Federal Drive interviews – July 20

On the Federal Drive show blog, you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.

This is the Federal Drive show blog. Here you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.

Today’s guests:

Patricia Pointer Deputy Comptroller for Human Resources, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury Department

Patricia Pointer helped hundreds of federal employees transition into new jobs and helped keep morale and productivity high despite the changes as the OCC and the Office of Thrift Supervision integrated as a result of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act of 2010.

Pointer was named a 2012 Causey Award winner, recognizing her outstanding work in human capital management.


David KapposUndersecretary for Commerce and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has opened a satellite location in Michigan and plans to open more regional locations to accommodate the soaring rate of new applications. A new federal law requires the additional locations even as other federal agencies are closing regional offices to reduce costs. Kappos explains why the agency chose Detroit.


Rob LevinsonBusiness Analyst, Bloomberg Government

With the cloud of possible federal budget cuts looming over Washington, defense contractors are planning ahead. They are trying to guess how many employees they may need to layoff and how the companies could stay in business. Levinson doesn’t expect mass layoffs come January but he says staff reductions would come in a trickle as funding and contracts drop off.

Read more about sequestration from Bloomberg Government here.


Ed Zurndorfer Registered Employee Benefit Consultant

Love it or hate it, the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, is the law of the land. Some provisions have already taken effect, like allowing children to stay on their parents’ insurance plan up to the age of 26. Zurndorfer explains how the law affects federal employees.


Roger LewisArchitect and Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

Fire concerns and even an aesthetic desire for a more airy city spurred the 1910 DC Heights Act that has given the city its own distinctive character, one without the soaring skyscrapers of New York and Chicago. But Lewis believes those restrictions should be relaxed for certain areas of the District. Lewis was one of several experts and District officials who testified before a House oversight committee this week.

You can read Lewis’ testimony to the committee here.


Also on the show:

Senators try compromise to get cyber bill passsed

House chairman: Leaks not likely from Pentagon

Air Force base sex abuse trial heads to closings

Better reporting needed to curb cyber attacks

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