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.
Workforce
The U.S. DOGE Service is still hiring
The hires are intended to fill what used to be the U.S. Digital Service after many employees there left or were laid off.
Management
Social Security signals potential benefit disruptions this fall for those still getting paper checks
Over half a million people still get their Social Security benefits via paper checks. They’ll need a waiver by the end of September to continue to do so, SSA says.
Oversight
Fraud-fighting oversight committee gets a life extension in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee was set to sunset in September, but now has life through 2034.
Tech
Senate Democrats want more information on SSA’s use of AI on its phone lines
A new letter sent to the SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano follows Nextgov/FCW reporting that an anti-fraud check installed on the agency’s phone lines found very little likely fraud.
Tech
SSA head wants to beef up agency tech as it sheds thousands of staff
Some experts are skeptical that technology can make up for staffing losses in critical parts of the agency.
Oversight
Lawmakers spar over DOGE as Republicans look to lock in cuts
Republicans again blocked an attempt to subpoena billionaire and former DOGE leader Elon Musk.
Tech
Civic tech leaders worry DOGE is ‘tarnishing’ its tools to improve government
USDS, the White House team DOGE took over in January, was a flagship civic tech organization. Six months later, civic tech is figuring out what’s next.
Tech
Job cuts could throw a wrench in the IRS’s plan to modernize
Agency leaders say they want to complete the “vast majority” of its modernization efforts within the next couple of years.
Exclusive
Tech
Direct File is 'beloved by its users,' internal IRS report says
The IRS is reportedly ending the Direct File, but a report obtained via the Freedom of Information Act says that 94% of users rated their experience as “excellent” or “above average.”
Workforce
Trump administration debuts permitting modernization plan, even as staff cuts could jeopardize it
The new plan builds on Biden-era work, but how implementation goes during Trump-era workforce reductions remains to be seen.
Management
White House budget request includes $45 million in additional DOGE funding
The request would support an estimated 150 full time employees, 80% of whom would be paid out of agency reimbursements, rather than DOGE-specific funds.
Workforce
Fired GSA 18F employees appeal to have jobs reinstated
The Trump administration has endeavored to streamline the agency’s contracting and procurement processes while putting in mechanisms to shed its workforce.
Management
VA-based DOGE associate gets ‘the boot’ after publicly discussing his work
Sahil Lavingia detailed in a personal blog how the reality of hunting inefficiencies at the Department of Veterans Affairs was not what he had expected.
Management
New SSA chief praises DOGE for ‘making things better’
Frank Bisignano said he has no current plans to institute further reductions in force and hopes to use AI to make the historically sluggish Social Security disability determination processes move faster.
Workforce
More than 2,100 GSA employees have accepted deferred resignations
Combined with those employees that have been impacted by reductions in force, the losses amount to nearly a quarter of what the agency’s workforce totals were last fall.
Management
USDA wants to modernize farmer services, even as staffing cuts could hurt the effort
The department plans to digitize farmer-facing applications that are still on paper.
Management
Legislative watchdog rebuffs DOGE efforts to install on-site team
“DOGE’s attempted intrusion into an independent, nonpartisan legislative branch agency is a direct assault on our nation’s sacred separation of powers,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee.
Management
DOGE went looking for phone fraud at SSA — and found almost none
Since SSA installed new anti-fraud checks on claims made over the phone, only two claims out of over 110,000 were found to likely be fraudulent, according to internal documents obtained by Nextgov/FCW.
Management