The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Tens of thousands of career federal employees will soon be made easier to fire. That's after Office of Personnel Management issued a final rule on “Schedule Policy/Career.” Once fully implemented, the new employment classification will exempt many employees from long-standing job protections. Here with more, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman.
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A fiscal watchdog group says the Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative could cost as much as $3.6 trillion over the next 20 years, far exceeding the White House’s projected $175 billion. The group also argues the effort faces “insurmountable” technical hurdles and that it is likely that Golden Dome will simply not work. For more, Federal News Network’s Anastasia Obis spoke with Gabe Murphy, policy analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense.
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Aging network infrastructure is consuming maintenance dollars that should be funding modern, secure architectures, especially as agencies try to integrate AI. It’s a spiral that deepens cyber risk and delays progress. We’ll look at options for getting out of that cul‑de‑sac with Cisco’s Senior Director for Technology Policy, Eric Wenger.
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Today on the Federal Drive with Terry Gerton
AI is stepping directly into America’s scientific engine room as OpenAI expands its work with the Department of Energy
Technical debt puts federal cybersecurity at risk. The question now is how to break out of the cycle
Behind DoD’s contract review is a bigger question: how far can enforcement go without undercutting small‑business programs themselves?
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OpenAI’s new agreement with the Department of Energy marks a shift from pilot projects to full‑scale collaboration inside the national labs. The partnership aims to speed up scientific discovery across all domains by putting AI models into real research workflows. Here to walk through how that integration works, and what it means for the next phase of scientific progress, is Global head of innovation policy at OpenAI, James Hairston.
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