Federation of American Scientists

How hard can it be to hire into the federal government? Unfortunately, for many, it can be very challenging. A recent conversation with a hiring manager at a federal regulatory agency, shed light on some of the difficulties experienced in the hiring process.

The United States is heading into a critical period of political transition. In a climate of uncertainty, it’s tempting to step back and wait to see how the presidential transition will unfold—but this is exactly when changemakers need to press forward. Policy entrepreneurs have a unique opportunity to shape the agenda for the next administration. Knowing when and how to act is crucial to turning policy ideas into action.

The success of historic federal investments in climate resilience, clean energy, and new infrastructure hinges on the government’s ability to efficiently permit, site, and build projects. Many of these projects are subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which dictates the procedures agencies must use to anticipate environmental, social, and economic impacts of potential actions.

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) currently funds multiyear technology projects to help agencies improve their service delivery. However, many agencies abdicate responsibility for project outcomes to vendors, lacking the internal leadership and project development teams necessary to apply a product model approach focused on user needs, starting small, learning what works, and making adjustments as needed.

Analyzing NEPA outcomes isn’t just an academic exercise; it’s an essential step for eliminating the biggest hurdles of the environmental review process.

The Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act would combat firefighter shortages by establishing a new Middle Fire Leaders Academy and grant programs to train and hire more firefighters and retain expert wildland firefighters with increased benefits and better working conditions. The bill would establish the Joint Office of the Fire Environment Center to improve fire response time with updated technology like developing risk maps and establishing. Lastly, it would address the public health crisis caused by wildfire smoke by establishing a nationwide real-time air quality monitoring and alert system.

The next generation of nuclear energy deployment depends on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s willingness to use flexible hiring authorities to shape its workforce

An open jobs board for political appointee positions is necessary to building a stronger appointee workforce, and for improving government transparency.

While the National Labs have a strong workforce, they also face challenges that make it difficult to recruit and retain the people they need to continue leading the world’s scientific research.

Shannon Murtagh began her work in public education as a teacher at IslandWood, in Washington state, and her work in advocacy as a political organizer there as well. For almost a decade, Shannon led research and policy projects at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, examining the interrelation between parent empowerment and choice, school autonomy, […]