Federal Newscast

The Department of the Navy is rolling out new features to make it easier for sailors to navigate MyNavy Portal and access personnel services. The eLeave feature, for instance, allows sailors to check their estimated leave balance, request regular leave and extensions and review past leave periods “through a more intuitive experience.” Meanwhile, MyData will provide Sailors with greater visibility into their personnel information. A new landing page has also become more intuitive and personalized. The homepage, the Navy said, “represents a significant step toward MyNavy Portal’s broader goal of putting the information and services sailors need within fewer than four clicks.”See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Federal immigration judges at the Justice Department are facing doxxing threats. In a new report, the DOJ inspector general found several judges in the department's Executive Office for Immigration Review had been doxxed using publicly accessible data over the past year. EOIR told auditors that it uses a privacy and data removal service to try to remove as much of the judges' personal information as possible from the internet. The IG found DOJ continues to lack a strategy for managing the risks of so-called "ubiquitous technical surveillance" on its employees and operations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Marine Corps said it will pay troops $450 a month while they are engaged in or exposed to enemy fire. That's the legal cap and double what Marines currently receive for hostile fire pay. The service is also increasing imminent danger pay by $50 to $275 per month. Imminent danger pay applies to troops serving in areas where they could be physically harmed. It's the first major combat pay bump in more than two decades. Both raises kick in October 1.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Agencies will now be able to more easily offer bonuses of up to $25,000 to federal employees for exceptional work. The Office of Personnel Management is delegating authority to agency leaders to approve larger bonuses for feds. Previously, bonuses of that size required OPM approval. But OPM says it’s removing the hurdle as a way to help agencies distinguish high levels of performance. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Two House lawmakers want to give the AbilityOne program a makeover. Congressmen Steny Hoyer (D-Md) and Pete Sessions's (R-Texas) American Procurement Improvement Act would modernize the statutory framework governing AbilityOne. The legislation would expand eligibility and help more Americans with disabilities get hired, promoted and grow in their careers. It also would speed up the timeline to add new products and services to the list maintained by the AbilityOne Commission. The bill would be the first major update to AbilityOne in nearly 50 years. The lawmakers say the bill is endorsed by a coalition of 50 organizations, unions, disability stakeholders and advocacy groups. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Postal Service has largely failed to meet service standards, even after reducing those standards. A new report from the Government Accountability Office finds that the declining services are in part due to cost-cutting initiatives. In response, USPS officials say they have made some progress to modernize and improve services, but emphasized that a full solution would require significant structural reforms made by Congress and the White House.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In today's Federal Newscast, the public’s trust in government is declining, new research from the Partnership for Public Service shows.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In today's Federal Newscast, as Congress pushes to eliminate the Space Development Agency as an independent organization, the organization’s director said he “has some concerns, but not too many.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For the second time in a matter of weeks, the Justice Department won a big settlement from a federal contractor to settle claims it violated the False Claims Act. Plus, a federal court holds up one of the White House's reduction efforts for one agency, and a large swath of soldiers get the ok to rejoin the military after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.These stories and more in today's Federal Newscast!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

House Republicans are calling for fair compensation and benefits for more federal law enforcement personnel. A letter addressed to the Office of Personnel Management points out discrepancies in how some law enforcement officers are classified for retirement purposes. The GOP lawmakers are calling on OPM to review the benefits specifically for police officers at the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, as well as DoD’s Force Protection Agency, and personnel at the Federal Protective Service. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The National Park Service has designated the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial as an affiliated area. The National Park Service, the Department of Defense and the Pentagon Memorial Fund signed a memorandum of agreement earlier this week to create a formal affiliation with the National Park Service. The agreement leaves ownership and day-to-day management of the memorial by DoD unchanged. Through the partnership, the organizations will work together to strengthen public understanding of the memorial, its national significance and the events it commemorates. Dedicated on September 11, 2008, the memorial honors the 184 victims killed at the Pentagon and aboard Flight 77.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All 11 Democrats on the House Veterans Affairs Committee are pressing Doug Collins, the VA secretary, for answers about why the agency is rejecting requests from employees for reasonable accommodations. In a letter sent to VA yesterday, Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano and 10 other lawmakers want Collins to provide answers to nine questions about the department's policies and actions in granting telework and other workplace flexibilities. The committee members say they continue to hear cases of veteran employees who were previously approved for telework accommodations now being required to commute to a duty station. The lawmakers want answers from VA by September 22. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Federal wildland firefighters will continue to earn overtime pay, even after they hit a legal cap on overtime hours. The continuing resolution that Congress passed last week included a provision to extend a waiver on the cap for federal overtime pay, at least until the end of 2027. Many wildland firefighters work extensive overtime during peak wildfire season. But due to a legal loophole, they often meet a ceiling on earning overtime pay. The National Federation of Federal Employees is calling for the passage of legislation to permanently scrap the overtime See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Two Democrat lawmakers are demanding Elon Musk, the former head of the U.S. DOGE Service, explain why 99% of the claimed savings from at the Homeland Security Department never materialized. Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, and James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) called on Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), chairman of the committee, to hold Musk accountable for DOGE’s actions. Thompson and Walkinshaw say a recent report by the Government Accountability Office shows DOGE alleged savings were mostly from IT contracts that it cancelled, but DHS continues to buy these services through other acquisition vehicles. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Adam Telle, the Army's assistant secretary for civil works, will serve as acting Army secretary. President Donald Trump announced the pick on social media Thursday, calling Telle a "great patriot who is respected by all." Telle took the job overseeing the Army Corps of Engineers in August 2025 after serving as a longtime Senate staffer. He also worked in the White House's legislative office during Trump's first term. Telle has not served in the military. He replaces Dan Driscoll, who resigned this week amid clashes with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Postal Service is finalizing a new portal to provide election officials with a simple, secure and efficient way to share lists of individuals receiving ballots by mail in their respective states. The U.S. Federal Ballot Mail Portal will soon be available to election officials who voluntarily wish to familiarize themselves with the platform. USPS says it also will provide tools, presentations and other resources to help election officials understand the platform and make decisions about whether and how they wish to use it. USPS is facing new questions from lawmakers about the portal after a whistleblower claimed that the portal has been hastily built and could fail. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

August was a month of rebounds for the Thrift Savings Plan. All TSP funds ended in the black, the highest increase being the I Fund at 3.3%, followed by the C and S Funds at 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively. The G and F Funds posted more modest increases, both below 1%. For 2026 so far, all but one of the 16 TSP funds have grown, with more than half seeing double-digit percentage increases.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Defense Department employees can now use three major AI products at work. The department on Monday launched military versions of OpenAI's ChatGPT and Elon Musk's Grok to help the workforce with everyday tasks. DoD says ChatGPT can read documents for unclassified administrative and policy work. Grok is built for operational needs like market research and supply chain management. Google's Gemini was the first product launched on the Pentagon's AI hub last year. More than 1.7 million have signed up to use those services so far.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The General Services Administration has removed the AbilityOne Commission and National Prison Industries' exception from the Trade Agreements Act for all of its contracts. In a deviation to GSA's acquisition regulations, the agency will now require the commission and all of its non-profits like SourceAmerica and the National Industries for the Blind, to only use products from countries that have existing trade agreements with the U.S. This means there are 78 countries, including China, Vietnam and Thailand, that the AbilityOne Commission and NPI can no longer import products from. This deviation comes on the heels of a letter from GSA to AbilityOne seeking more information about the products they are selling through the schedule contracts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up to 400 federal positions can now earn salaries of $400,000. A new final rule from the Office of Personnel Management allows the higher pay rates for hundreds of workers under an authority known as “critical position pay.” The authority is meant to help agencies recruit and retain highly qualified and specialized government workers in mission-critical roles. OPM’s final rule this week aligns with President Donald Trump’s orders earlier this year to use the pay authority for up to 400 national security roles.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.