Management

Donald Trump's Glacial Pace Toward a Full Cabinet

Most presidents have the majority of their Cabinet confirmed by this point in their first term. Why doesn’t he?

Defense

Flynn's Calls With Russia's Ambassador: Who Knew What, and When?

A timeline of the events that led to the national-security adviser’s resignation

Route Fifty

Police Officers in Iowa Decry GOP Plan; Austin Mayor’s Open Letter on ICE’s ‘Secretive Raids’

Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Florida’s Everglades are at an environmental “tipping point”; snowplow driver shortage in Maine; and Oklahoma governor’s sales tax expansion.

Oversight

Secret Service Chief Clancy Announces Retirement

Obama appointee had sought reforms following series of scandals.

Oversight

Trump's Performative Presidency

The decision to handle the minor crisis of a North Korean missile launch in full view of Mar-a-Lago members makes little sense—except as an opportunity to act out leadership in public.

Defense

Flynn Resigns As National Security Adviser

The retired general acknowledged he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador

Oversight

Play of the Day: Mar-a-Lago is the Open-Air Florida Situation Room

Donald Trump and Shinzō Abe took to the patio dining area to discuss classified information in full view of the club's members.

Management

Why Hiring Freezes Don’t Work

Shrinking the workforce through attrition is guaranteed only to produce a federal bureaucracy badly out of step with the government we want.

Route Fifty

Half of the Children in California Have an Immigrant Parent

In this time of heightened tension surrounding immigration policy, the Golden State faces a disproportionate challenge.

Defense

Pentagon’s Audit Readiness Still a Work in Progress

GAO finds all the services provided iffy financial data to outside auditors.

Management

The Federal Voting Agency Republicans Want to Kill

GOP lawmakers argue the Election Assistance Commission, created in 2002, has outlived its usefulness. Democrats say that in the age of hacking, it’s needed now more than ever.

Defense

Donald Trump Used His Club’s Restaurant as a Situation Room This Weekend

After North Korea launched a ballistic missile, Trump strategized in front of dozens of diners at Mar-a-Lago.

Tech

A NASA Engineer Was Required to Unlock his Phone at the Border

A U.S.-born scientist was detained at the Houston airport until he gave customs agents the passcode to his work-issued device.

Route Fifty

Iowa Gov. Supports State Preemption on Minimum Wage; Can Syracuse Block City-County Merger Plan?

Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Winning and losing municipalities in Conn.; Pa. State Capitol vandalized; and Wash. state assesses data-sharing vulnerabilities.

Management

90-Day Federal Hiring Freeze Would Impact 19K Jobs, Consultant Estimates

Deltek VP "pretty bullish" on contracting under Trump given new defense spending.

Management

VOA Serves New Russian-Language Fare to Counter Putin Info Diet

Current Time TV network taps cross-continental staff in Washington and Prague.

Defense

An Unintended Side Effect of Trump's Border Wall

Since the Great Recession, more Mexicans have left the United States than migrated there. Constructing a barrier along the southern border may discourage more from going.