Federal Newscast

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a departmentwide review of military standards, including physical fitness, body composition and grooming. A memo released on Wednesday directs the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness to review how the standards have changed since January 2015. Hegseth pledged to conduct this review during his confirmation hearing. The defense secretary...

The Trump administration tells agencies to ignore collective bargaining agreements that interfere with the ability to conduct reductions in force, or RIFs. A new memo from the Office of Personnel Management argues that contracts with federal unions cannot supersede an agency’s ability to lay off its employees. The OPM memo says agency management has the right to determine its number of employees,...

President Donald Trump nominated Eric Ueland to be the top federal management official. Ueland, who is currently the acting chief of staff for OMB, would be the deputy director for management at OMB if confirmed by the Senate.  He would replace Jason Miller, who was DDM for all four years of the Biden administration. Ueland is a former Senate staff member, having worked for majority leader Senator...

The Department of Homeland Security is bringing back at least one of its federal advisory committees. In a public notice this week, DHS announced it is renewing the Homeland Security Advisory Committee. The reconstituted panel will have 35 members. They will serve three-year terms and provide strategic advice to the secretary of homeland security. DHS terminated several advisory panels in the earl...

With a government shutdown less than a week away, a leading Republican Senator is calling for Congress to pass a spending bill. Maine Senator Susan Collins, the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, says government shutdowns are inherently a failure to govern effectively and have negative consequences all across government. House Republican lawmakers unveiled their year-long continuing resol...

Federal employee unions and other organizations filing lawsuits against the Trump administration may have to put money in escrow to cover the potential costs and damages of the lawsuit. President Trump's new memo tells agencies to use the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c) to ask the federal courts to hold litigants accountable for their lawsuits. The scope of the directive covers all lawsuits...

The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning major cuts to its workforce later this year. VA Secretary Doug Collins says the department is looking at a 15% cut to return the agency to 2019 staffing levels. That would meaning eliminating about 72,000 positions. Collins says VA will shrink the workforce without any cuts to veterans’ health care or benefits. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/...

The Defense Department says Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has so far identified about 80 million dollars in what it considers wasteful spending.  Press Secretary Sean Parnell said DOGE has found one point nine million dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion training in the Air Force; six million dollars to the University of Montana to “strengthen American democracy by bridgin...

The National Science Foundation has just rehired about half of the employees it fired two weeks ago. The reversal comes after a federal judge ruled last week that the Trump administration's directives telling agencies to fire their probationary employees were illegal. The reinstated workers will receive backpay and will not see a break in service. While 84 employees will be going back to work, the...

A new memo from the Defense Department's office of personnel and readiness directs service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria to be separated from the military. The department says transgender service members may be granted a waiver if there is a “compelling government interest in retaining the service member who directly supports warfighting.” The Defense Department said all service members...

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson, has instructed the military services to remove all DoD news and feature articles, photos, and videos that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by March 5th. If the services are not able to remove all DEI content from DoD social media accounts by March 5th, they will be required to temporarily scrub all DEI news articles, photos and videos publishe...

The Defense Department Office of Inspector General found that recruits who went through the Army’s future soldier prep course did not receive medical services, such as metabolic and cardiovascular screenings, assessments by a dietitian or medical clearance before proceeding to basic training. The inspector general found that many trainees far exceeded the Army body fat standards before starting th...

The acting head of the IRS is stepping down and retiring from the federal government. IRS Chief Operating Officer Melanie Krause will take over as the new acting IRS commissioner.  Krause joined the IRS in 2021 and started as its chief data and analytics officer.  She’ll take over for Doug O’Donnell, a career employee with 38 years of service who will retire this Friday. The IRS recently fired abo...

It came a little late – but the Office of Personnel Management issued guidance last night telling agencies how they should handle this weekend’s mysterious email telling employees to summarize their accomplishments over the past week. The memo, published just a few hours before the midnight deadline, says responses should be sent to both OPM and agency leadership. OPM says agencies should make the...

A new advisory board that will consider reforms to the Federal Emergency Management Agency is starting to take shape. DHS put out the official charter for FEMA Review Council late last week. The council is slated to hold its first meeting by April 24th and deliver an initial report to the White House by late July. President Donald Trump has called for potentially eliminating FEMA and sending emerg...

A top House Democrat is pressing for information on Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration. In a letter sent to President Donald Trump Thursday, Congressman Gerry Connolly called for transparency in Musk’s involvement in federal operations. Connolly says Musk has been widely portrayed as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE.” But a White House official recently cla...

The Postal Service and its letter carrier union are at an impasse over a new labor contract. The dispute now heads to a panel of third-party arbitrators. Members of the National Association of Letter Carriers overwhelmingly voted down a tentative agreement for a new contact earlier this month. USPS and the union failed to reach a new deal within a 15-day window. See Privacy Policy at https://art19...

The Air Force is evaluating its Family Days policy to ensure it “aligns with the force’s ability to support warfighter readiness.” Family Days are extra days off that military commands typically grant to service members around federal holidays to create an extended weekend. A new memo from the acting assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs says while commanders may authorize a day off...

Close to 400,000 military members with health insurance through TRICARE may have been impacted by pharmacy changes over the last couple years. The Defense Health Agency has gradually reduced the number of pharmacies available through TRICARE to cut costs and save taxpayer dollars. But the Government Accountability Office said the pharmacy changes could make it take longer for beneficiaries to acce...

Two Republican lawmakers want to make any governmentwide reorganization plan an up or down vote by Congress. Congressman James Comer and Senator Mike Lee's Reorganizing Government Act of 2025 would fast-track any plan President Donald Trump submitted to Congress. Lawmakers say the bill would help give the president the authority to streamline government operations to better serve the American peop...

House Democrats are pressing the Defense Department about the military services pausing sexual assault prevention and response training programs. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the lawmakers said the decision is “not only irresponsible but also dangerous.” The lawmakers also said the law requires providing this training to incoming service members, civilian employees, first respond...

Cathy Harris is out as the chairwoman of the Merit Systems Protection Board. An MSPB spokesman confirmed the White House terminated Harris's position and named Henry Kerner as acting chairman. The White House also demoted Ray Limon from the vice chairman position. Limon, however, remains on the board, which maintains the quorum to hold hearings. Harris became MSPB chairwoman in March 2024 and join...

The deadline for the Office of Personnel Management’s “deferred resignation” offer remains on hold. But that’s not stopping lawmakers from seeking a closer look at who’s taking the deal. Congressman Steny Hoyer is leading 49 House lawmakers to ask OPM for a breakdown of feds opting in by agency location GS level and length of service. The House lawmakers say they’re concerned the offer could dispr...

Amid the continued debate over FEMA’s future a senior G-O-P Senator is calling for reforms that could bolster the agency’s work. Oklahoma Senator Jim Lankford says too many agencies have responsibilities under the federal disaster framework. In a letter to the White House, Lankford said he should consider whether more disaster assistance responsibilities should be consolidated under FEMA. Trump ha...

House Democrats are making a push to secure data at the Treasury Department. A group of lawmakers have introduced the Taxpayer Data Protection Act. The bill seeks to add a layer of protection against anyone seeking to access the agency's systems. The legislation would bar anyone with conflicts of interest -- or without a security clearance from getting into the Treasury Department's data. The bill...