Federal Newscast

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.

Senate Republicans want to limit the size of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. A new bill led by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton would cap ODNI at 650 full-time staff. ODNI started out the year with roughly 1,800 employees. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says she has already reduced ODNI’s staff by roughly 25% since then. Cotton’s legislation would deepen the cuts by eliminating several ODNI organizations including the National Counterintelligence and Security Center and the National Intelligence University. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Small Business Administration is launching an investigation into the 8(a) business development program seeking to root out possible fraud. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler ordered the full-scale audit after a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation uncovered a years-long fraud and bribery scheme involving a former federal contracting officer and two 8(a) contractors. SBA's Office of General Contracting and Business Development will lead the audit, starting with reviewing high-dollar ad limited competition contracts. The review will go back 15 years and work with other agencies, which awarded 8(a) contracts. The Justice Department found recently $550 million in contracts were fraudulently steered through bribery and abuse of a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracting officer, including to one 8(a) contractor who was officially flagged by USAID as lacking “honesty or integrity."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com

The Senate is moving closer to finalizing the GOP’s reconciliation bill. And a few provisions affecting federal employees remain on the table. One proposal that was partially struck down would have made new federal hires choose between at-will employment and a 10% increase in retirement contributions. But even after a decision from the Senate parliamentarian, the provision could still include a 5% across-the-board retirement contribution increase. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association is urging lawmakers to remove the remaining federal workforce proposals, which it says will negatively impact employees. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A bipartisan bill to revise the rules for federal workers’ compensation cases unanimously advanced out of a House committee this week. The legislation would revise the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act to allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners to treat feds in workers’ compensation cases. A previous version of the bill passed the House in 2022, but did not clear the Senate. Co-sponsors of the bill say they’re hopeful it will pass both chambers this Congress. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Army is turning to the private sector to bolster its tech talent. The service has launched a new website to recruit “top-tier, uniquely skilled” technology professionals into the Army Reserve. The effort follows the creation of Detachment 201, a new program where four senior executives from tech giants like Palantir, Meta and OpenAI were commissioned into the Reserve to help the service integrate and scale commercial technology. According to the website, these Detachment 201 officers will “contribute to accelerating Army modernization, evaluating technology adoption and advising on scalable solutions to enhance tactical innovation and lethality.” The website includes a form that tech professionals can fill out to express interest in Army Detachment 201. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Justice Department has arrested a Defense Department employee for removing classified documents from a Missile Defense Agency office in Huntsville, Alabama. Ewa Ciszak made her initial appearance in federal court Monday. Beginning in February, the FBI says Ciszack began taking classified documents from MDA facilities without authorization. A June 18 search warrant turned up multiple secret-level documents at her personal residence and in her vehicle and backpack. Ciszak had been employed at MDA since January 2023. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A top lawmaker is pressing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to immediately reverse his decision to gut the Pentagon’s independent weapons testing office. In a letter to Hegseth, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren is demanding documentation justifying the cuts, the office’s current oversight list, and how DoD is adhering to the statutory requirement for the office to be independent and whether the office will continue its cyber assessment program, In May, Hegseth instructed the director of operational test and evaluation office to “immediately eliminate any non-statutory” functions of the office, slashing the office’s staff by 74% and its budget by nearly 80%. Warren said cutting this deep into the office can violate the law. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Democratic committee leaders are disputing the Trump administration’s plans to shuffle components of the Education Department into the Labor Department. A group of four senators say moving career and technical education programs between agencies is not within the President’s authority. The lawmakers reiterated that it’s up to Congress to decide whether federal agencies should be rearranged or dismantled. They’re demanding that the administration leave Education’s programs as-is, since Congress has not approved the transition.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Both House and Senate lawmakers are looking to eliminate the IRS’ free online tax filing platform. The Senate Finance Committee is proposing to axe Direct File as part of its contribution to the budget reconciliation bill. The House passed its version of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill last month which would also eliminate the Direct File program. Direct File had nearly 300,000 users during this year’s tax filing season and saw higher favorability scores compared to last year’s pilot. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Congressional Democrats are sounding the alarm over reports that a federal contractor is helping the Trump administration build a “mega-database” of sensitive government records. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are leading their colleagues in a letter to the company Palantir. The New York Times reports the company is building a single, searchable database of taxpayer records across multiple agencies. The lawmakers are asking for a full list of Palantir’s federal contracts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.