- Amid the continued debate over FEMA’s future a senior GOP Senator is calling for reforms that could bolster the agency’s work. Senator Jim Lankford (R-Okla.) said too many agencies have responsibilities under the federal disaster framework. In a letter to the White House, Lankford said he should consider whether more disaster assistance responsibilities should be consolidated under FEMA. Trump has called for potentially eliminating FEMA and recently announced a FEMA Review Council to overhaul the agency.
(Lankford letter to Trump – Sen. Jim Lankford (R-Okla.))
- President Trump’s efforts to remove federal employee job protections are facing yet another legal battle. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, or NARFE, is suing the administration over its creation of the Schedule Policy/Career employee classification, which could reclassify tens of thousands of federal employees into the new schedule to politicize their roles and make them easier to fire. But in its lawsuit, NARFE argues that the administration’s action violates the Civil Service Reform Act, which ensures job protections for career civil servants. The National Treasury Employees Union is separately suing the administration over the same executive action.
(Lawsuit on Trump administration’s Schedule Policy/Career – NARFE)
- Two Democrats are pressing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about why he is requesting nearly $137,000 of taxpayers funds for repairs of his furnished government house. Of the amount, about $50,000 would be required for an “emergency paint job.” The lawmakers are asking Hegseth to provide a list of past defense secretaries who requested government furnished housing, the cost required to improve housing before moving in and the rent paid. They also want to know why Hegseth required government furnished housing and why the $50,000 emergency painting job was necessary for the residence. The price tag to fix Hegseth’s government housing comes as service members and their families continue to live in deteriorating housing conditions.
(Lawmakers asking Hegseth to explain price tag on his government house – Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.))
- Agencies have less than a month to hand over lists of federal employees with lower performance ratings. The Office of Personnel Management is directing agencies to create lists of all employees who have received a less than “fully successful” rating anytime in the past three years. An OPM memo sent last week said those lists should include details on employees’ job titles, pay plans and agency components. OPM also said it’s developing new performance metrics to evaluate federal employees to align with President Trump’s recent actions on the federal workforce. Many of those actions are aimed at reducing the size of the federal workforce. Agencies’ lists of lower performing federal employees are due to OPM by March 7.
(Trump administration asks agencies for details on low-performing federal employees – Federal News Network)
- In his first town hall addressing Defense Department employees on Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated his message of reviving the “warrior ethos” which he said have been undermined by the department’s diversity initiatives. In his speech, Hegseth criticized the military’s long-standing diversity initiatives. “I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is, ‘our diversity is our strength.’ I think our strength is our unity.” He also said deterrence starts “with our own southern border” and that the Northern Command has done an “amazing job” in the last several weeks planning and preparing for a long-term defensive strategy in the region. The town hall livestream was cut off right before the questions and answers part of the event.
(Hegseth criticizes diversity in his first town hall for DoD employees – Department of Defense)
- Six agency inspectors general are being asked to investigate whether Elon Musk is inappropriately accessing federal data. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are asking the IG offices to investigate the DOGE team’s access at agencies like Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management. The letter comes after President Donald Trump fired the inspectors general at 17 agencies, including some of those now being asked to investigate DOGE. A federal judge on Saturday temporarily restricted the DOGE team’s access to Treasury payment systems.
(Lawmakers turn to IGs to investigate DOGE access to agency data – Federal News Network)
- Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) is once again leading the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on the Border Management, the Federal Workforce and Regulatory Affairs. The Oklahoma Republican has a new ranking member, however. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) picked this leadership role. Committee chairman and ranking member Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) named the HSGAC subcommittee chairmen and ranking members last week. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) take over the Subcommittee on Disaster Management, District of Columbia and the Census, while Senators Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) lead the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
(Sens. Lankford, Fetterman lead Homeland Security subcommittee on federal workforce – Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee)
- The Department of Health and Human Services may be violating the Administrative Procedure Act in regards to federal contractors. HHS is telling federal contractors it will no longer enforce certain Federal Acquisition Regulations that are inconsistent with President Donald Trump’s executive orders. These include a FAR clause that requires contractors to submit a diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility plan and several others around environmental and sustainable acquisitions. This decision by HHS, however, could run afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act as Government Information Watch points out. The good government group said that agencies remain governed by their underlying statutory mandates. A president may direct agencies to begin the process of reversing or revising an existing regulation, but it must go through another full rulemaking.
(HHS tells contractors it will not enforce certain acquisition regulations – SAM.gov)
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