• The House Appropriations Committee convened Wednesday to discuss legislative options to keep the federal government open when Congress fails to put annual funding in place by the end of the fiscal year. Lawmakers aired broad bipartisan frustration at the gridlock that has prevented on-time appropriations for years but differed on the specifics of how to fix the problem. Ideas included keeping congressional lawmakers in Washington until the process is done each year, reforming Senate rules and allowing funds to kick in automatically.
• Another federal union has scored a win in efforts to restore telework for federal employees. A neutral arbitrator has ordered the IRS to restore telework and remote work agreements for all bargaining unit employees. The ruling comes after the National Treasury Employees Union alleged that the IRS violated its union contract when it ordered employees back to the office last year. The IRS now has 30 days to decide if it wants to appeal the arbitrator’s decision.
• Federal first responders are a step closer to securing fuller retirement benefits. The Office of Personnel Management has proposed regulations to start implementing a 2022 law that attempts to correct a benefit gap. Currently, federal first responders who can no longer keep their job due to an injury lose access to their traditional retirement benefits. But once OPM’s regulations are fully implemented, first responders in that situation will be able to continue receiving their same benefits, even after transitioning to a different federal job.
• A major piece of legislation for U.S. spy agencies is advancing in the House. The House Intel Committee approved the annual intelligence authorization act in a Monday evening vote. The bill would establish an intelligence community chief artificial intelligence officer. It would also require intel agencies to provide specifics on how they budget for open-source intelligence. And it would ban intelligence officers and contractors from using nonpublic information to make trades on prediction markets. The bill would also provide the intelligence community inspector general with the same law enforcement authorities as other Cabinet-level IG offices.
• The House of Representatives passed its version of the 2027 defense policy bill by a vote of 216 to 212 Wednesday evening. The bill faced opposition in both parties due to language on the partnership between the U.S. and Israeli militaries. The vote comes the week after Senate Democrats blocked their own chamber's draft of the legislation from moving forward in protest of the Iran War. If enacted, the $1.2 trillion package would mark the largest tranche of annual defense funding in U.S. history. The legislation also includes a pay raise for troops and modernization plans across the services.
• A new report found many critical infrastructure organizations must comply with duplicative cybersecurity regulations. The Government Accountability Office found 80 out of 117 federal cyber regulations had similar incident reporting requirements. The report comes as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency finalizes an incident reporting rule that will cut across all 16 U.S. critical infrastructure sectors. GAO said the White House Office of the National Cyber Director is in charge of harmonizing cyber regulations across agencies.
• The top federal prosecutor in Seattle who was fired last week less than an hour after being sworn in is suing the government over his termination. The case tees up a legal challenge to the Trump administration’s efforts to install its own picks in U.S. attorneys offices. Roger Rogoff was unanimously appointed to the job of U.S. attorney for Western Washington by the federal judges in the district. Shortly after he was sworn in last Wednesday, Rogoff received an email from the Trump administration informing him that President Donald Trump had ordered his termination.
• The House adopted a $95 billion budget reconciliation package yesterday, a long-shot effort to fund the Iran war and other White House priorities. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) worked Wednesday to push it over objections from Democrats and some Republican holdouts as a priority before the midterm elections. The package includes $73 billion for the Pentagon and other national security programs, $12 billion for farmers struggling under President Donald Trump’s tariffs and $10 billion for voting law changes that are a Trump priority. The package goes to the Senate next.

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