Federal Newscast

In today's Federal Newscast, a Democratic lawmaker seeks to put guardrails around the Pentagon’s use of artificial intelligence in military operations. 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 officially tightening rules around its popular education programs. The service is eliminating Credentialing Assistance for commissioned officers, limiting that benefit primarily to enlisted troops. Army officials previously said that officers already have access to various education opportunities, while enlisted soldiers face more challenges transitioning to civilian careers. Under the new policy, all credentialing assistance requests will require command approval. Soldiers failing to complete their courses will be suspended from requesting credentialing assistance for a year. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Attorneys argue against the judge giving Anthropic a preliminary injunction that would put the federal supply chain risk determination on hold.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Defense Department is blowing through initial estimates of what its Golden Dome initiative would cost. General Michael ​Guetlein, Golden Dome's manager, said Tuesday the Pentagon is “at $185 billion for the objective architecture, which delivers way out into the 2035 timeframe.” This estimate is already $10 billion more and will take five years longer than what President Donald Trump said it would cost and when it would be ready.  Guetlein also says that outside projections are “estimating a very large, complex capability.” The Defense Department instead is “changing that equation, simplifying, disaggregating it, to bring down that cost equation” that won’t exceed that $185 billion. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A government watchdog says the IRS doesn’t yet have a plan to reduce its backlog of taxpayer correspondence. The Government Accountability Office says the agency’s backlog at the end of last year’s filing season remained higher than pre-pandemic levels. GAO says that without a plan the IRS risks not doing all it can to bring down the backlog; and may provide less timely service to taxpayers. The IRS says it will take GAO’s recommendations into consideration. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A new bill seeks to exempt National Guard and Reserve drill pay from federal income taxes. The No Tax on Drill Pay Act would eliminate taxes on income earned during Inactive Duty Training, which typically includes monthly drill weekends and other readiness training throughout the year. Congressman Andy Barr, who introduced the bill, said eliminating federal taxes on drill pay would reward the more than 800,000 Americans who serve in the Guard and Reserve. The bill follows several recent proposals aimed at making certain military pay tax-free. Last year, a group of lawmakers introduced legislation to exempt all military bonuses from federal income tax, while another proposal is seeking to fully exempt military compensation from federal income tax. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A top committee Democrat wants more information on DOGE’s activities at the Social Security Administration. Ranking Member Gary Peters on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is calling for a full and independent investigation of DOGE’s use of sensitive agency information. The senator’s push comes after reports that DOGE’s access to Social Security systems put Americans’ personal information at risk and potentially violated the law.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security will get his day in the Senate next week. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has scheduled Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing for the morning of Wednesday, March 18th. Mullin, currently the junior senator from Oklahoma, is expected to field tough questions about his plans for overseeing the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda and other key DHS issues. Mullin has little prior experience in homeland security roles. He has championed Trump’s immigration crackdown as a member of the Senate. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the Trump administration presses forward with efforts to reduce government, a watchdog has found that there is not a comprehensive list of all federal programs to start with. Despite being legally required to do so, the Office of Management and Budget has yet to publish an inventory of all current agency programs. A new report from the Government Accountability Office recommends that OMB fill in those data gaps, and disclose any areas that are missing information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Trump formally transmitted Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to be Homeland Security Secretary to the Senate yesterday. Last week, Trump announced he would have Mullin, the junior Senator from Oklahoma replace Kristi Noem, who’s expected to step down as Secretary at the end of this month. But Mullin still requires confirmation and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul has yet to announce a nomination hearing. 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 applications are continuing to flood the Office of Personnel Management. In February, another 31,000 retirement claims entered the agency’s systems. That puts OPM’s Retirement Services center at yet another record high of pending applications — now reaching above 65,000 cases with pensions that are yet-to-be finalized. That’s an 88% increase since OPM’s inventory last October, when retirements from the deferred resignation program first began trickling in. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A plan to limit when federal employees can cancel their union du  es if officially off the table. The Federal Labor Relations Authority is rescinding a previous proposal from 2022, which would have given federal employees only a once-per-year opportunity to cancel dues payments. Since 2020, dues-paying federal employees have had the option to cancel automatic deductions for union dues at any time.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

OpenAI and the Defense Department have adjusted the deal they made just days ago for use of the company’s artificial intelligence tools in classified environments. The changes center around prohibiting use of the Open AI’s technology for domestic surveillance, autonomous weapons systems and autonomous decision-making. These are similar to the safeguards Anthropic had insisted on that tanked its deal with the Pentagon and got it labeled as a national security risk. OpenAI also said the deal was adjusted to clarify that the Pentagon won’t use its technology at any of its intelligence agencies; that would require a separate agreement.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A new bill would prevent federal retirees who survived domestic violence from needing to share personal details with their abusers during the retirement process. Currently, retired feds must get written consent from their current or former spouse if they update their retirement benefits; which can mean exposing personal contact information to abusers. But the “Federal Retirement Safety Act” sponsored by Congressman Joe Neguse would direct the Office of Personnel Management to waive the requirement for survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence. OPM already waives the requirement for people whose spouses have died or aren’t able to be located.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Federal employees saw only small growth in most of their retirement accounts in February. All but one of the funds in the Thrift Savings Plan came in with positive returns for the month, but the increase was notably lower across the board. The I Fund, for example, saw the biggest increase of more than 6% in February, but that was much lower than the 12% increase it saw in January. The C Fund was the only account that came in negative, losing 0.76% as compared to January. For the year, all funds are in the black. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tens of thousands of employees have been working unpaid through the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. But thousands of others across DHS will be getting a paycheck on time. The American Federation of Government Employees is urging Congress to immediately compensate all employees affected by the DHS shutdown. The union is calling for the passage of the Shutdown Fairness Act, which would pay federal employees on time during any current or future funding lapse. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden is blocking the Trump administration’s nominee to lead both U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency. Wyden says that Lieutenant General Joshua Rudd, who currently serves as the deputy commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, lacks the experience needed to immediately step into the dual leadership role. The lawmaker added that when it comes to U.S. cybersecurity, “there is simply no time for on-the-job learning, the threat is just too urgent for that.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

While nearly all major federal agencies saw staffing declines in the first half of 2025, the size of those separations varied. NASA’s workforce, along with civilian staff at the Defense Department, declined by less than 5%. But the Education Department lost more than 20% of its workforce in the same timeframe. That’s all according to new data analysis from the Government Accountability Office. GAO says it will continue issuing updates on federal workforce staffing changes over time.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The nation’s highest court is adopting new technology to prevent conflicts of interest. The Supreme Court says it is now using newly developed software to assist in identifying potential conflicts for the justices. The software will run automated recusal checks that compare information about parties and attorneys in a case with lists created by each Justice’s chamber. The Court’s Office of Information Technology worked with the Legal Office and the Clerk’s Office to design the technology. New court rules to support use of the software will take effect March 16. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A new director with both military command and education experience will take over Defense Department schools beginning next month. Paul Craft, an Ohio Army National Guard officer with more than three decades of service, will replace Beth Schiavino-Narvaez, who brought extensive public education leadership experience to the role. The abrupt leadership change signals a shift in educational priorities for schools serving military families around the world. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Craft will “swiftly reorient DoDEA towards patriotic values and classical learning.” The Defense Department Education Activity serves more than 67,000 military-connected students. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.