Federal Newscast

In honor of National Whistleblower Day, the Office of Special Counsel is recognizing two federal employees with outstanding public servant awards. The two whistleblowers who earned this year’s award come from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The employees had reported over 50 active mines in the Pacific that hadn’t been inspected since 2016 due to a clerical error. From the whistleblowers’ actions, it became clear the agency had incorrectly classified the mines as abandoned and inaccurately reported complete inspections. OSC’s whistleblower awards are issued each year in celebration of the first whistleblower protection law, dating back to 1778. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is getting new permanent leadership. The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick Susan Monarez to serve as CDC director. She’ll be the CDC’s first director without a medical degree in more than 70 years. CDC laid off about 2,400 employees in April. But the agency reinstated about a third of them. Nearly 600 employees took voluntary incentives to leave the agency and will be off its rolls by the end of the year.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Transportation Security Administration wants to use artificial intelligence and other private sector technologies to streamline airport screening. Under a recent request for information, TSA asked for feedback on turnkey solutions that could be used at airport checkpoints. The deadline to respond is August 1. The RFI was issued through TSA’s Screening Partnership Program, which allows airports to contract for private security screening services. TSA says it’s particularly interested in tech that can reduce manual labor and improve the passenger experience.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Thrift Savings Plan closed out the month of June with just over $1 trillion dollars in assets, across 7.2 million TSP participants. Officials on the TSP board say that high number shows a strong level of trust among participants in the TSP. Board officials are also reporting high levels of satisfaction among TSP participants. For the last 12 months, more than 93% of TSP users have consistently said they’re satisfied with the TSP's offerings. Satisfaction among callers to the TSP’s customer service phone line also remain high.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A bill expanding veterans’ access to non-VA health care is making its way through Congress. The House VA Committee advanced the Veterans' ACCESS Act. The bill would make it easier for veterans covered by the VA to seek heath care in the private sector and would create an online patient self-service scheduling system. Committee Chairman Mike Bost says the bill would help veterans avoid waiting for medical appointments.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Employees at the National Science Foundation are pushing back against the Trump administration’s actions at the agency. Nearly 150 NSF employees signed a letter of dissent this week. They’re criticizing the administration’s terminations of agency workers, while also cutting appropriated funding. Altogether, the NSF employees warn that the administration’s actions amount to a “systemic dismantling” of the scientific agency. NSF’s letter mirrors similar efforts from employees at NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency and several others.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Office of Management and Budget has until Wednesday to turn the lights back on for one of its key public spending transparency websites. In March, OMB shut down its Congressionally-mandated database that tracks the apportionment of funds to individual agencies, saying it didn’t believe it should have to provide “predecisional” information. On Monday, a federal judge found that decision violated the law, and gave the Trump administration until 10 a.m. on Wednesday to restore the Public Apportionments Database.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Government Accountability Office processed more than 5,700 allegations through its fraud hotline last year. That’s according to the latest annual report on GAO’s FraudNet program. FraudNet referred more than 2,100 allegations to federal agencies or other entities for further investigation, roughly the same number of referrals as in 2023. FraudNet analysts also supported more than 50 requests from GAO teams conducting audits and investigations. That includes helping GAO identify healthcare providers who were ineligible to work for the Defense Department’s TRICARE Network. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is offering retired ICE employees as much as a $50,000 signing bonus to return to the job. The agency is recruiting both deportation officers and special agents. ICE received $8 billion under the Big Beautiful Bill to hire 10,000 new officers over the next four years. ICE says it has a Dual Compensation Waiver to hire retired annuitants on a term-limited basis. Re-employed annuitants will receive both their full basic annuity and full salary. But annuity supplements and Social Security benefits may be reduced depending on an individual’s salary. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Trump administration is creating a new classification for non-career employees. President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing Schedule G that would let agencies hire non-career employees who engage in policy-making or policy-advocating work. These employees would leave their position when the president's term is over. The EO says Schedule G will improve operations, particularly in agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, by streamlining appointments for key policy roles. Current authorities under Schedule C or the new Schedule Policy/Career do not provide for non-career appointments to policy-making or policy-advocating roles. The White House says this leaves a gap in federal hiring categories.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hackers connected to China extensively compromised a U.S. state’s Army National Guard network starting last March. That’s according to a June intelligence memo from the Department of Homeland Security. It details the “Salt Typhoon” group’s intrusion into National Guard networks and subsequent theft of sensitive data. DHS says Salt Typhoon’s successful hack could undermine National Guard’s efforts to protect American critical infrastructure. The group has been connected to intrusions into U.S. mobile networks and the hacking of dozens of high-profile U.S. officials. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

June saw the third largest number of federal employees retire in calendar year 2025. More than 13,400 feds submitted their paperwork. At the same time, the average number of days to process retirement paperwork dropped to 45, the lowest number since February and the second lowest in the last 18 months. OPM’s backlog of retirement claims stands just over 26 thousand, the highest level since October 2023. In all, 70,351 employees retired in the first six months of 2025 as compared to 56,756 employees who left federal service during the first six months of 2024. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The head of the effort to fix the security clearance process is retiring. David Cattler, the director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, is retiring after more than 35 years of federal service. Cattler will step down from his role on September 30th. He has been director of DCSA for almost 18 months. Before he retires, Cattler will complete a major reorganization of the agency, which will help further reduce the backlog of security clearances. As of May, DCSA says it has decreased the backlog by 17% in 2025 alone. Along with DCSA, Cattler served in various leadership roles in the intelligence community, including on the National Security Council, with the Defense Intelligence Agency and on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The agency says a successor has not yet be named. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The number of so-called TSP millionaires is on the rise. As of June, more than 171,000 participants in the Thrift Savings Plan have accounts totaling over $1 million. That’s a little over 2% of all TSP accounts across the board. It also means roughly 24,000 more feds have crossed the million-dollar threshold in the last three months. Most TSP millionaires have spent decades investing in their accounts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Office of Personnel Management has detailed the federal workplace changes that should already be in effect, in response to President Trump’s orders on “gender ideology” from January. Agencies were required to cancel any diversity-related training programs and disband employee resource groups that focused on gender inclusion. Federal employees also had to remove pronouns from their email signatures. The White House says the requirements are meant to combat what it calls “gender ideology extremism.” But advocates of diversity, equity and inclusion say the new policies are harmful to transgender and non-binary employees. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Former federal employees have a new opportunity to study the Trump administration’s impacts on the civil service. The non-profit Democracy Forward has launched a new civil service fellowship program. Throughout the program’s inaugural year, fellows will be tasked with researching the impacts of the Trump administration’s cuts. It's currently seeking applicants with experience working in the federal government.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Public sector retirees impacted by the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset should see their benefits fully updated by November. The majority of affected beneficiaries already began receiving their increased monthly benefit amounts in April. But the Social Security Administration says it’s still working through some of the more complex cases. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in early January, eliminated both the WEP and GPO. The two longstanding Social Security provisions had been reducing or eliminating benefits for many public sector annuitants.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Agencies will have to wait until another three months before they can start hiring employees again. The Trump administration has extended its governmentwide hiring freeze until mid-October. The freeze had previously been expected to lift next week. The hiring freeze doesn’t apply to military members, or civilian positions dealing with immigration enforcement, national security or public safety. It’s the White House’s second extension of the freeze since President Trump's order on his first day in office. By the time the freeze lifts, agencies will have been barred from hiring for nine months.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The FBI is being urged to step up its efforts to protect government officials from mobile cyber threats. In a new letter to the bureau, Senator Ron Wyden says its current spyware guidance isn’t enough to protect against advanced cyber tools. He pointed to how spyware has been found on the phones of dozens of government employees.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Federal employees retirement savings grew at a healthy rate last month. New data from the Thrift Savings Plan shows all 15 funds saw higher rates of return in June as compared to May. Investors in the C and S funds were among biggest winners, seeing over a 5% rate of return for June. All the Lifecycle funds also posted a higher returns last month with the L 2055, L 2060 and L 2065 all seeing returns over 4.6%. Year to date, the big winner is the I Fund with a return rate of over 18%.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.