Management
Inside Trump’s overhaul of federal election security agencies
Career specialists have been pushed out and new political appointees installed across the agencies that safeguard federal elections.
Management
Privatization, eliminations and consolidations: Major reforms from Trump's budget
The president's fiscal 2027 blueprint contains significant overhauls to the work carried out by federal agencies.
Management
DHS to fold intelligence office into headquarters under Trump's 2027 budget plan
The plan to restructure the Office of Intelligence and Analysis would require congressional approval and could reshape oversight of domestic intelligence-sharing.
Updated
Pay & Benefits
Trump’s budget calls for 2027 pay freeze
Though the president’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal calls for a 7% pay raise for military service members, it fails to mention civilian federal employee compensation.
Defense
Nearly 200 employees could move to Alabama this year under a Space Command plan
April will see the ribbon cut on a new top-secret facility that will serve as its headquarters, its commander told lawmakers.
Tech
Trump names CEOs, nuclear fusion founders and Nobel laureate to tech advisory council
The announcement includes 13 of the possible 24 members that will make up the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Tech
White House releases regulatory vision for AI
The framework includes seven AI policy recommendations for Congress that attempt to balance consumer protections with advancing AI development.
Management
Fired MSPB member appeals to Supreme Court
Attorneys for former Democratic Merit Systems Protection Board Member Cathy Harris argued that however the justices rule in a similar case involving the Federal Trade Commission, Congress can prescribe removal protections for officials at “purely adjudicative” agencies.
Defense
Record-smashing $1.5-trillion spending proposal will fund only the ‘most essential things’: comptroller
The Pentagon’s acting CFO also said that just a sliver of the $153 billion reconciliation funds remains unallocated.
Management
LGBTQ data is disappearing under Trump, reports find
Government agencies have gotten rid of gender identity and sexual orientation data elements from over 360 data collections over the last year.
Tech
These former government tech leaders are prepping day-one plans for a future administration
Mikey Dickerson, the first head of the U.S. Digital Service, is a senior advisor for the effort, called the Tech Viaduct.
Oversight
Memo to JD Vance: Fighting the War on waste
COMMENTARY | The White House's proposed war on fraud, waste and abuse is neither new nor an assured outcome for any presidential administration, but history offers some lessons that can help get started.
Management
Top NSC cyber official returns to academia
For the last year, JD Work was a high-ranking official working on cyber policy within the White House National Security Council.
Tech
New White House design team aims for ‘delightful’ websites — changing design ethos in the process
Trump’s chief design officer says that his work shouldn’t be controversial, but his team’s track record has raised questions about who their websites are for, who they leave out and whether the White House can garner trust based on sleek design alone.
Tech
Trump’s nutrition website directs users to Elon Musk’s Grok
The inclusion of Elon Musk’s chatbot in the government website follows backlash over the chatbot creating millions of sexualized images of women and children.
Oversight
As Trump administration cries ‘fraud,’ experts worry it does more harm than good
“It’s dismaying,” one longtime anti-fraud expert told Nextgov/FCW of how the administration is using fraud as rationale but firing the watchdogs that are tasked with finding it.
Workforce
NTEU, White House spar over whether unions can challenge their ouster administratively
The Trump administration contends unions can seek review of their ouster from most federal agencies on national security grounds before the Federal Labor Relations Authority, but labor groups say that analysis misconstrues a term of art in federal labor law.
Workforce
Trump defends cutting nearly 300,000 feds from their ‘boring’ jobs
The president claimed without evidence that all federal workers forced out during his first year back were now in “better” jobs in factories making double or triple their government salary.
Management
‘Harder days ahead in 2026’: Good government group predicts increased political interference in the civil service in Trump’s second year
A new analysis from the Partnership for Public Service looks at the effects, so far, of the Trump administration’s reforms to the federal workforce and what they could portend.
Defense