- Lawmakers are raising concerns about Elon Musk’s access to the Treasury Department’s payment systems. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) are both pressing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for more details. In separate letters, both Warren and Wyden say the DOGE team’s access to Treasury systems poses major legal and security concerns. They also ask whether any safeguards are in place to protect sensitive data.
(Letters to Treasury Sec. Bessent on Treasury payment system – Offices of Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.))
- Two unions and an advocacy group are asking a federal court to block Elon Musk and his staff from accessing sensitive Treasury Department systems. In a lawsuit filed late yesterday, the Alliance for Retired Americans, American Federation of Government Employees and the Service Employees International Union allege Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent violated privacy laws by reportedly giving Musk’s team access to payment data and systems at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The suit claims that access amounted to a “massive” and “unprecedented” intrusion into individuals’ privacy.
(Federal employee unions and advocacy group ask court to block Musk access to Treasury systems – U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)
- In response to President Donald Trump’s executive order banning all diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the government, the NSA’s National Cryptologic Museum used brown paper to cover up photos of women in American cryptology. On Sunday, the museum said it had “corrected the mistake” and that the museum was “dedicated to presenting the public with historically accurate exhibits.” The exhibit covered up photos of Ann Caracristi, who was the agency’s first female deputy director, among others. The move comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched a task force that will oversee the dismantling of all DEI programs and offices within the Pentagon.
(NSA’s museum covers up photos featuring women in cryptology – Social media platform X)
- The Trump administration’s leaders at the General Services Administration are on a mission to cut the agency’s budget by as much as half. GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service tells staff that senior leadership is developing a plan to cut GSA’s spending by 50%. Potential areas for cuts include personnel, payroll and contracts. GSA leadership isn’t offering a timeline for the cuts but employees were told that a nonvoluntary Reduction in Force (RIF) is expected “shortly” after Feb. 6. That’s the deadline federal employees have to accept the Office of Personnel Management’s “deferred resignation offer.”
(GSA leaders seek 50% spending cuts, nonvoluntary RIF after OPM’s resignation offer – Federal News Network)
- Remote and teleworking Defense Department employees who live within 50 miles of their duty station must return to their office full time by Feb. 7th. And those employees that don’t live within 50 miles and are not covered by a bargaining unit, must be in the office full time either by Feb. 7 or Feb. 21st depending on their management level. A new memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlines a series of dates and steps Defense components must take over the next few weeks to bring all employees back to the office on a full-time basis. DoD says anywhere between 15% and 29% of all employees telework or work remotely.
(DoD, VA return to office memos open door to more questions – Federal News Network)
- Democratic lawmakers say the Trump administration’s takeover of the U.S. Agency for International Development is “illegal and unconstitutional.” A group of House and Senate Democrats told a large crowd of people protesting outside of the organization’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. that the agency can only be disbanded by an act of Congress. USAID personnel working at the agency’s headquarters were told overnight not to come into the office and to work remotely. The Democratic lawmakers attempted to enter the headquarters after the press conference but were denied entry. Elon Musk said early Monday he was in the process of dismantling the agency and that he had President Donald Trump’s full support.
(USAID takeover is unconstitutional, lawmakers say – Federal News Network)
- The State Department is putting a pause on all its employee organizations until further notice. Those include an LGBTQ-plus group of Foreign Service professionals, a Christian affinity group, veterans working at the department and a meetup for working parents. The department says it’s ordering the pause in organization activity because of President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders. The pause prevents employee groups from sending department notices or using agency space to host their groups.
( – Federal News Network)
- A former Department of Homeland Security executive is returning to the government. Former DHS Chief Information Officer Karen Evans has joined the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. She’s serving as a senior advisor for cybersecurity. Evans most recently worked as managing director of the Cyber Readiness Institute. During the first Trump administration, Evans also led the Energy Department’s top cyber office. Her appointment comes as President Donald Trump has yet to name his pick for the director of CISA.
(Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency hires former DHS CIO into top cyber position – Federal News Network)
- The Social Security Administration has a new Chief Information Officer. Michael Russo is the new CIO at SSA, coming over from the private sector. His first day was yesterday. He replaces Marcela Escobar-Alava, who had been CIO since March 2024 and was a political appointee and left in January. This is Russo’s first job in the federal sector, working in private sector technology leadership roles throughout his career. Before coming to SSA, he spent six years as chief technology officer at Shift4 Payments, a global payment processing software company. He also spent seven years as the Chief Technology Officer for MICROS, an enterprise point-of-sale and property management software company for the hospitality and retail industries. As SSA CIO, Russo inherits an IT budget of over $2 billion of which $1.5 billion dollars is spent on operating and maintaining legacy systems.
(Social Security Administration names industry veteran as new CIO – Social Security Administration email)
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