Acquisition
Idaho National Lab teams up with Microsoft to improve nuclear permitting reviews
The collaboration will enable the lab to use Microsoft’s Azure cloud and artificial AI tech to “streamline and accelerate the review process” for required reports from reactor developers.
Cybersecurity
Salt Typhoon hacks into National Guard systems a ‘serious escalation’, experts warn
“Going forward, all U.S. forces must now assume their networks are compromised and will be degraded,” a former Air National Guard servicemember said.
Exclusive
Acquisition
GSA, Uber partner to cut travel costs for feds, military and select contractors
The partnership with Uber for Business has major implications for the federal workforce at home and abroad.
Policy
House NDAA draft mandates database of contractors used in covert operations
The early stage defense bill draft would create an internal list of contractor clients that assist the U.S. military in its secret operations “to facilitate deconfliction and risk assessment.”
Exclusive
People
The U.S. DOGE Service is still hiring
The hires are intended to fill what used to be the U.S. Digital Service after many employees there left or were laid off.
People
State Department cuts hit cyber diplomats doing international engagements
Impacted units in the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy include the Office of Bilateral and Regional Affairs and Office of Strategy, Programs and Communications.
Breaking News
People
Education Dept. can proceed with mass layoffs after Supreme Court ruling
About one-third of the workforce will now be terminated.
Cybersecurity
OMB draft memo sets agency and vendor quantum security standards
The Office of Management and Budget is drafting a new memorandum to outline steps for the federal government’s migration to a post-quantum cryptographic standard.
Digital Government
Government is making moves on mobile drivers licenses, GSA administrator says
Login.gov is planning on adding mDLs by March of next year.
Updated
Acquisition
Pentagon awards multiple companies $200M contracts for AI tools
Four tech firms just won big.
People
State Department lays off 1,350 employees
The department says the cuts, part of a reorganization that will see 3,000 total personnel reductions, will slash redundancy and walk back growth over the last 25 years.
Ideas
The execution gap in government AI: why integration holds the key
COMMENTARY | As government agencies move to adopt AI tools, one challenge is quietly derailing their progress: the inability to successfully integrate emerging capabilities with legacy systems.
Defense
Pentagon to become rare earth mining company's largest stockholder
The Defense Department will buy a 15% stake in MP Materials and fund the construction of a magnet-making facility, all with an eye toward breaking the U.S.' reliance on China for rare earths.
Digital Government
Social Security signals potential benefit disruptions this fall for those still getting paper checks
Over half a million people still get their Social Security benefits via paper checks. They’ll need a waiver by the end of September to continue to do so, SSA says.
People
Judge says she’s not done with RIF case just yet
After Supreme Court lifts injunction, lower court moves to examine legality of individual agency layoff plans
People
DHS intelligence office halts staff cuts after stakeholder backlash
Pushback from law enforcement associations and Jewish orgs came after Nextgov/FCW first reported plans to shed most staff within a core DHS intelligence unit.
Acquisition
FAR overhaul targets risk-averse acquisition culture
Larry Allen, the General Services Administrator's chief acquisition officer, says regulatory changes must be paired with leadership support for innovation.
Policy
Fraud-fighting oversight committee gets a life extension in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee was set to sunset in September, but now has life through 2034.
Artificial Intelligence
Anthropic’s Claude for Enterprise expands deployment at Lawrence Livermore
Lawrence Livermore National Lab will be able to use Claude to wrangle large datasets, generate scientific hypotheses and more.
Breaking News
People