Updated
Management
State Department deputy Michael Rigas tapped as acting GSA head
Stephen Ehikian, who has served as the acting GSA administrator since Trump took office, will be staying on as deputy. Some in the agency speculate the change is due to DOGE fallout.
Management
VA launches a departmentwide 'review of its mission' as it seeks changes to its operations
Veterans Affairs is no longer planning mass layoffs, but major changes still expected.
Workforce
Census has long struggled with staffing shortages. Employees say Trump is making it worse
Voluntary separation incentives and the government hiring freeze have left remaining staff on the hook with more work.
Management
Senate spending panel axes provision moving FBI headquarters to Maryland
The federal government has been debating the best location for a new FBI headquarters for well over a decade while its current office space in the J. Edgar Hoover Building continues to deteriorate.
Management
Trump creates 'Schedule G' to add more political appointees to agencies top ranks
The new, non-career employees will serve in policy-making roles and add "horsepower" to carrying out the administration's agenda, White House says.
Management
House sends bill to rescind billions for foreign aid and public media to the White House
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said there will likely be additional rescission packages.
Management
GSA plans to optimize operations following cost-cutting, agency head says
GSA’s acting head Stephen Ehikian said “phase two” of the agency’s approach will prioritize becoming “much more efficient, much more effective and [with] much more of an eye towards our stakeholders, which is the American taxpayer.”
Workforce
Agencies to ‘redouble’ efforts to rightsize their workforces following Supreme Court ruling, White House official says
Agencies are still finalizing decisions on whether they have "too many people in the wrong place," official says.
Pay & Benefits
OPM’s digital retirement application is live. What that means for feds planning to retire
The new electronic retirement system promises a faster, more accurate process, but some users are still adjusting to the change.
Management
Inside VA’s yearslong AI effort to uncover veterans at high risk of suicide
VA’s REACH VET model scans veterans’ electronic health records to identify those in the top 0.1% of suicide risk and then provide them with more targeted support.
Management
Trump admin. tells judge it can fire at least some career feds at any time for any reason
The administration is seeking to upend civil service protections long in place for federal employees.
Management
Senate clears amended bill to claw back billions in foreign aid and public media funding
The House is expected to take up the legislation on Thursday.
Updated
Workforce
OPM urges ‘generous approach’ to approving religion-based telework
A memo encouraging the approval of telework arrangements for people with religious reasonable accommodation requests comes as some agencies look to crack down on disability-based telework usage.
Workforce
Trump’s anti-union EO can remain in effect during challenge, appellate court says
The judge who dissented from an appellate court’s initial decision allowing the edict to be implemented issued a warning about the high standards that should accompany a judicial stay.
Management
Bill to rescind billions in government funding being amended by the Senate
Republicans in the House and Senate have until Friday to pass the recissions measure that targets foreign assistance and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Exclusive
Workforce
USDA asks employees to transfer to 'critical' vacancies, suggests more cuts coming
The administration is asking employees “to help the agency with no guarantee of protection in the future," one staffer says.
Exclusive
Pay & Benefits
GSA, Uber partner to cut travel costs for feds, military and select contractors
The partnership with Uber for Business has major implications for the federal workforce at home and abroad.
Management
IRS is building a vast system to share millions of taxpayers’ data with ICE
ProPublica has obtained the blueprint for the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to turn over IRS records to Homeland Security in order to speed up the agency’s mass deportation efforts.
Pay & Benefits
To fix air traffic controller shortage, Congress proposes changing retirement limits
The Control Tower Continuity Act would help address the ongoing staff shortfall of 3,000 positions by exempting personnel from mandatory retirement at age 61.
Workforce