins of Maine to address this issue. Senator Warner joins me now to explain his concerns and his bill.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Senate has until Friday to pass President Trump's 9.4 billion dollar rescission package. The future of the FBI's headquarters has tied up a usually congenial appropriations package. And, congressional delegations are taking up support for federal workers in their districts. Here with more on all of these issues is WTOP capitol hill correspondent, Mitchell Miller.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The state of Maryland is short 1200 teachers for the school year that will begin in just a few weeks. To help meet the need, Towson University has a new program to move displaced federal employees directly into classrooms, but you'll need to move fast if you're interested. Here with more details are Dr. Laurie Mullen and Dr. Laura Jacobs. Dr. Mullen is the Dean of the College of Education at Towson University. Dr. Jacobs is an assistant professor of English Education in the Department of Secondary and Middle School Education at Towson University. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that gives the Trump administration the go ahead to start implementing the President's Executive Order to downsize and reorganize federal agencies. But that order is not the final word, not by a long shot. The justices were clear to say they weren't passing judgment on the specifics of those reorganization plans. The specifics are going to end up mattering a lot, and so far, the public hasn't seen many of them, but that may be about to change federal news networks. Jared serbu is here now to talk with us about what's next after this week's court ruling. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The advisory committee set up to review the Federal Emergency Management Agency is deepening its assessment of FEMA s core responsibilities. The FEMA Review Council is evaluating whether any of the agency's functions could be led by states or other entities instead. The review comes as FEMA and other agencies respond to devastating flooding in Texas. For more, Federal News Network's Justin Doubleday joins me with the latest. 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 What it will take to finally get broadband to every community in the country Appropriations bills for 2026 mark the next opportunity for legislative changes that could affect the federal workforceSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Three years ago, Congress appropriated over 42 billion dollars to build out the nation's broadband system so that every one could have access to internet resources. In mid June, the Commerce department announced it was revamping the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment or BEAD program to focus on outcomes and not process and finally get the money flowing to projects. Here with insight on what that means for citizens and network providers is the CEO of the trade group U.S. Telecom, Jonathan Spalter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The federal workforce provisions were all struck from the final version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The 2026 appropriation cycle marks the next window for the Trump Administration to institutionalize the agency reorganization efforts begun by DOGE. Here with insights as to what might happen next is the staff vice president of the National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees, John Hatton.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One lesson from the global pandemic was that pharmaceutical supplies chains are international, complicated, and slow to respond in crisis. A new government program is aiming to use only domestic products to make medicines at the point of care. Here to share more about this innovative effort is the manager of the EQUIP-A-Pharma program, Dr. Sushma Savarala.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.