Federal Newscast

Most funds in the Thrift Savings Plan saw minimal growth in November with 15 of 16 coming in higher than where they finished in October. But no fund saw an increase greater than 0.64% for the past 30 days. And only the S fund saw a month over month decline, dropping 0.45%. The I Fund remains the biggest winner for the year with a total increase of 28.54%, while four L Funds also produced retu...

Federal agencies are trying to eliminate underutilized space in their buildings. But a watchdog report finds the Postal Service generally isn’t asking those same questions. The USPS inspector general’s office finds the agency hasn’t collected space utilization data for more than 60% of its properties. USPS operates more than 34,000 properties across the country. The IG’s office says that by not co...

Customer satisfaction with benefits and services provided by the federal government is higher than it’s been in nearly two decades. That’s despite a tumultuous year where agencies have seen a major downsizing of the federal workforce. Scores are higher on average, but the latest scorecard from the American Customer Satisfaction Index does show a few agencies are seeing lower scores. The Offic...

The Trump administration says it’s finished updating federal employee records to remove some of the negative consequences of this year’s mass firing of probationary employees. Federal agencies say the personnel records have all been updated to reflect the fact that those workers were not fired for performance reasons. That step was ordered by a federal judge, who found agencies wrongly asserted th...

The Federal Aviation Administration is giving 776 air traffic controllers and technicians a $10,000 bonus for working during the 44-day partial government shutdown. The bonuses will be sent to those employees who maintained perfect attendance during the shutdown. Recipients will receive an automated notification this week and receive their payment no later than December 9. The FAA's...

● A new survey finds that nearly every service member living in privatized military housing has experienced serious problems in their home and many of those issues go unresolved. The Change the Air Foundation recently found 97% of service members reported at least one significant problem in their military-provided home, with mold, mildew, and water damage cited most frequently. Out of 3,401 respon...

The Army has selected nine installations as potential sites for microreactor power plants under its next-generation Janus nuclear power program. Meanwhile, the Defense Innovation Unit issued a solicitation for commercial advanced nuclear technologies to support the effort. The nine sites the Army identified through comprehensive analysis include Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Redstone Arsenal in...

U.S. Cyber Command has a new chief artificial intelligence officer. Brig. Gen. Reid Novotny, who was tapped to serve in the role, said his priority will be ensuring that AI strengthens the nation’s cyber forces and improves decision-making advantage. Novotny previously served as the National Guard Bureau’s director of intelligence and cyber effects operations and most recently as the Office o...

Federal employees will be able to contribute more to their Thrift Savings Plan accounts next year. The IRS increased the maximum annual contribution limit to $24,500, which is a $1,000 increase over 2025. Additionally, employees aged 50 or older can save more money through their catch-up contributions. And if employees are aged 60 to 63, they can save even more with a higher catch u...

A federal union is suing the Trump administration for not handing over a list of employees that agencies might be targeting to remove their job protections. The new lawsuit from the National Treasury Employees Union alleges that the Office of Personnel Management violated the Freedom of Information Act by not providing those details. The union’s legal action comes after the Trump administration ea...

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to save the Navy Reserve Center system. They say THE provision in the Senate version of the fiscal 2026 defense policy bill would shutter 107 commands that provide administrative support and serve as home for approximately 48,000 Navy reservists across the country. In a letter to the House and Senate Armed Services committees, the lawmakers said...

With the shutdown now officially over, the White House isn't waiting to get things back and running. The Office of Management and Budget issued a memorandum instructing federal employees who had been furloughed to return to work today, and to take all necessary steps to ensure that offices open in a prompt and orderly manner. The Government Publishing Office even took to X to direct all teammates...

Transgender Air Force and Space Force service members are suing the Trump administration for rescinding pensions that had been previously granted by the Air Force secretary. President Trump issued an executive order in January that banned transgender people from serving in the military. In June, the Air Force approve retirement orders for the Airmen named in the lawsuit, but two months later the s...

Open Season has officially begun. Enrollees in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program have between now and December 8th to make changes to their health plan options. The open enrollment period also applies for Postal Service employees, as well as those with dental and vision coverage. For plan year 2026, federal employees’ health insurance premiums are rising by an average of 12%. See Priva...

The Treasury Department is officially suspending Direct File, a free, online tax filing platform the IRS launched last year. The department says it’s exploring alternatives. That includes strengthening its partnership with tax preparation companies through its Free File program. Direct File expanded to 25 states during this year’s filing season and saw higher favorability scores. But Treasury says...

Agencies would be required to disclose when artificial intelligence replaces a federal job under a bipartisan bill in the Senate. Senators Mark Warner and Josh Hawley announced the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act yesterday. The bill would require major companies and agencies to report AI-related job effects, including layoffs and job displacement, to the Labor Department. Labor would also be re...

As Open Season approaches, one Republican is raising concerns about funding for the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. Oklahoma Senator James Lankford is questioning the Office of Personnel Management on how it plans to avoid exhausting the FEHB’s trust fund. He says it’s a concern, since there aren’t any incoming contributions to the trust fund under the government shutdown. In response t...

Funds in the Thrift Savings Plan continue bring back strong returns month over month. In October, all 15 funds increased over their September numbers. The C and I funds were the top earners, returning 2.34% and 2.13%, respectively in October. The G, F and L income fund were the only funds to garner returns of less than 1%. Year to date, 13 of 15 funds are returning more than 10% with the I fund co...

Colorado’s attorney general is suing the Trump administration over its decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama. Attorney General Phil Weiser filed the lawsuit last week, arguing the president’s move is unconstitutional and violates federal law requiring notices and reports to Congress before relocating a major military headquarters. Weiser said...

Plans to keep the FBI’s new headquarters in the District of Columbia are moving ahead in Congress. Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee advanced the Trump administration’s proposal to move the FBI to the Ronald Reagan Building just blocks away from the crumbling J. Edgar Hoover Building. The Biden administration planned to relocate the FBI headquarters to Greenbelt, Mar...

The second-longest government shutdown is projected to put a toll on the U-S economy. The Congressional Budget Office expects the shutdown will take a $7 billion hit to the economy, so far. That sum would climb to $14 billion if it drags on for another month. About 750,000 federal employees are currently furloughed and many others are working without pay.  See Privacy Policy at https://a...

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board is reminding federal employees of their current options for loans. All loans from the Thrift Savings Plan remain in good standing during a government shutdown, even if participants don’t make payments on time. The TSP board has also received recent feedback from participants on its loan program, with some calling it a “true lifesaver.” Others say...

The government shutdown is putting loans from the Small Business Administration on hold. SBA estimates that $170 million in loans have been paused each day. That adds up to more than $4.5 billion dollars over the length of the shutdown. SBA paid out more than $45 billion in loans to 85,000 small business in fiscal 2025. That’s a record high for the agency.  See Privacy Policy at https://...

The Department of the Air Force is opening up its unused land across five military bases to private companies to build artificial intelligence centers. A request for lease proposals posted last week follows President Donald Trump’s executive order to use federally owned land and resources to quickly build AI data centers. In addition, the Air Force said the service “cannot afford to disregard...

The number of federal employees exiting the government this year continues to grow. The Partnership for Public Service has added thousands more to its running tally of how many feds have left their jobs since January. The latest estimate surpasses 211,000 employees who are either already gone, or who may exit soon. The organization says the increase comes from the layoffs agencies announced earlie...