• Federal wildland firefighters can now earn higher pay rates for more types of work. A recent final rule from the Office of Personnel Management authorizes a 25% “hazard pay” boost for work on prescribed burns. That’s in addition to firefighters already getting hazard pay when working on uncontrolled wildfires. OPM says the final rule creates “pay parity,” since both types of work involve similar health and safety risks from fire and smoke.
• The Department of Homeland Security’s top IT official is leaving. DHS Chief Information Officer Antoine McCord is expected to step down in the coming weeks, two sources familiar with the matter told Federal News network. DHS declined to comment on a personnel matter. FedScoop first reported the news of McCord’s departure. A veteran of the Marine Corps, McCord was appointed DHS CIO in March 2025. His signature achievements at DHS include reorganizing the Office of the CIO and advancing efforts to consolidate enterprise I-T contracting across the department.
• Tens of thousands of troops need to update their records with valid IDs in order to keep their DoD credentials. This is because many card holders don't have current paperwork proving their identity in the military's personnel system, the Marine Corps said this week. To fix this problem, troops must provide two forms of ID, like a passport and a driver's license, to receive a Common Access Card. Those cards provide access to military installations and computer networks. The Pentagon is asking card holders to provide identification that has their own name and isn't expired or counterfeit.
• DoD wants vendors to provide more transparency around cost and pricing of products and services. Defense Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg is telling contracting officers to start collecting more data from vendors. A new memo directs acquisition shops to focus on two specific areas. First, DoD says for any contract for commercial products or services worth at least $10 million, contracting officers should obtain “full transparency throughout all tiers of the supply chain," to include all contractors and subcontractors. Second, DoD is telling major system contractors to more regularly submit information into the Cost and Software Data Reporting (CSDR) system. Feinberg said thousands of these cost reports are currently delinquent and that hurts DoD's ability to assess these programs.
• Lawmakers want a review of what they say is the Transportation Department’s failure to protect the privacy of airline passengers. In a letter to the Government Accountability Office, Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Shontel Brown call for a report on DoT’s consumer privacy enforcement practices. Despite DoT having sole authority over the privacy practices of airlines, the two lawmakers say the agency’s lax regulatory approach has led to privacy abuses by airlines. They want GAO to review multiple issues, including the personnel and expertise within DoT’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection.
• The Army is moving forward with its plan to build nuclear mini-reactors at military bases across the US. The Army is awarding up to $2.2 billion to five companies to try using nuclear energy on base. The service will pursue reactors at five installations: Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, and Fort Drum in New York. Each will work with one company on a prototype to help critical Army missions continue if the electrical grid goes down. The service also wants to jumpstart the creation of a commercial microreactor industry.
• Deloitte is paying $21. 5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to comply with anti-discrimination requirements in its federal contracts and discriminating against employees and applicants on the basis of their race or sex. The Justice Department secured the settlement as part of its investigation into whether Deloitte took race or sex into account when making hiring, promotion and staffing decisions. DoJ says the allegations brought forward under the Qui Tam provision of the False Claims Act started in 2017 when Deloitte certified compliance with these conditions, while engaging in possible discriminatory race and sex-based employment practices. The American Alliance for Equal Rights filed the False Claims Act case and is due to receive $4.3 million dollars from the settlement.
• Federal employees could see major changes when filing discrimination complaints against their agencies. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted 2-1 to issue a proposal seeking to eliminate or revise key steps of the federal sector complaint process. If implemented, federal employees who file complaints would no longer be guaranteed hearings, they would only be granted on a case-by-case basis. Federal employees with similar allegations of discrimination would also be barred from having their cases grouped into class-action complaints. EEOC leaders say the changes will streamline and improve the process, but others criticized the proposal as creating an unfair setup for employees seeking relief.

Copyright © 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.