- Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson, has instructed the military services to remove all Defense Department news and feature articles, photos and videos that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by March 5th. If the services are not able to remove all DEI content from DoD social media accounts by March 5, they will be required to temporarily scrub all DEI news articles, photos and videos published during the four years of the Biden administration. Components using DVIDS are also required to review their DEI content, which is scheduled for removal. The digital content refresh memo from Sean Parnell follows President Donald Trump’s various executive orders eliminating DEI across the federal government and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “Restoring America’s Fighting Force” memo.
(Pentagon orders components to remove all DEI content from DoD websites, social media – Department of Defense)
- House lawmakers are trying again to bring more transparency to the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis. Rep. Gabe Evans and other members of the Homeland Security Committee are reintroducing the DHS Intelligence and Analysis Oversight and Transparency Act. The bill would require DHS I&A to conduct an annual audit of its information systems and bulk data. The bill is trying to address problems found in a 2023 GAO audit that showed I&A has not fully implemented oversight guidelines regarding bulk data collection activities and has not conducted an audit that follows the Intelligence Oversight Guidelines.
(Rep Evans pushing for more transparency from DHS I&A – House Homeland Security Committee)
- GSA is targeting the top 10 vendors who provide consulting services for cuts. The General Services Administration is making a second, more direct push to strongly encourage agencies to cut “nonessential” consulting contracts by March 7. It is telling agencies to review any contracts from 10 vendors who they say are the highest paid consulting firms across government. These firms include Accenture, Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton, CGI and IBM. GSA says these 10 are set to receive over $65 billion in fees in 2025 and beyond. Earlier this month, GSA tried to get agencies to review and cancel any nonessential consulting contracts, but acting administrator Stephen Ehikian says they didn’t make enough progress.
(GSA tells agencies to target top 10 consulting firms for cuts – Federal News Network)
- The Office of Personnel Management’s directions to federal agencies to fire probationary employees were illegal. That’s according to a federal judge in San Francisco. Judge William Alsup found OPM had no authority to direct agencies to terminate employees, and that that’s a decision only agencies can make for themselves. The ruling doesn’t apply directly to federal agencies, but it bars the government from enforcing the firing directive at the National Park Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Science Foundation, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Defense.
(https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/02/federal-judge-invalidates-opms-directives-to-terminate-federal-probationary-workers/ – Federal News Network)
- Employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development are packing up their desks for the last time. Recently terminated USAID workers are being given 15-minute windows to collect their belongings and leave agency headquarters. As the employees left the building, they were met with a crowd of their colleagues and other supporters of the agency. The schedule for cleaning out desks and leaving USAID will continue throughout the day today. Only a couple hundred USAID employees are still in their jobs after the Trump administration slashed the agency’s staff and programs. The actions at USAID may soon spread further across government. The White House has given agencies two weeks to put together their initial plans for conducting reductions in force (RIFs).
(USAID employees pack up their desks as Trump administration pushes ahead with slashing agency – Federal News Network)
- The Postal Service is moving ahead with the next phase of its 10-year reform plan despite concerns raised by its regulator. USPS will continue opening massive new mail processing facilities across the country as part of a historic “network modernization” plan. It’ll also run trucks less often between those plants and post offices to transport mail. USPS expects it’ll save $36 billion over the next decade. The Postal Regulatory Service says the changes will lead to slower mail delivery and doubts the savings will help USPS in the long term.
(Service standard changes fact sheet – Federal News Network)
- Federal agencies are about to have a lot less office space. The General Services Administration is looking to cancel about 1,000 federal leases nationwide by the end of the week. GSA typically signs five-year leases, with the option of renewing for another five years. The affected leases have crossed that initial five-year threshold. GSA is also preparing for a Reduction in Force that will significantly reduce its headcount.
(GSA prepares to end about 1,000 federal office space leases nationwide – Federal News Network)
- President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Navy says his business background makes him the right candidate to fix the issues that have plagued the service, including workforce management, shipbuilding delays, cost overruns and failed audits. John Phelan, the founder of private investment firm Rugger Management, says the service is missing the sense of urgency as if it is “almost waiting for a crisis to happen.” If confirmed, Phelan would be the first person in more than 15 years to serve as the secretary of the Navy without any prior military experience. He was also a major contributor to Trump’s presidential campaign in 2024. Despite Phelan’s background and lack of military experience, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were supportive of his nomination, saying a nontraditional nomination like his might benefit the Navy.
(John Phelan, businessman, Trump donor, poised to lead the Navy – Federal News Network)
- For the first time ever, the Office of Personnel Management has completed a federal retirement application entirely online. The new milestone comes after the agency conducted a pilot of an online retirement processing system in 2024. But OPM has been trying to modernize its retirement processing system for years. Many retiring feds spend months waiting for OPM and their agency to complete the largely paper-based process. The first-ever online retirement application took two days for OPM to process.
(First digital federal retirement – Office of Personnel Management )
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