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1 week ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
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 (D-Ore.) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) 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.
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1 week ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
The State Department faces the challenge of securing federal identities across the world — including in adversarial locations — while maintaining one of the most complex threat profiles in government. The department’s global operations include 32 bureaus representing the U.S. footprint across nations and time zones, each with a different mission, different risks and different cultural practices.
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1 week ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
The Postal Service strikes a deal with another one of its unions. Members of the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association approved a tentative contract that lasts through 2027. About 67% of voting members approved the tentative agreement. Next up, the American Postal Workers Union votes whether or not to approve its contract next month. Members of another union, the National Association of Letter Carriers, voted against a tentative agreement with USPS in January.
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1 week ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
The Interior Department and the Forest Service are facing a deadline to consolidate their wildland fire programs. President Trump signed an executive order last week giving the agencies 90 days to combine their two offices into one. The White House said it will make wildland fire prevention and response efforts more efficient. But some federal wildland firefighters question the need for consolidating the programs when a larger response is already needed.
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2 weeks ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
Participants in the Thrift Savings Plan will soon see a few changes to the TSP’s Lifecycle Funds. Starting June 30th, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board will add an L 2075 Fund. That's meant for any current or future federal employees who plan to retire during or after the year 2073. The TSP board will also be rolling over the current L 2025 Fund into its broader L Income Fund.
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2 weeks ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
Civilian agencies have spent nearly 23% less during the first eight months of 2025 as compared to the same time period in 2024. The Department of Government Efficiency said that means non-defense spending has been reduced by almost $25 billion. Overall non-defense agencies have obligated over $85 billion in 2025, down from $110 billion at this point last year. Some of the spending reduction comes from the cancellation of contracts, which DOGE said agencies have terminated more than 11,000.
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2 weeks ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
The Agriculture Department has cancelled hundreds of contracts under the Trump administration including one that helped households locate food assistance programs. The nonprofit Hunger Free America said it ran an “information clearinghouse” of food assistance programs for USDA for more than a decade. But it claims in a lawsuit that USDA terminated the contract last month.
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2 weeks ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
The Postal Service is falling into pattern raising stamp prices each January and July. But its regulator is considering limits to those price increases. A proposed rule from the Postal Regulatory Commission would cap USPS to only raising prices once per year. The regulator gave USPS the freedom to set mail prices higher than the rate of inflation in 2020 when the agency was at risk of running out of cash. USPS is planning to set the price of a first-class Forever stamp to 78 cents next month.
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2 weeks ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
As cyber threats against federal systems continue to grow, the Department of Defense’s enterprise Identity Credential and Access Management initiative is emerging as a model for how federal agencies are moving from traditional security models to modern authentication frameworks to meet the current threats. The need for changes from the traditional model stem from audits that exposed critical vulnerabilities in federal systems.
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2 weeks ago | 
federalnewsnetwork.com | Michele Sandiford
A separation health assessment administered to more than 50,000 service members found that about 67% of troops screened positive for at least one mental health condition. Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression were among the most common issues identified. A government watchdog found that over 50% of service members declined referrals to the Defense Department’s inTransition program that provides mental health resources during transition periods.
