The Transportation Security Administration wants to use artificial intelligence and other private sector technologies to streamline airport screening. Under a recent request for information, TSA asked for feedback on turnkey solutions that could be used at airport checkpoints. The deadline to respond is August 1. The RFI was issued through TSA’s Screening Partnership Program, which allows airports to contract for private security screening services. TSA says it’s particularly interested in tech that can reduce manual labor and improve the passenger experience.

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The Thrift Savings Plan closed out the month of June with just over $1 trillion dollars in assets, across 7.2 million TSP participants. Officials on the TSP board say that high number shows a strong level of trust among participants in the TSP. Board officials are also reporting high levels of satisfaction among TSP participants. For the last 12 months, more than 93% of TSP users have consistently said they’re satisfied with the TSP's offerings. Satisfaction among callers to the TSP’s customer service phone line also remain high.

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A bill expanding veterans’ access to non-VA health care is making its way through Congress. The House VA Committee advanced the Veterans' ACCESS Act. The bill would make it easier for veterans covered by the VA to seek heath care in the private sector and would create an online patient self-service scheduling system. Committee Chairman Mike Bost says the bill would help veterans avoid waiting for medical appointments.

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Employees at the National Science Foundation are pushing back against the Trump administration’s actions at the agency. Nearly 150 NSF employees signed a letter of dissent this week. They’re criticizing the administration’s terminations of agency workers, while also cutting appropriated funding. Altogether, the NSF employees warn that the administration’s actions amount to a “systemic dismantling” of the scientific agency. NSF’s letter mirrors similar efforts from employees at NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency and several others.

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The Office of Management and Budget has until Wednesday to turn the lights back on for one of its key public spending transparency websites. In March, OMB shut down its Congressionally-mandated database that tracks the apportionment of funds to individual agencies, saying it didn’t believe it should have to provide “predecisional” information. On Monday, a federal judge found that decision violated the law, and gave the Trump administration until 10 a.m. on Wednesday to restore the Public Apportionments Database.

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The Government Accountability Office processed more than 5,700 allegations through its fraud hotline last year. That’s according to the latest annual report on GAO’s FraudNet program. FraudNet referred more than 2,100 allegations to federal agencies or other entities for further investigation, roughly the same number of referrals as in 2023. FraudNet analysts also supported more than 50 requests from GAO teams conducting audits and investigations. That includes helping GAO identify healthcare providers who were ineligible to work for the Defense Department’s TRICARE Network. 

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement is offering retired ICE employees as much as a $50,000 signing bonus to return to the job. The agency is recruiting both deportation officers and special agents. ICE received $8 billion under the Big Beautiful Bill to hire 10,000 new officers over the next four years. ICE says it has a Dual Compensation Waiver to hire retired annuitants on a term-limited basis. Re-employed annuitants will receive both their full basic annuity and full salary. But annuity supplements and Social Security benefits may be reduced depending on an individual’s salary. 

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The Trump administration is creating a new classification for non-career employees. President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing Schedule G that would let agencies hire non-career employees who engage in policy-making or policy-advocating work. These employees would leave their position when the president's term is over. The EO says Schedule G will improve operations, particularly in agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, by streamlining appointments for key policy roles. Current authorities under Schedule C or the new Schedule Policy/Career do not provide for non-career appointments to policy-making or policy-advocating roles. The White House says this leaves a gap in federal hiring categories.

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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. 

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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. 

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