- There are new details on workforce declines at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Government Accountability Office said HUD lost 29% of its workforce in 2025. A new report found a majority of the departing employees left through DOGE’s deferred resignation program. In 2025, HUD hired roughly 69% fewer employees than the previous year. Since the start of this year, HUD has added only 120 employees to the workforce. HUD has not responded to GAO’s request for information about the office closures and workforce numbers the report identified. -- Sylvia Oakland
- The 2026 results are in for the cloud security program known as FedRAMP. More than 90 new cloud services received authorization under the FedRAMP program in fiscal 2026. The cloud security program said there now are 538 secure cloud services that agencies can choose from as they modernize their IT. FedRAMP said last fiscal year, it also shepherded 20 vendor cloud services through is new 20x process. For 2027, FedRAMP detailed four new goals, including ending the Rev 53 process in June, transitioning legacy certification cloud services to the 20x program and releasing the FedRAMP Agency Cloud Use Framework to make agency use of cloud services easier. -- Jason Miller
- The Department of Veterans Affairs plans on spending another $2.7 billion to improve its medical facilities across the country. Among the big-ticket items VA is spending money on is $1.1 billion to repair and upgrade outdated infrastructure systems in medical facilities. Another $938 million will go to major building upgrades like elevators, electrical systems and boiler plants. And VA plans to spend $560 million for maintenance and modernization of facility infrastructure to support future electronic health record system updates. This final tranche of money for fiscal 2026 is part of a $4.8 billion non-recurring maintenance fund VA received from Congress last year. -- Jason Miller
- The 2027 cost-of-living adjustment will be 3.6%. But not everyone gets the full amount. Starting in January, annuitants in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) will see a 2.6% COLA added to their retirement payments. Due to a set formula, FERS retirees get 1% less than the full COLA when the adjustment is more than 3%. Federal advocacy organizations have argued that over time, reduced COLAs can add up to a difference of thousands of dollars. Many have called for legislation to eliminate the disparity. -- Drew Friedman
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is pushing Congress to approve more than $50 billion to ramp up drone warfare. The money would help launch a new command focused on autonomy and exponentially scale up drone production. To get that funding, the Trump administration needs to convince lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to back another reconciliation bill. Hegseth said he'll continue to argue for a boost of at least $350 billion through reconciliation, even if Republicans lose ground in the midterm elections. -- Rachel Cohen
- Trump administration officials are touting an estimated $1.5 billion in potential cost savings, after rooting out ineligible enrollees across government health programs. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it has removed subsidies for 189,000 enrollees it identified as “improper.” The announcement comes after the White House outlined plans to remove 760,000 Affordable Care Act members, alleging fraudulent enrollments. In a press conference this week, Department of Health and Human Services officials emphasized that enrollees are given a 30-day window to attempt to resolve a conflict, and that they retain the right to appeal a decision. -- Drew Friedman
- The Army's personnel chief said the service can do more to automate human resources. Lt. Gen. Chuck Lombardo suggested the Army could use artificial intelligence to get soldiers their retirement pay faster or issue relocation orders sooner. It could also reduce redundant background checks and shave months off of hiring screenings. The Army's Civilian Human Resources Agency is already testing out those kinds of tools for its own employees. Lombardo said the agency is a model for how the service could add AI features into its troubled Integrated Personnel and Pay System. -- Rachel Cohen
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