The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

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 2025 workforce reduction efforts. For more, Federal News Network’s Anastasia Obis spoke with Government Accountability Office’s director of defense capabilities and management Kristy Williams.
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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.
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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 Protect Democracy, which filed comments of its own opposing the measure. To get a read on its view, I spoke with Jules Torti who is counsel for the organization.
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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.
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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 the years, and NIST officials are in need of more resources to cut it down. For an explanation of what it will take, I had the chance to speak with Chuck Mitchell from the IG's office.
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