Federal Newscast

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.

Federal wildland firefighters can now earn higher pay rates for more types of work. A recent final rule from the Office of Personnel Management authorizes a 25% “hazard pay” boost for work on prescribed burns. That’s in addition to firefighters already getting hazard pay when working on uncontrolled wildfires. OPM says the final rule creates “pay parity,” since both types of work involve similar health and safety risks from fire and smoke. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thousands of federal employees who left the government via the deferred resignation program have essentially been replaced. That's according to new data analysis from the Partnership for Public Service. The nonprofit finds that the agency and occupational series for more than 20,000 employees who took the DRP can be matched to a position later filled in the same category. The turnover marks a loss of institutional knowledge and capacity, the Partnership says.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The National Security Agency doesn’t appear to be complying with federal laws that require the agency to outline whistleblower protections in its nondisclosure agreement. The NSA’s inspector general said the agency doesn’t have a central repository of its NDAs or an overarching policy. But for four of the five agreements the IG did find, whistleblower protection notifications were left out entirely. The agency said it has a plan in place to fix the issue.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is coming under scrutiny for workforce cuts as cyber and physical threats to critical infrastructure rise. A group of Democratic lawmakers are pushing for a Government Accountability Office report on the impact of recent workforce reductions and program cuts on CISA’s ability to fulfill its mission. The lawmakers, from the House Committee on Homeland Security and Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, pointed to CISA’s loss of nearly 1,000 employees, or about a third of its workforce, in the first half of 2025. Though CISA has announced plans to hire 300 employees to rebuild, the Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal proposes removing another 900 positions from the agency. CISA has also experienced leadership turnover during the second Trump administration.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Add the employees at the Agriculture Department's Rural Development Agency to the growing list of successful feds who have won grievances before an arbitrator after losing their remote work and telework rights. Arbitrator Margaret Donaghy ruled Wednesday in favor of RDA employees represented by the American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees. The union filed a grievance when USDA ended teleworking and remote work agreements without bargaining in April 2025. Donaghy ordered USDA to restore the telework and remote work arrangements and make the employees whole by paying any travel expenses, compensation or credit for additional hours worked. Suzanne Summerlin, the attorney representing the employees, says this is the fifth arbitration award won by employees in recent months with similar awards issued at the Forest Service, HUD, the IRS, and SSA.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.