The GovNavigators Show

Special thanks to Allocore for supporting this episode. 
Ensuring politicians remain accountable to those who vote for them is no easy feat, but our guest this episode may have the solution. On this episode of the GovNavigators Show, Robert and Adam try not to have too much fun talking with John Bernard, Founder, President, and CEO of America’s Pulse, as he takes us through his project to measure state performance and connect citizens’ priorities directly to their elected officials. Plus, learn how America’s Pulse is building a direct-input democracy that extends beyond elections, and how you can use it to make your voice heard. 
Show Notes 
Allocore.com 
Washington Post: Divers recover a bottle of Guinness from a 162-year-old shipwreck 
OMB: TikTok Memo M-26-17 
White House: Expanding Capabilities to Combat Transnational Cyber-Enabled Crime 
Nextgov/FCW: Palantir calls on GSA to withdraw draft AI acquisition rule 
Washington Technology: Palantir’s no-bid pipeline just got bigger 
Treasury: FinCEN Permanently Ends Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for Millions of Small Business Owners 
Amazon: Government That Works: The Results Revolution in the States 
Amazon: Business at the Speed of Now  
America’s Pulse: Americaspulse.org 
Harvard University: The 3.5% rule 
What’s on the GovNavigators’ radar?  
August 20th  
AWS and Carahsoft Missions Made Possible: A FedTech Innovation Summit, Arlington, VA 
August 24th  
A Hole in One with ACT-IAC, Leesburg, VA 
August 26th-27th  
AFCEA and INSA’s 2026 Intelligence and National Security Summit, Bethesda, MD 
August 27th  
The MeriTalk Mission Room on Agentic AI and the New Federal Workflow, Washington, D.C. 
August 27th  
Potomac Officers Club 2026 Navy Summit, Falls Church, VA

Thank you to Allocore for supporting this week's episode of the GovNavigators Show.
Are we all clear on opsec? This week, Robert and Adam are getting (almost) all the details on how the latest technologies are rewriting the rules of national security. Shelby Pierson, retired national security official and the newest member of the GovNavigators Network, talks us through her longtime career spanning across the CIA, NRO, NGA, and ODNI, and unpacks the real work behind the romantic Hollywood version of the Intelligence Community. Now, as a consultant, she is bringing her unique expertise and skill set to organizations looking to revolutionize the important work done in supporting of our warfighter.
Show Notes:
Allocore.com
Federal News Network: VA's Cloud Security Memo 
FedRAMP: 20X Initiative
Federal News Network: OMB Revamps Cyber Event Logging Requirements (M-26-14)
Supreme Court: Margolin v. National Association of Immigration Judges
Washington Post: VP Vance's Op-Ed
Events on the GovNavigators' Radar
August 9-12: DoDIIS 2026
August 9-11: XChange August 2026
August 20: Missions Made Possible Fed Tech Innovation Summit

This week on the GovNavigators Show, Robert and Adam welcome Lauren Lombardo, Policy Director for Recoding America, to discuss her work driving collaborative and coordinated government management policy reform. Lauren walks us through how working on campaigns at 13 years old sparked an early interest in public service, and describes her professional path working as a data scientist in the private sector before pivoting to use her technology background as a staffer in Congress. She dives into her work with the Recoding America fund, building connections with think tanks and individuals passionate about government management reform, developing the narrative surrounding these issues, and administering grants to organizations doing policy development and advocacy work in the government management sphere. Plus, learn why Lauren believes problems attributed to technology in government often stem much deeper, and why bipartisanism is necessary for real policy change.  
Show Notes 
Allocore: allocore.com 
New York Times: Accept Your Fate. Don’t Wear Shorts to the Office.  
Congress.gov: House C.R. 
The Hill: House passes reconciliation framework for Pentagon boost, voting restrictions 
House Armed Services Committee: FY27 NDAA Resources 
GSA: OneGov CORUS partnership 
FedScoop: VA won’t require existing FedRAMP certification for cloud contracts 
VA: FedRAMP memo 
Nextgov/FCW: After Hugging Face breach, FedRAMP chief tells slow-to-patch vendors to stay out of government 
Recoding America Fund: recodingamerica.org 
HSGAC: Testimony of Anthony Fauci 
C-SPAN: Dr. Anthony Fauci Testifies on Origins of COVID-19 Pandemic 
The Washington Post: Rand Paul threatens to hold Fauci in contempt after he declines to answer questions 
 
What’s on the GovNavigators’ Radar? 
August 4th 
TheXchange August Workshop on NASA's SEWP VI, Reston, VA 
August 5th  
HSGAC Business Meeting, Washington, D.C. 
August 5th-6th  
The 14th Annual Border Security and Intelligence Summit, Washington, D.C.

This week on the GovNavigators Show, Robert and Adam welcome back Howard Mortman, Director of Communications at C-SPAN. Howard reveals what’s new with the network, the trends he’s been seeing, and how public affairs broadcasting has been changing. The episode dives into the role C-SPAN footage plays in spurring political conversation on social media, and the network’s new show aiming to bring tough policy questions and civil discourse that feeds solutions on air. Robert, Adam, and Howard also discuss C-SPAN programming, including America 250 festivities and a special initiative to send reporters to the field to augment 2026 campaign coverage. Plus, new developments on Howard’s podcast, Extreme Mortman, including an exciting name change, behind the scenes information on process, and the episodes he’s looking forward to the most. 
Show Notes 
House Appropriations: Continuing Resolution Press Release 
Time Magazine: House Passes $1.15 Trillion Defense Spending Bill 
House Armed Services Committee: FY27 NDAA Resources 
HHS: Press Release on Deferring California and Minnesota Medicaid Payments 
Reuters: US pauses $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California, Minnesota 
C-SPAN: C-SPAN Website 
C-SPAN: America 250 
C-SPAN: Campaign 2026 
The Hill: C-SPAN inks deal with YouTube TV, Hulu 
C-SPAN: Ceasefire 
C-SPAN: Extreme Mortman 
What’s on the GovNavigators’ radar? 
July 28th: 
Digital Government Institute 14th Annual 930Gov Conference, Washington, D.C. 
July 30th: 
ATARC NextGen Cyber Operations: AI in Action Summit, Reston, VA 
Potomac Officers Club 2026 Air and Space Summit, McLean, VA

This week on the GovNavigators Show, Robert and Adam welcome Dana Fowler, member of the GovNavigators Network, to walk us through her career path and offer insights on government performance reform. Dana details her interesting start in the federal government as “basically a deckhand on a fishing boat,” before moving onto the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the CDC, the Performance Improvement Council within GSA, and the Department of the Interior, in a performance management field she never expected to be a part of. The show raises the importance of leveraging data for decision-making, measuring the right things for the right reasons, and the value of an outside perspective. Plus, Dana gives us a peek into her new projects that work on government reform from the outside, using the knowledge she’s collected as a “practitioner” within. 
Show Notes: 
House Budget Committee: Press Release on Reconciliation 3.0 
The Hill: Key House committee advances framework for reconciliation 3.0 
Congress.gov: Budget Impoundment and Control Act of 1974 
The Washington Post: Wildfire smoke in DC 
FedRAMP: FedRAMP 20x 
DOW: Department of War Suspends CMMC Phase II Requirements 
Federal News Network: Pentagon suspends CMMC phase two requirements 
NOTUS: The Social Security Chief Keeps Sending Staff His Daughter’s Pretzels 
Performance.gov: GPRA 
IBM: IBM Center for the Business of Government 
We the Doers: We the Doers website 
House Oversight: Emerging Fraud Threats and the Evolving Fraud Landscape hearing 
IMDB: Movie reference 
What’s on the GovNavigators’ radar? 
July 21-23rd: 
AGA Professional Development Training (PDT) 2026, Washington, DC 
July 21st: 
ACT-IAC Supply Chain Innovation Forum, Reston, VA 
July 23rd: 
GovForward’s 8th Annual Carahsoft Summit on FedRAMP, Washington, DC