Federal Drive interviews – July 16

Is the IRS ready to enforce the new health care law? And a new GAO report finds the Director of National Intelligence does not have a clear policy on securi...

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.

Bryan CampLaw Professor, Texas Tech University

The Federal Drive is taking a look at how the Affordable Care Act could change the Internal Revenue Service. Last week, we spoke with Treasury Assistant Inspector General Alan Duncan, who said the agency was prepared to take on the challenges of implementing key provisions of the law. But Duncan said success would depend on continued funding from Congress. Now we turn to an outside expert. Camp worked as a lawyer for the IRS in the 1990s, and he’s written about the difficulties the IRS will have in enforcing tax penalties against people who choose not to buy health insurance.


Judy FeldmanChairwoman, National Coalition to Save Our Mall

The National Park Service announced last week that the Washington Monument will remain closed until 2014. The monument was damaged in last year’s East Coast earthquake. The park service says “massive” scaffolding will need to be built around the monument for the repairs. Factor in the ongoing turf restoration and construction on the reflecting pool, and the National Mall isn’t looking so hot these days.

See photos of the monument during the 1998-2000 restoration with scaffolding lit.


Brenda FarrellDefense Capabilities and Management Issues Director, GAO

How secret can something be if nearly five million people have access to it? A new GAO report on federal security clearances raises that question. It says the Director of National Intelligence does not have a clear policy that agencies can follow to determine whether a position really requires access to classified information. The Office of Personnel Management and other agencies are left to figure that out for themselves. The outcome? A hodge-podge, confusing web of a system.


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