Federal Newscast

The US DOGE Service's claims that it is saving more than 140 billion dollars by cancelling contracts is overstated. New analysis from the American Enterprise Institute finds the savings are much closer to about 10 billion dollars. Nat Malkus, the deputy director of Education Policy Studies at AEI, reviewed the contract data DOGE posted to highlight the amount of money agencies obligated versus how much they actually spent came out to be much smaller than what DOGE claimed the total value of the contracts were worth. Additionally, AEI says until the White House asks Congress for and lawmakers approve a rescission of funding, they money stays on the books and savings aren't real.

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Despite reducing its workforce by thousands of employees, the General Services Administration is ready to hire new employees once again. The Federal Acquisition Service put out job postings for contract specialists and supervisory contract specialists. The contract specialists would be at the GS-12 and 13 pay scales, while the supervisory positions would be at the GS 14-15 levels. All positions are available in several locations, including Washington, DC, San Francisco and 10 other locations around the country. GSA didn't say how many people it was looking to hire. Some estimate it could be up to a thousand new employees as the Trump administration aims to centralize contracting for common goods and services at GSA.

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DoD's acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins will review Defense Secretary’s Pete Hegseth’s use of the commercial messaging app Signal to discuss operational details of airstrikes in Yemen. Stebbins said the review will “determine the extent to which the defense secretary and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business.”  The evaluation will also investigate the

compliance with classification and records retention requirements. Stebbins’ memo comes after two top Senate lawmakers requested a probe into the incident that has stunned Washington.

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A federal union’s lawsuit against the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program is resurfacing. That’s after at least seven agencies have renewed their “fork in the road” offers to federal employees, ahead of reductions in force. In response, the American Federation of

Government Employees has amended its initial complaint. The union argues that the deferred resignation offer is unlawful, and that the administration needs to issue regulations for the program before proceeding. A federal judge previously blocked AFGE’s initial complaint, saying

that the union first needed to go to the Federal Labor Relations Authority over the matter.

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The Thrift Savings Plan stumbles in March. The only funds to post positive returns were the G, F and I funds. The government securities G fund posted the highest returns for the month, at zero-point-three-seven percent. The small cap stock index investment S fund posted the lowest return, at negative seven-point-nine-three percent. The Lifecycle funds all posted negative returns as well. Year to date, however, every fund in the TSP but the S fund is seeing positive returns.  The I Fund and F Fund are among the biggest winners so far this year with return rates of over 4.6% and 2.7%, respectively.

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Junior enlisted troops will see a pay bump this month as the Defense Department introduces a targeted pay hike this month aimed at improving service members’ quality of life. Congress

approved a significant pay raise for active-duty service members ranks E-1 through E-4 which is set to go into effect. Service members already received a 4.5% pay raise in January, but junior enlisted service members should see an additional 10% pay increase in their mid-month paychecks. This historic pay increase for junior enlisted troops is part of Congress’ efforts to improve military recruitment and retention.

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In today's Federal Newscast, federal unions have been quick to push back against President Trump’s move canceling many collective bargaining agreements.

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In today's Federal Newscast, the Trump administration's contracting freeze has caused several contractors to go out of business.

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In today's Federal Newscast, House Democrats are looking into whether Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem uses the Signal app for official business.

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In today's Federal Newscast, GOP lawmakers are looking to expand the president’s authority for fast-tracking agency reorganizations.

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