PODCAST: Big Changes Mean Big Challenges for Shared Services and Government HR with Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot and OPM's Rebecca Ayers Season 2 · Ep 39
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PODCAST: Big Changes Mean Big Challenges for Shared Services and Government HR with Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot and OPM's Rebecca Ayers Season 2 · Ep 39
Podcast
Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Teri Gullo, former CBO Director of Budget Analysis, and Karl Maschino, former GAO Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, about why federal budget work matters amid scrutiny of spending, workforce cuts, and “DOGE”-style reforms. They outline the normal OMB-agency-Congress budget timeline, emphasize GAO/CBO’s nonpartisan transparency and need to explain “the story behind the numbers,” discuss polarization blocking fiscal solutions as ne...
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Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Teri Gullo, former CBO Director of Budget Analysis, and Karl Maschino, former GAO Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, about why federal budget work matters amid scrutiny of spending, workforce cuts, and “DOGE”-style reforms.
They outline the normal OMB-agency-Congress budget timeline, emphasize GAO/CBO’s nonpartisan transparency and need to explain “the story behind the numbers,” discuss polarization blocking fiscal solutions as net interest costs reach over $1 trillion, and urge young public servants to see budgeting as policy and values.
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Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.
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May 18, 2026
James-Christian Blockwood discusses U.S. Office of Personnel Management's modernization of federal HR and retirement IT systems with OPM’s Rebecca Ayers and Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot. Building on a 2021 academy report urging congressional funding to modernize OPM systems, they describe the administration’s goal to build a merit-based workforce and modernize people management through the Federal HR 2.0 initiative. Key elements include moving agencies onto a mandatory single cor...
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