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Management
Senate confirms RFK Jr. to lead HHS
Kennedy’s confirmation comes during a legal battle over whether the National Institutes of Health can cap the percentage of funding it provides for indirect research costs.
Transition
Congressional Democrats tell skeptical protestors they’ll stop Trump’s elimination of USAID
Members of Congress who spoke at Wednesday’s rally said an upcoming government funding deadline could be an opportunity to stifle Trump’s plans to weaken federal agencies.
Transition
Senior Democrat wants to know who in the Trump White House got Top Secret clearance without a complete background check
Trump issued a memo providing temporary security clearances for certain personnel, arguing delays in their vetting were "unacceptable."
Transition
Gabbard and Patel hearings display diverging views of reality, history along partisan lines
Senators focused mostly on the nominees’ past statements, rather than how they may lead in their prospective positions.
Transition
Democrats worry RFK Jr. could purge ‘thousands’ of federal health employees
Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary said that NIH, FDA and CDC would be integral in his objective to prevent chronic disease.
Oversight
Congressional response to watchdog firings hindered by GOP control, Connolly says
A good government group fears that Trump will ignore rules about who can serve as an acting inspector general.
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Transition
Inspectors general’s role as independent government watchdogs in question after Trump firings
Many inspector general offices will be headed by acting leaders in the interim, which could weaken the effectiveness of their oversight.
Oversight
Trump fires multiple agency inspectors general
Sen. Grassley and a top watchdog said Trump did not adhere to congressional notification requirements about such removals.
Pay & Benefits
Congressional Republicans mull plans to gash feds’ pay, benefits and job security
GOP lawmakers are once again considering a litany of proposals that would require federal workers to pay more in exchange for less retirement and health care benefits.
Management
Congress passes migrant detention bill that DHS said it can’t enforce without more resources
The Laken Riley Act is set to be the first bill Trump signs into law after it passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support.
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Management
Coast Guard leader fired by new DHS officials
Commandant Linda Fagan had received bipartisan criticisms from members of Congress who accused the USCG of resisting oversight.
Pay & Benefits
Democrats introduce bills to provide feds 4.3% average pay raise in 2026, standardize retiree COLAs
Lawmakers have reintroduced annual bills aimed at setting a marker for the upcoming federal pay raise debate and to end bifurcated cost-of-living increases for federal retirees.
Updated
Oversight
Inspectors general have a new bipartisan caucus in the Senate
The president-elect has a record of removing inspectors general.
Workforce
House Oversight Republicans open Congress with rants against telework, unions
The first hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was ostensibly about telework yet frequently devolved into anti-union rhetoric.
Defense
‘I know what I don’t know,’ defense secretary pick says at confirmation hearing
Pete Hegseth faced questions about his inexperience and fitness as a leader.
Workforce
Ernst targets D.C.-area federal workers with trio of bills
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, proposed legislation this week that would force agencies to move 30% of their D.C.-based workforce out of the region, mandate telework tracking, and push agencies to move their headquarters out of the nation’s capital.
Oversight
Top Oversight Democrat says he’s open to collaborate with the DOGE
The new Department of Government Efficiency — which, despite the “department” referenced in its name, is an advisory effort, not a government department — has aims to trim the federal workforce and hunt efficiencies in tech and fraud reduction efforts.
Oversight
Energy Dept. watchdog reports that travel expense violations in secretary’s criticized EV road trip caused by lack of oversight and knowledge
House Republicans blasted the trip as “ripe with waste, fraud and abuse,” but the report found that some of the violations cost the federal government less than $100.
Oversight
Coast Guard is resisting oversight of mishandled sexual misconduct cases, lawmakers say
Congressional inquires were spurred by revelations that the Coast Guard did not disclose an investigation into possible sexual assaults at its service academy.
Tech