Shows / Federal Newscast
Federal Newscast
THE FEDERAL NEWSCAST, (length about seven minutes), is a daily Monday through Friday, high-information compilation of nine 40-second news stories and news packages, generated by the non-partisan, non-political, private-sector team of reporters at Federal News Network. Federal News Radio Producer/Newscasters Eric White and Michele Sandiford assemble and read the stories on the THE FEDERAL DRIVE with TERRY GERTON, the weekday morning-drive program, heard from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. (ET) on the Federal…
Episodes
- Federal Newscast
Democrats look to support laid off Foreign Service officers
Democrats are seeking to offer support to laid-off Foreign Service officers looking to get their jobs back. A new bill called the Foreign Service Test-Free…
- Federal Newscast
Cyber agencies warn critical industries about Russia-linked hackers
Cybersecurity agencies are warning critical industries, including government contractors, about Russia-linked hackers targeting insecure routers and other…
- Federal Newscast
DOJ’s top FOIA official is stepping down
A top Justice Department official that oversees how agencies administer the Freedom of Information Act is stepping down. Sean Glendening has left his job as…
- Federal Newscast
Southern border operations cost DoD at least $2.6 billion
The Defense Department has spent at least $2.6 billion on southern border operations since the beginning of fiscal 2025. It used multiple funding mechanisms to…
- Federal Newscast
Agencies get help for their own Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys
Agencies have new resources to help them run their own versions of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey this year. A playbook from the Office of Personnel…
- Federal Newscast
Federal retirement processing times are slowing down
Federal retirement processing times are slowing down. During June, it took OPM an average of 108 days to process a retirement claim, according to the agency’s…
- Federal Newscast
Skills-based federal hiring gets another push from Congress
A move toward skills-based federal hiring is getting another push from Congress. A new bipartisan bill would push agencies to ease college degree requirements…
- Federal Newscast
Army replaces height and weight tables for body composition
The Army is replacing its long-criticized height-and-weight tables and tape test with a waist-to-height ratio to measure body composition. The change follows…
- Federal Newscast
There’s a new leader at NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has a new leader. Arvind Raman was sworn is as the fifth undersecretary of commerce for standards and…
- Federal Newscast
Trump administration looks to tweak paid administrative leave rules
The Trump administration is looking to tweak the rules for federal employees’ paid administrative leave. Recent proposed regulations from the Office of…
- Federal Newscast
Thrift Savings Plan fund see growth in June
The good news about your Thrift Savings Plan for June, only two funds saw month over month drops. As for the other funds, 13 of 14 experienced minimal growth…
- Federal Newscast
IRS pauses removal of NTEU materials from the workplace
The IRS still doesn’t recognize a union that represents much of its workforce. But the agency has agreed it will no longer bar employees from keeping materials…
- Federal Newscast
New bill would extend military survivor benefit decision deadline
Two Democrats and two Republicans have teamed up on a bill that would give military families more time to make important financial decisions after a service…
- Federal Newscast
Democratic lawmakers take up the fight against federal NDAs
Dozens of House Democrats are urging the Trump administration to abandon its proposal for a governmentwide non-disclosure agreement. The lawmakers say an NDA…
- Federal Newscast
Lawsuit charges Schedule Policy/Career violates Civil Service Reform Act
A lawsuit challenging Schedule Policy/Career is doubling down on its arguments. The recently amended complaint now directly challenges the reclassifications of…
- Federal Newscast
House 2027 defense spending bill heads to the full chamber
The House's version of the 2027 defense spending bill is moving on to the full chamber for consideration. House appropriators voted 34 to 27 to approve the…
- Federal Newscast
Military commissaries may open to DoD civilian employees
The Department of Defense's civilian employees could get another option for their grocery runs; their local commissary. Senators are suggesting that the…
- Federal Newscast
Air Force and Space Force spouses to get help with the job search
A new pilot program will try to pair active-duty military spouses in the Air Force and Space Force with potential job leads. The Global Military Spouse…
- Federal Newscast
Office of Naval Research rolls out new science and technology strategy
The Office of Naval Research is rolling out a new science and technology strategy that focuses the service on meeting its own unique needs, not keeping up with…
- Federal Newscast
More National Park Service employees vote to unionize
More employees at the National Park Service have voted to unionize. About 650 employees in the agency’s Intermountain Region will now be represented by the…
- Federal Newscast
Senate Armed Services Committee releases NDAA details
The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday released the details of a massive defense policy bill that authorizes $1.2 trillion in spending, in support of…
- Federal Newscast
A second cohort of technology executives are joining the Army Reserve
A second cohort of technology executives are joining the Army Reserve. The Army commissioned three more senior technology leaders into its Executive Innovation…
- Federal Newscast
Lawmakers renew effort to offer paid family and medical leave to feds
Lawmakers are renewing an effort to offer paid family and medical leave to federal employees. A bipartisan bill would give feds 12 weeks of paid leave in the…
- Federal Newscast
Senate Democrats urge reversal of ruling threatening civil service protections
Senate Democrats are urging a federal appeals court to reverse a decision upholding the firings of two immigration judges at the Department of Justice. The…
- Federal Newscast
Service members could see a 5% to 7% pay raise in 2027
House appropriators are backing the Trump administration's proposed pay raise for U.S. troops in fiscal 2027 as part of a $1.7 trillion defense spending bill…
- Federal Newscast
Lawmaker wants answers about proposed NDAs for feds
A House Democrat is demanding answers on the Trump administration’s proposed nondisclosure agreement for the federal workforce. In a letter to the Office of…
- Federal Newscast
House adds DoD name change to NDAA
Congress is one step closer to adopting a tougher name for the Department of Defense. An amendment added to the annual defense policy bill that passed the…
- Federal Newscast
OPM is hiring positions aimed at building out AI across the government
OPM is taking steps to fill positions related to tackling critical agency needs and building out AI systems across the government. In a recent memo, Director…
- Federal Newscast
Federal employees with disabilities sue DOJ over reasonable accommodations
Federal employees with disabilities are suing the Justice Department for denying their reasonable accommodations requests to telework. A new class action…
- Federal Newscast
Federal telework temporarily returns to FIFA World Cup host cities
Agencies are getting a green light to temporarily lift federal telework restrictions during the FIFA World Cup. A new memo from the Office of Personnel…
- Federal Newscast
Social Security looks to fully transition to electronic payments
The Social Security Administration is looking to fully transition to electronic payments this year. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year…
- Federal Newscast
May proves to be a good month for TSP funds
May was a good month for every fund in the Thrift Savings Plan. New data from the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board shows all 16 accounts returned…
- Federal Newscast
OPM to establish higher pay for certain national security employees
Agencies will soon be able to pay as much as $400,000 a year to certain employees with skillsets in the national security sector. President Donald Trump told…
- Federal Newscast
30,000 TSP participants take advantage of new Roth option
Some Thrift Savings Plan participants are taking advantage of a new option for Roth in-plan conversions. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board reports…
- Federal Newscast
Lawmakers call on Agriculture Dept to restore employee childcare centers contract
Democrats are demanding that the Department of Agriculture secure new childcare options for federal employees. In April, USDA’s current childcare service…
- Federal Newscast
Federal employee union calls for telework return amid rising gas prices
Amid soaring gas prices, a union is urging the Trump administration to allow telework flexibilities for federal employees. The National Treasury Employees…
- Federal Newscast
Lawmakers look to take some of the heat in future shutdowns
A bipartisan group of senators is trying to make shutdowns more painful for the members of Congress whose votes cause them. Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and…
- Federal Newscast
House Appropriations Committee looks to reduce 2027 budget for EPA, other agencies
The House Appropriations Committee wants to reduce EPA's budget for fiscal 2027 by $1.8 billion or 20%. At the same time as part of the Interior, Environment…
- Federal Newscast
The Office of Special Counsel may be getting a new leader
The Office of Special Counsel may be getting a new leader. President Donald Trump has nominated Charles Baldis as special counsel for the OSC. If the Senate…
- Federal Newscast
Senate Committee passes reconciliation bill to fund ICE and CBP
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs passed a reconciliation bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and…
- Federal Newscast
U.S. Postal Service could offer more government services, IG says
The Postal Service could offer more government services by partnering with state, local and tribal governments, but the service hasn’t established a formal…
- Federal Newscast
Tax delinquency rates for federal employees and retirees are climbing
Tax delinquency rates among federal employees and retirees have been increasing since 2021. That’s according to a new report from the Treasury Inspector…
- Federal Newscast
Senators approve resolution to withhold their paychecks during future government shutdowns
Senators have unanimously agreed to a resolution that would withhold their paychecks during future government shutdowns. The bipartisan resolution comes amid…
- Federal Newscast
House lawmakers push to bolster the TSA budget
House lawmakers are pushing to bolster the Transportation Security Administration’s budget by ending the diversion of airline ticket fees. Lawmakers on the…
- Federal Newscast
DoD launches a department-wide review of the military legal system
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has launched a department-wide review of “all aspects of the military legal system.” Hegseth directed the Pentagon’s general…
- Federal Newscast
Veterans Affairs approves nearly $600 million in infrastructure improvements
The Department of Veterans Affairs approved nearly $600 million in infrastructure improvements during the second quarter of this fiscal year. That’s just part…
- Federal Newscast
Federal government employment continues to decline
Despite some hiring occurring across agencies, overall employment in the federal government is continuing to decline. That's according to the latest jobs…
- Federal Newscast
Nearly 12, 000 retirement claims enter OPM’s system in April
Nearly 12,000 new retirement claims entered the Office of Personnel Management’s systems last month. Coupled with OPM’s processing of about 17,000 retirement…
- Federal Newscast
Federal workers’ compensation is getting an overhaul
Federal workers’ compensation is getting an overhaul from the Trump administration. The Labor Department says it’s expanding the Federal Employees’…
- Federal Newscast
Tech Force program makes its first official hire
The Trump administration’s Tech Force program has made its first official hire. Yasmin Maksutova will be joining the Office of Personnel Management as an IT…
- Federal Newscast
Defense Department launches new website to streamline military moves
The Defense Department’s personal property activity has launched a new website to streamline the military moving process for service members, their families…
- Federal Newscast
Thrift Savings Plan funds rebound in April
Every fund in the Thrift Savings Plan rebounded in April to not only move into the black, but most posted significant month over month increases. Half of all…
- Federal Newscast
Pentagon looks to expand protections for military families in privatized housing
The Pentagon is seeking to expand protections for military families living in privatized housing who report unsafe or inadequate living conditions. In a…
- Federal Newscast
Political appointees exempt from new performance evaluations
The Trump administration's overhaul of federal employees' performance management won’t apply to political appointees. A memo from the Office of Personnel…
- Federal Newscast
Lawmakers look to expand incentives to retain Air Force pilots and Airmen
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking to expand both financial and non-monetary incentives to help the Air Force retain pilots and other in-demand Airmen…
- Federal Newscast
Army changes voluntary retirement policy
The Army is changing when soldiers can request voluntary retirement. Under the new policy, soldiers can submit voluntary retirement requests at least 12…
- Federal Newscast
Space Force selections companies for Golden Dome initiative
Twelve companies have been selected by the Space Force to develop a space-based interceptor system for President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense…
- Federal Newscast
Lawmakers look to strengthen protections against fraud across government
House lawmakers are looking to beef up protections against fraud risks across government. A new bipartisan bill would create a standardized training program…
- Federal Newscast
Coast Guard partially reopens National Maritime Center, amid DHS shutdown
The Coast Guard is partially reopening the National Maritime Center. In a notice this week, the Coast Guard said NMC civilian staff have returned to work, as…
- Federal Newscast
House Republicans propose a billion-dollar cut to IRS funding
House Republicans are proposing a billion-dollar cut to IRS funding next year. A fiscal 2027 spending bill introduced by members of the House Appropriations…