Pentagon finds ID problems affecting 215,000 troops

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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Pentagon is working to verify the identities of hundreds of thousands of troops who hold military ID cards, after failing to keep digital copies of proof like driver’s licenses and passports.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">About 215,000 active-duty and reserve troops — about 10% of the total force — were out of compliance with the security rules needed to hold a Common Access Card as of August, a Pentagon official told Federal News Network on Sept. 3. There’s no indication that foul play is involved or that the issue has enabled a data breach, he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This initiative represents an administrative record update rather than a policy change, and there has been no evidence of fraud, forgery or malicious activity,” the official said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">CACs give holders access to military installations, secure networks and other essential services. Troops need to visit an ID office with two original and unexpired identity documents to receive one. </span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s standard procedure to check that someone is who they say they are when they join the military, but the Pentagon hasn’t always kept digital copies of troops’ personal documents in the ID card system, the official said. He characterized the issue as an “administrative gap” within the Defense Enrollment Eligibility System (DEERS), the database used to track military members and their family members to determine who should receive military benefits. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The crackdown on problematic records began in January, when the Defense Manpower Data Center told each service it had found DEERS entries that were missing current proof of identity, the Marine Corps said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“DMDC initiated a phased notification effort via email to all affected service members with a government and/or personal email stored in DEERS,” the Corps said in an </span><a href="https://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/Messages-Display/Article/4582658/identity-proofing-and-vetting-for-common-access-card-cac-issuance/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Aug. 25 memo</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “Cardholders who fail to have two valid identity source documents scanned into the DEERS record are at risk of CAC cancellation and/or forfeiture.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Pentagon declined to answer how many people were initially affected, but said the issue hasn’t impacted civilian staff or contractors.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Defense Manpower Data Center “continues to coordinate closely with the military services to issue continuous notifications and collect the necessary identifying documentation … while preventing operational disruptions,” the Pentagon official said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">About half of the people with noncompliant DEERS records are in the Army. The largest branch of the armed forces was looking into nearly 111,000 CACs as of Sept. 2, and said it has not revoked any ID cards as part of the review.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We are proactively modernizing and aligning our personnel records with department-wide DMDC standards to provide total credential integrity across the entire Army enterprise,” an Army spokesperson said Tuesday. </span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Around 21,500 Marines lacked the right documentation at the end of July, the service said. No CACs have been canceled or suspended so far because of the issue, and deployed Marines who can’t get to a military ID office can fix their record when they get home.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s unclear who is responsible for fixing the remaining 82,000 or so noncompliant DEERS records.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A spokesperson for the Department of the Air Force, which also oversees the Space Force, said the organization isn’t “aware of any widespread issues affecting active-duty common access cards at this time.” A Navy spokesperson referred questions to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Defense Department did not answer how long service members have to become compliant, or what it would do differently to prevent CACs from staying active if the underlying DEERS record doesn’t contain two forms of identification.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Service members without a valid CAC could also run into issues at the airport. DoD-issued ID cards can be used as a form of REAL ID to pass through Transportation Security Administration screening for up to two years after expiration. Troops who neglect to update their DEERS records and find themselves without a working CAC would need to bring another REAL ID-compliant option to catch their flight.</span></p>
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Air Force updates rules for civilian job applicants

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<ul><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Department of the Air Force is updating its rules for determining whether civilian applicants are a good fit for federal jobs. New interim guidance said candidates must be deemed initially favorable before receiving a firm job offer and must earn a final decision that they are suitable for employment in order to retain the job. “It is important to ensure individuals hired are loyal, trustworthy and of good character,” the memo said. The memo follows a broader Trump administration directive on the same topic and will be replaced with a permanent rule.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/dafgm2026-36-01/dafgm2026-36-01.pdf">Air Force updating suitability rules for civilian job seekers</a> - Department of the Air Force)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is looking to centralize cybersecurity tool purchases across government. CISA’s Capacity Building Division wants to expand its buying power for key cybersecurity programs like Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation. In a new request for information, CISA is seeking feedback on plans for a new 10-year contract for acquiring cyber tools and services used across federal agencies. CISA said it currently oversees about $600 million in annual spending on federal enterprise cyber solutions. The goal of the new contract is to streamline buying processes for agencies, save money, and build tracking tools to manage and analyze procurements. <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://sam.gov/opp/a12bcbd9bfbc4e3ea64a0f8db379df70/view">CISA strategic cyber tools buying</a> - SAM.gov)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">More than 66,000 kids are returning to the Defense Department’s K-12 schools for the 2026-2027 academic year without their phones. The Department of Defense Education Activity, which runs the school system, is now telling students to silence or turn off their personal electronics and put them away during the school day. The school system also said in a release it has overhauled hiring as it tries to find at least one full-time teacher for each classroom. <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.dodea.edu/news/press-releases/dowea-welcomes-over-66-000-military-connected-students-globally-start-2026-27">DoD-run schools and back in session - without cell phones</a> - Department of Defense Education Activity)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The National Institute of Standards and Technology is trying to move cybersecurity beyond the annual awareness training or phishing test. As part of a new concept paper on human-centered cybersecurity, NIST said it wants to put people at the forefront of cybersecurity efforts. While many cyber vulnerabilities can be traced back to the so-called “human element,” most publications and frameworks don’t go beyond recommendations to train employees. NIST said the paper’s guidelines and resources are grounded in input received from hundreds of cyber practitioners and researchers via surveys, interviews, workshops and other conversations.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.nist.gov/blogs/cybersecurity-insights/stronger-cybersecurity-programs-start-people-nist-wants-your-input-path">NIST wants input on human-centered cybersecurity</a> - National Institute of Standards and Technology)</div></li><p></p>

<li style="margin-top:20px;">The Defense Department is ordering 30 universities to immediately review their research and financial ties to foreign entities. The department said the institutions need to audit all foreign collaborations, assess the exposure of sensitive or export-controlled research and implement strict mitigation plans if they want to maintain eligibility for future federal funding. The universities must report their findings and actions taken by Aug. 31. <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4575019/department-of-war-orders-research-security-audits-at-30-academic-institutions/">DoD orders universities to review foreign ties or risk losing funding</a> - Defense Department)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pitching a plan to help shield local police officers who make immigration arrests from possible financial consequences if they are accused of on-duty misconduct. A planning document released Friday said the agency is proposing to subsidize liability insurance for state and local officers who are trained and deputized to enforce federal immigration laws. ICE’s partnerships with local departments have soared since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. They may get an additional boost with liability insurance by removing a hurdle that has made some local police departments reluctant to join.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/litigation/2026/08/ice-pitches-legal-insurance-to-help-shield-local-officers-who-make-immigration-arrests/">ICE pitches a plan to offer local law enforcement immunity for cooperation</a> - Associated Press)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Justice Department's inspector general is reviewing a controversial Drug Enforcement Administration tactic in which agents let fentanyl reach the streets to build cases against traffickers. The review follows an Associated Press investigation that revealed the DEA monitored but did not seize major fentanyl shipments in New Mexico between 2023 and 2025. The strategy has raised public safety concerns. The review will examine policies and wiretap cases where DEA was aware of fentanyl shipments. New Mexico authorities are also investigating whether DEA agents broke state law by allowing fentanyl to flood Albuquerque's streets.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/agency-oversight/2026/08/justice-department-watchdog-to-review-dea-tactic-that-permitted-deadly-fentanyl-to-hit-streets/">DoJ IG reviews DEA tactic of allowing fentanyl to reach the streets to build cases against traffickers</a> - Associated Press)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Defense Department recently announced three pilots that will seek to cut equal employment opportunity investigation timelines in half, centralize EEO operations across the department and expedite cases involving senior leaders. Anthony Tata, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said that less than 1% of final agency decisions for EEO complaints result in a finding of discrimination, arguing that the program needs to be reformed to prevent its “weaponization.” But legal experts cautioned that the figure Tata cited does not mean that 99% of complaints lack merit. The 1% figure only represents complaints that make it through the entire EEO process, but it does not account for complaints resolved through settlements, withdrawals or successful dispute resolutions.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2026/08/dod-launches-eeo-pilots-amid-push-to-curb-weaponization-of-equal-opportunity-programs/">DoD launches EEO pilots amid push to curb ‘weaponization’ of equal opportunity programs</a> - Federal News Network)</div></li><p></p></ul>
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DoD hiring boards add secrecy, delays to civilian hiring

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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Defense Department has begun bringing on civilian employees through the Trump administration’s new strategic hiring committees, raising questions about their impact on the defense workforce so far.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Four committees have sprung up across the department to vet new workers, including one in each of the three military service departments and one that covers the Office of the Secretary of Defense and other defense agencies, according to a DoD spokesperson. But their work is largely shrouded in secrecy nearly one year after President Donald Trump mandated the committees’ creation in an </span><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/10/ensuring-continued-accountability-in-federal-hiring/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">executive order</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> last October.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Nobody really knows what’s happening, and agencies are still figuring out how to make this work,” said Jenny Mattingley, vice president for public policy and stakeholder engagement at the Partnership for Public Service.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">DoD hired more than 29,000 civilians in the eight months that followed the order’s enactment, according to the most recent federal data that runs through June.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That includes nearly 7,400 Air Force and Space Force employees since the hiring committee launched in January, plus about 3,000 workers in the Army, which created its panel in March. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another 9,300 or so joined OSD and other defense agencies between October and June; nearly 7,300 went to the Navy and Marine Corps. Officials declined to answer when OSD and the Department of the Navy established their respective committees. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s unclear how many of those new hires were routed through the committees themselves, how the panels shaped their consideration, or how many applicants were rejected. It’s also difficult to tell whether the committees are handling new hires at all levels of the civilian workforce, or only certain groups — including roles now classified as Schedule Policy/Career.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Pentagon’s committees “oversee and approve civilian personnel actions in line with merit-based practices and critical agency needs,” the DoD spokesperson said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Trump’s executive order directed federal agencies to establish committees of senior officials that would approve new positions and allow offices to fill existing jobs. The panels would ensure that new hires are in line with “the national interest, agency needs and the priorities of my administration,” Trump wrote.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That deviates from the usual process of relying on lower-level officials and program offices to decide what kinds of jobs they need and whether candidates are a good fit.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This idea that every hire would be overseen by a political appointee … gives political control at much deeper levels than is typical,” Mattingley said.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For instance, the Department of the Air Force’s panel is composed of senior leaders from its top personnel, comptroller, acquisition and legal offices, an Air Force official told Federal News Network. The committee meets every two to four weeks to consider individual hiring requests as well as proposals to exempt certain types of employees from the administration’s hiring freeze. It also reviews the department’s fiscal 2026 annual staffing plan.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The official declined to answer how many new hires the department has made or what types of jobs the committee is exempting.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The United States Space Force is actively growing its civilian force to meet increased mission demands defending the space domain,” the official said. “A categorical hiring exemption was approved enabling USSF to hire with speed and precision.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An Army spokesperson said the service’s committee gave blanket approval to hire for “critical occupations” supporting operational missions and the industrial base, but did not elaborate further.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Department of the Navy did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In coordination with the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget, these Committees ensure that the Department can continue to recruit, retain, and deploy the talent required to achieve peace through strength,” the DoD spokesperson said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Still, the committees haven’t substantially increased hires across the military so far. About 23,500 civilians joined DoD in the first six months of 2026, compared to nearly 19,000 who were hired or transferred in during the same period last year, federal data shows.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The department’s civilian workforce has continued to shrink despite those gains, hovering around 685,000 employees as of May.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mattingley cautioned that adding a new layer of oversight into the hiring process can become inefficient and distracting for leaders who should be focusing on high-level strategy, spending and workforce needs, rather than individual jobs.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If hiring is happening at the level at which it normally did … that could become a de facto hiring freeze in some ways, if these committees can only approve or oversee a certain amount of or a certain volume of hires,” Mattingley said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Asked whether its committee has slowed hiring so far, the Army spokesperson said the service has procedures in place to expedite approvals and limit potential delays.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The issue has gained some attention on Capitol Hill as well. Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee, asked military personnel officials at an April hearing whether the new committees are working.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Bureaucratic delays and incompetence in implementing flawed personnel policies have left military personnel performing sometimes two or three jobs while the positions are being routed through strategic hiring committees,” Houlahan said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Still, strategic-level staffing committees can help federal agencies answer whether they have the skills and talent needed to reach their long-term goals — a common practice at most private companies that is worth making permanent in government, Mattingley said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She worries the current boards may instead hire to appease political desires rather than fill vacancies in the most pressing missions.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think we’ll see more of agencies feeling that pressure of not being able to fill positions that are critical, but not priorities,” Mattingley said.</span></p>
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MSPB officially transitions away from its authority over adverse action appeals

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<ul><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Merit Systems Protection Board is officially transitioning away some of its authority over adverse action appeal decisions. A new final rule from MSPB removes all references to the board’s prior jurisdiction over appeals due to firings or demotions during a reduction in force, probationary period or for a suitability-related reason. The adjustments at MSPB come after the Office of Personnel Management finalized rules to take over decisions in those three categories of workplace disputes. The change takes full effect in early September. <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/12/2026-16456/appellate-jurisdiction-update-ii">Appellate Jurisdiction Update II</a> - Merit Systems Protection Board)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Army is facing a new challenge with its Marketplace for Acquisition of Professional Services (MAPS) contract vehicle. The Army's decision not to allow teaming of contractors on its MAPS professional services contract vehicle violated the Small Business Act. That's what the Government Accountability Office determined in sustaining part of a protest by Intelligence Consulting Enterprise Solutions. The small business fell short in three of its four protest areas, but GAO found the Army's prohibition of teaming arrangements is unduly restrictive and the law mandates that when agencies engage in contract consolidation, they also take steps to maximize participation by small business concerns. GAO recommends the Army reopens the solicitation to allow for teaming and joint ventures. <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/b-424433.3%2Cb-424433.7#mt=e-report">Army MAPS contract violated Small Business Act, GAO says</a> - Government Accountability Office)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Department of the Air Force will fast-track the process of reinstating airmen and guardians who were booted from military service after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The department, which oversees the Air Force and Space Force, will conduct medical certifications and record correction boards in parallel to cut down on processing time, and appoint dedicated case managers to help applicants fill out the necessary forms. Reinstatements had been delayed by 30 days on average due to the medical clearance process. <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4568943/daf-updates-covid-19-reinstatement-process-reduces-time-for-members-returning-t/">Air Force tweaks policy to bring COVID vaccine refusers back faster</a> - Department of the Air Force)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The intelligence community now has its own top-secret jobs portal. ICJobs is just like USAJobs, but only available to people with top-secret security clearance. Speaking at an intelligence summit in Tampa, Florida, this week, IC Chief Information Officer Doug Cossa said the goal is matching the right people to the right job. 
“If you look at the AI race right now, particularly with China, our biggest risk is acquiring the right talent to get us where we need to go,” Cossa said. The ICJObs portal launched a few weeks ago. So far, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office are the first two agencies to adopt the platform. 
<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/intelligence-community/2026/08/icjobs-intel-community-gets-new-classified-jobs-portal/">‘ICJobs:’ Intel community gets new classified jobs portal</a> - Federal News Network)</div></li><p></p>

<li style="margin-top:20px;">Federal employees traveling for work and using their own car will receive a higher rate of reimbursement for the rest of the calendar year. The General Services Administration increased the mileage reimbursement rate for privately owned automobiles to 76 cents per mile up from 72.5 cents a mile. GSA made the decision to increase the rate to stay inline with the IRS's midyear adjustment. These new rates took effect on July 1.  <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/11/2026-16306/midyear-adjustment-to-the-calendar-year-cy-2026-privately-owned-vehicle-pov-mileage-reimbursement">GSA increases reimbursable mileage rate for feds </a> - Federal Register)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">Lawmakers are pushing forward a slate of bills that would impact federal employees. Those efforts include one bill offering lifetime identity protection coverage to feds impacted by a major 2015 data breach. Another bill, if enacted, would give feds 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. And a third bill seeks to root out poor air quality across federal facilities — as just a few of many efforts on Capitol Hill looking to reshape benefits and employment laws for the federal workforce. <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/congress/2026/08/congress-seeks-federal-workforce-changes-in-recent-slate-of-bills/">Congress seeks federal workforce changes in recent slate of bills</a> - Federal News Network)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Transportation Security Administration’s number two official is stepping down. Ha Nguyen McNeill said her last day as TSA deputy administrator will be Sept. 3. For much of the last year and half, McNeill served as the agency’s acting administrator. But David Cummins was sworn in as TSA administrator on Aug. 7 after he was confirmed by the Senate. In a LinkedIn post, McNeill said she plans to return to the private sector.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7493018426899206144/">McNeill stepping down from TSA post</a> - Ha Nguyen McNeill on LinkedIn)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Pentagon wants to steer hundreds of millions of dollars to Palantir, with the prospect of more in the coming years, without specifying how the money will be used. An Aug. 4 draft memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg told the Pentagon’s acquisition boss and comptroller to spend up to $244 million on Palantir’s services until the end of March. The memo also tells the military services to find ways to fund the data analytics giant’s work. A DoD official described the memo as a planning directive that reflects the work of Business Operators for National Defense, the initiative Feinberg created in February to give private-sector leaders a hand in defense acquisition reform.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2026/08/pentagon-wants-to-spend-millions-on-palantir-with-few-details/">Pentagon wants to spend millions on Palantir with few details</a> - Federal News Network)</div></li><p></p></ul>
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Federal Movers & Shakers | August 7, 2026

Army offering six-figure bonuses to retain certain helicopter pilots

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<ul><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Army is offering certain helicopter pilots six-figure bonuses to stay in uniform, hoping to retain active-duty warrant officers who are mid-career or approaching retirement eligibility. Bonuses range from around $75,000 over three years for aviators with 12 to 14 years of service, to nearly $210,000 over six years for those with at least 18 years of service. The 2026 program aims to convince at least one in four eligible soldiers to stay, with a particular focus on instructor pilots and maintenance test pilots.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN47220-ALARACT_0372026-000-WEB-1.pdf">Army revamps pilot bonus program for 2026</a> - U.S. Army)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">A federal union is attempting to stop the Department of Veterans Affairs from, once again, trying to cancel its collective bargaining agreement. The VA is now making its third attempt to end its contract with the American Federation of Government Employees, while negotiations are ongoing. In response, AFGE is asking a federal judge to enforce a previous preliminary injunction and order the VA to restore its contract with AFGE, which covers 320,000 workers.   <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.afge.org/globalassets/documents/generalreports/2026/nvac-motion-to-enforce-preliminary-injunction-july-28.pdf">Motion to enforce preliminary injunction</a> - American Federation of Government Employees)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Defense Department has a permanent budget chief. After more than a year without a Senate-confirmed Pentagon comptroller, the Senate voted to confirm Jay Hurst, who has been in the role in an acting capacity since last August. The Senate advanced Hurst's nomination with little public debate, even as some lawmakers continued to raise concerns about his transparency on key issues such as the cost of the war in Iran. Lawmakers also confirmed Erich Hernandez-Baquero, who was tapped to serve as the Department of the Air Force’s space acquisition boss, and Roger Mason, who was nominated to lead the National Reconnaissance Office.  <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-resolution/817/all-actions">Pentagon gets permanent budget chief </a> - Congress.gov)</div></li><p></p>

<li style="margin-top:20px;">Agencies no longer have to follow equal employment guidelines that are meant to root out discrimination in hiring. An interim final rule from the Office of Personnel Management scraps the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. The framework has been used for decades to identify unintentional discrimination in hiring practices. OPM said it’s removing the guidelines in response to a Justice Department opinion last month that called the framework unconstitutional. OPM emphasized that while the scope of its new rule is limited, it still expects agencies to continue using “merit-based” and “professionally sound” recruitment processes. <div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-15586.pdf">Removal of references to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures in federal personnel regulations</a> - Office of Personnel Management)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is pushing Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg to recuse himself from contracting decisions involving Cerberus, the investment firm he founded in 1992. The request comes following reports that at least three Cerberus-linked companies have won contracts for work on the Golden Dome missile defense project. In a July 27 letter, Warren pressed Feinberg for more information on his role in overseeing Golden Dome, his involvement in choosing contractors and how the Defense Department evaluates bids for the programs that make up Golden Dome. Responses are due August 10.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-presses-deputy-defense-secretary-on-conflicts-of-interest-related-to-companies-bidding-on-major-golden-dome-missile-defense-program/">Warren presses Pentagon's No. 2 on Golden Dome ethics issues</a> - Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The Defense Information Systems Agency wants industry input on its plan to migrate all combatant commands’ common-use IT services to DoDNet. General Dynamics Information Technology challenged the agency’s decision to expand Leidos’ $11 billion Defense Enclave Services contract to perform the work. The company filed a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office, arguing that the agency should have competed the new work. The bid protest was dismissed after the agency said it would conduct new market research, make a new acquisition approach decision and develop a new acquisition plan. DISA is now conducting the market research portion of the corrective action.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2026/07/disa-seeks-industry-input-on-combatant-command-migration-after-gdit-protest/">DISA seeks industry input on combatant command migration after GDIT protest</a> - Federal News Network)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">Four federal technology associations are urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to include in their fiscal 2027 continuing resolution an anomaly to extend the authorization of the Technology Modernization Fund. The TMF is set to expire on Sept. 30. The organizations say a continuing resolution written on standard terms would not carry the program’s authorization forward. The Alliance for Digital Innovation, the Business Software Alliance, the Center for Procurement Advocacy and ATARC wrote to Senate Appropriations Committee leaders seeking the anomaly because they say a continuing resolution written on standard terms would not carry the program’s authorization forward. The White House submitted a request to Congress for the anomaly as part of its comments on the Financial Services and General Government bill. The Senate is expected to begin debating the House-passed CR on Monday. The House CR would keep the government open through Dec. 4.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://alliance4digitalinnovation.org/2026/07/30/adi-tmf-extension/">4 industry groups urge Senate leaders to extend TMF in the CR</a> - Alliance for Digital Innovation)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">The chief information officer shuffle at the Department of Health and Human services continues: The National Institutes of Health has a new CIO. The Department of Health and Human Services put out the help wanted sign for its CIO. NIH named Maureen Falvella as its new CIO after almost a year-long search. Falvella has been acting NIH CIO since last September and has worked at the agency for 12 years. Meanwhile, HHS CIO Clark Minor left his position after about 18 months. David Hong, who has been the deputy CIO since March, takes over on an interim basis. Minor joined HHS after having worked at Palantir previously.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://lnkd.in/p/g-K9jRBa">NIH names Maureen Falvella as its new CIO</a> - LinkedIn)</div></li><p></p><li style="margin-top:20px;">Seventy-one early-career federal technologists have officially graduated, making them the largest-ever class of U.S. Digital Corps fellows. They celebrated the end of their service across 15 different agencies at a graduation ceremony this week, held at the General Services Administration’s headquarters. The two-and-a-half-year Digital Corps program centers on hiring younger employees to work temporarily on government tech projects. For the past couple years, the graduating fellows were working in areas like software engineering, data science and cybersecurity.<div style="display:block; font-style: italic;">(<a href="https://digitalcorps.gsa.gov/">U.S. Digital Corps 2026 graduating class</a> - General Services Administration)</div></li><p></p></ul>


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Army speeds firing process for civilian employees

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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A recent Army memo speeds up the process of firing underperforming civilians while giving them less time to defend their work.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN47111-ARMY_DIR_2026-18-000-WEB-1.pdf" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">policy</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, issued July 7, lays out a monthlong process for reporting, investigating and opting to remove an employee. The changes follow Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s September 2025 directive to </span><a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/10/dod-strips-job-protections-from-civilian-employees-directs-managers-to-fire-with-speed-and-conviction/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">fire unsuccessful employees “with speed and conviction,”</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> aiming to rid the department of those it feels are hindering its progress. And it puts the Army’s 188,000 or so civilian workers on unsteady footing as the service plans to continue cutting those jobs in 2027.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The guidance provides paths to firing for two sets of Army civil servants: one for general schedule employees and others who comprise the vast majority of the workforce; and a truncated one for those who staff exchanges, bowling alleys and other facilities that generate revenue, known as “nonappropriated fund” employees.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For most civilian workers, the process begins when a supervisor decides someone is falling short. That could be tied to a lackluster annual performance review, complaints or incident reports, or supervisor notes, according to </span><a href="https://media.defense.gov/2025/Sep/30/2003812417/-1/-1/1/SEPARATION-OF-EMPLOYEES-WITH-UNACCEPTABLE-PERFORMANCE.PDF" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hegseth’s guidance last fall</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Unacceptable performance is defined as any Army civilian who fails to meet the expected results in one or more performance element(s),” Army spokesperson Christopher Surridge said in a July 24 email. “Performance evaluations and terminations for unacceptable performance remain based on non-discriminatory, merit-based criteria.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The supervisor then has seven days from the “date the performance is determined unacceptable” to contact their local personnel office, like a branch of the Civilian Human Resources Agency, to propose the worker be fired. Next, personnel and legal staff must respond to the supervisor’s request within 10 calendar days, the memo says.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The clock begins when the service issues a formal notice that a person could be removed. An official one or two levels senior to the supervisor, or someone outside that chain, has 30 days from the written notice to decide whether the worker should be penalized or fired.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The employee under investigation now has seven calendar days, “or as consistent with collective bargaining agreements,” the memo says. The policy explicitly does away with the flexibility offered by earlier versions that gave workers at least seven days to defend themselves.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Surridge said the change aligns Army policy with the timeline set by DoD. A spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal workers, did not respond to questions about the memo by press time.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hegseth’s guidance last fall</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> outlined the criteria decisionmakers should use to judge an employee’s performance, including consistent failure to meet deadlines or quality standards, inability to perform key tasks, and repeatedly making errors that hurt an agency’s mission.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The effect of an employee’s performance on mission execution is a primary consideration,” Hegseth’s memo said. “Any operational disruption underscores the necessity of removal to maintain a ready workforce.” </span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It also offers templates for proposed firing notices, removal decision memos and other steps of the process. Those point workers to the federal Merit Systems Protection Board if they want to appeal.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To incentivize a fired worker to leave sooner, commanders can offer bonus pay, early retirement or up to 12 weeks of leave as a deferred resignation. That echoes the Trump administration’s effort to cull the federal workforce last year, first by encouraging staff to choose to leave on their own, then by cutting positions outright.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The process is much shorter for the Army’s 24,000 or so nonappropriated fund employees. When a supervisor asks to fire someone, their personnel and legal offices have 10 calendar days to decide whether there’s enough evidence to move forward. Then, an official has 30 calendar days to rule on the worker’s removal. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Army has already lost more than 32,000 civilians — about 15% of the workforce — since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term in January 2025, when it hovered around 221,000 employees, according to government data.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The civilian workforce is the backbone of the U.S. military, lending specialized expertise accumulated over the course of years or decades in government.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Army Civilians are integral to supporting critical capabilities that do not require military-essential skills, including combat training center operations, acquisition, cybersecurity, depot maintenance, and family services,” the service said in its 2027 budget request, noting that the “indispensible” workforce provides “stability, operational excellence and long-term capability.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Department of the Air Force, which oversees the Air Force and Space Force, and the Department of the Navy, which manages the Navy and Marine Corps, did not answer by press time whether they are crafting similar guidance for their own civilian corps.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Army policy also tries to incentivize good behavior to retain its top performers: Supervisors can offer their employees time off, performance awards or a salary bump as a reward for good work, the memo says.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If an Army civilian is married to another federal or military civil servant, the service is making it easier for them to travel together to the spouse’s new job. Instead of requesting up to one year of leave in three-month increments, Army employees can ask for up to 12 months of unpaid leave up front, and extend that to 18 months in total.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The update “directly promotes continued employment for impacted employees, and removes unnecessary administrative burdens,” Surridge said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It could also become easier to use leave other employees have donated to a shared emergency pool. The memo says the service will build an electronic system to manage the process of claiming donated leave, replacing government forms that take longer to approve.</span></p>
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Decides which products and services federal agencies must buy from nonprofit agencies that employ people who are blind or have significant disabilities: it maintains the Procurement List published in the Federal Register and sets the fair market price for everything on it. Orders are distributed through two designated central nonprofit agencies.

AbilityOne Commission

Chairperson of the AbilityOne Commission

The Administration for Children and Families is an operating division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It administers federal programs that promote the economic and social well-being of children, youth, families, and communities, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Head Start, child care, child support enforcement, foster care and adoption assistance, refugee resettlement, and services for Native Americans. It was established in 1991 through a reorganization of the Department.

Administration for Children and Families

Alex J. Adams

The Administration for Community Living is an operating division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It administers programs that help older adults and people with disabilities live independently and participate in their communities, coordinating aging and disability services authorized largely by the Older Americans Act. It was created in 2012 by consolidating the Administration on Aging with offices serving people with disabilities.

Administration for Community Living

Administrator of the Administration for Community Living

Runs the aging services network created by the Older Americans Act: it funds state and area agencies on aging, which pay for congregate and home-delivered meals, in-home services and caregiver support. It also houses the long-term care ombudsman program and elder-rights protection work.

Administration on Aging

Mary Lazare

Sets policy and oversight for the federal child welfare and youth programs run by its two bureaus: the Children's Bureau, which administers foster care, adoption and child abuse prevention funding to states and tribes, and the Family and Youth Services Bureau, which funds runaway and homeless youth services and adolescent pregnancy prevention.

Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Cody Inman

The Administrative Conference of the United States is an independent federal agency that studies the administrative procedures of federal agencies and develops recommendations to improve the fairness, efficiency, and transparency of regulatory, benefit, and other government programs. Its members are drawn from federal agencies, academia, and private practice. It was established by the Administrative Conference Act of 1964 and operates under 5 U.S.C. 591 and following.

Administrative Conference of the United States

Presides over the Administrative Conference of the United States and is its chief executive, hiring and supervising the staff, preparing the Conference's budget estimates and serving as its official spokesman to the other branches. Appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate for a five-year term (5 U.S.C. 593(b), 595(c)).

Chairman of Administrative Conference of the United States

The Administrative Office of the United States Courts is the central administrative and support agency for the federal judiciary. It provides budget, human resources, technology, statistical, program, and management support to the United States courts and serves as the staff for the Judicial Conference of the United States. It was established by the Act of August 7, 1939, and operates under Chapter 41 of Title 28 of the United States Code, headed by a Director appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States.

Administrative Office of the United States Courts

Robert J. Conrad Jr.

Issues the government-wide procurement policies that bind executive agencies and oversees how agencies buy and the federal acquisition workforce. Appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

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Has authority over and responsibility for all NNSA programs, including the weapons laboratories, production plants and nonproliferation work. The office is held by the Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security, appointed by the President with Senate confirmation.

Administrator for Nuclear Security

Brandon Williams

Administrator of General Services, the institutional head of General Services Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 301); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Administrator of the Administration for Community Living, the institutional head of Administration for Community Living. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Department of Health and Human Services reorganization (2012); programs under the Older Americans Act of 1965; directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

Directs the agency's national research programs and its network of laboratories and research centers, and decides which lines of in-house science USDA pursues. Selected within the Department rather than appointed by the President, reporting through the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics.

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Joon Park

Administrator of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the institutional head of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Appointed under Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296), 116 Stat. 2135; directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Directs BPA's power marketing, transmission operations and rate-setting, and makes the arrangements for the sale and disposition of the federal power the agency sells to Northwest utilities. Appointed by, and responsible to, the Secretary of Energy.

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Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the institutional head of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Social Security Act, Titles XVIII and XIX (42 U.S.C. 1395, 1396); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Mehmet Oz

Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the institutional head of Drug Enforcement Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1973; directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration

Terrance C. Cole

Directs the government's central energy data and forecasting program and, by statute, publishes its statistical and forecasting reports without any other official's approval. Appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, from people specially qualified to manage an energy information system.

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Tristan Abbey

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the institutional head of Environmental Protection Agency. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970; directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Lee M. Zeldin

Runs the agency's commodity, farm loan, disaster and conservation programs and its state and county office network. Appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture; the post is not Senate-confirmed.

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Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, the institutional head of Federal Aviation Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (72 Stat. 731); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Bryan Bedford

Runs FEMA and is the principal advisor to the President, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Homeland Security on emergency management. Appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, from candidates with demonstrated emergency management ability and at least five years of executive leadership experience.

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Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, the institutional head of Federal Highway Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Department of Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. 104); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Sean McMaster

Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the institutional head of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (113 Stat. 1748; 49 U.S.C. 113); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, the institutional head of Federal Railroad Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Department of Transportation Act of 1966 (49 U.S.C. 103); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, the institutional head of Federal Transit Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1968 (5 U.S.C. app.; 49 U.S.C. ch. 53); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Exercises the Secretary's authority under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, Poultry Products Inspection Act, Egg Products Inspection Act and Humane Slaughter Act, and directs the inspection workforce. Appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture and reporting through the Under Secretary for Food Safety.

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Administrator of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, the institutional head of Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. Appointed by the President under Saint Lawrence Seaway Act of May 13, 1954 (33 U.S.C. 981-990); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the institutional head of Health Resources and Services Administration. Appointed under Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration

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Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the institutional head of National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (Public Law 85-568); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Jared Isaacman

Awards and administers the office's grants and judges whether states comply with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act's core protections. The Administrator is appointed by the President from among people with experience in juvenile justice programs.

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Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the institutional head of Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs Improvement Act of 2004 (49 U.S.C. 108); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

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Paul J. Roberti

Directs the federal crop insurance program and also serves as Manager of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. Appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture; no Senate confirmation required.

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Patricia Swanson

Directs the agency's rural business loan, loan guarantee and grant programs under the Under Secretary for Rural Development. Appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture; no Senate confirmation required.

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J.R. Claeys

Directs the agency's rural housing and community facilities loan, guarantee and grant programs under the Under Secretary for Rural Development. Appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture; no Senate confirmation required.

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George Kelly

Directs the agency's electric, telecommunications and water and waste lending programs. Appointed by the President; no Senate confirmation required.

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Administrator of the Small Business Administration, the institutional head of Small Business Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Small Business Act of 1953 (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

Administrator of the Small Business Administration

Kelly Loeffler

Runs the power marketing administration: negotiates its wholesale sales contracts, sets rates that repay the federal investment in the dams, and directs generation scheduling with the Corps. Appointed by the Secretary of Energy.

Administrator of the Southeastern Power Administration

Virgil G. Hobbs III

Runs the power marketing administration: negotiates its wholesale contracts, sets rates that repay the federal investment in the dams, and oversees its transmission system. Appointed by the Secretary of Energy.

Administrator of the Southwestern Power Administration

Mike Wech

Directs federal security screening at airports and security regulation across all transportation modes, and receives and distributes transportation security intelligence. Appointed by the President with Senate confirmation for a five-year term; the statute requires experience in transportation or security.

Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration

David P. Cummins

Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, the institutional head of Wage and Hour Division. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 204); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division

Andrew Rogers

Runs WAPA's power marketing, rate setting and transmission operations, exercising on the Secretary's behalf the power marketing functions transferred from the Bureau of Reclamation. Appointed by the Secretary of Energy.

Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration

Tracey A. LeBeau

Funds high-risk energy research that industry will not finance on its own, awarding cost-shared projects to companies, universities and national laboratories and cutting them off when technical milestones are missed. Its targets are set by statute: energy imports, emissions, efficiency, nuclear waste, and the resilience of energy infrastructure.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy

Conner Prochaska

Runs the Section 106 process, under which a federal agency must consider how a project it funds, permits or carries out would affect historic properties and consult states and tribes before proceeding. It writes the regulations for that review, joins the hardest cases itself, and advises the President and Congress.

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is an operating division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services within the Public Health Service. It produces evidence and funds research to make health care safer, higher in quality, more accessible, and more affordable, and works to ensure that the evidence is understood and used. It was established in 1999 under the Healthcare Research and Quality Act, succeeding the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, and is codified at 42 U.S.C. 299.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Roger D. Klein

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is a public health agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It evaluates and works to reduce human exposure to hazardous substances from waste sites, spills, and other releases, conducts public health assessments, and studies the health effects of toxic exposures. It was authorized by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Aaron Bernstein

Runs the Department of Agriculture's own laboratories: its scientists work on crop and livestock production, plant and animal disease, food safety, human nutrition and natural resource management. Results are published for public use rather than sold, and much of the work is done with land-grant universities.

Agricultural Research Service

Flies the aircraft and crews the vessels that Customs and Border Protection uses to detect, track and interdict smuggling and other unlawful cross-border activity. It is CBP's air and sea arm: the Border Patrol covers the land between ports of entry and the Office of Field Operations staffs the ports.

Air and Marine Operations

Jonathan P. Miller

Reviews court-martial convictions from the Air Force and Space Force, sitting in panels of at least three appellate military judges. It can affirm, modify or set aside findings and sentences, may hold a sentence inappropriately severe, and its decisions can be taken on to the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals

Provides graduate and professional education to Air Force and Space Force members and Department of the Air Force civilians: its graduate school awards master's and doctoral degrees in engineering, science and management, and its continuing-education schools train civil engineers, logisticians and strategic-force specialists.

Air Force Institute of Technology

James C. Bowers

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury. It collects federal excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and ammunition and regulates the production, labeling, advertising, and importation of alcohol and tobacco products. It was established on January 24, 2003, under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which split the former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and retained the tax and trade functions in the Treasury.

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau

Serves as the principal cyberspace policy official within State Department senior management and as the Secretary's adviser on cyber and digital issues, leading the Department's cyber diplomacy. Appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, with the rank and status of ambassador.

Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy

Adam Cassady

Designs, builds and maintains the permanent American military cemeteries and memorials outside the United States - the graves, chapels, monuments and grounds where American war dead are buried or commemorated. It also controls the erection of other United States war memorials and monuments on foreign soil.

American Battle Monuments Commission

Chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission

The American Printing House for the Blind is a private nonprofit corporation that holds a federal charter and serves as the official national source of educational materials for students who are legally blind and enrolled in programs below the college level. It produces and distributes braille and large-print textbooks, educational aids, and assistive technology, funded through an annual federal appropriation administered by the Department of Education. It was chartered by Congress in 1879.

American Printing House for the Blind

Craig Meador

The President of the American Printing House for the Blind leads the Louisville nonprofit that manufactures and furnishes braille, large-print and tactile materials for the instruction of blind students, distributed to schools each year under a federal per-pupil quota (20 U.S.C. 101, 102). Its Board of Trustees selects the president.

President

Funds economic development in the Appalachian counties of thirteen states, approving grants for broadband and water infrastructure, workforce training and business development, mostly delivered through local development districts. It is run jointly by the governors of the member states and a federal co-chair.

Appalachian Regional Commission

Gayle Conelly Manchin

The Architect of the Capitol is a legislative branch agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol, the congressional office buildings, the Library of Congress buildings, the Supreme Court building, the United States Botanic Garden, and the grounds of the Capitol campus. The title refers to both the agency and the official who heads it. Permanent statutory authority for the office dates to the Act of August 15, 1876.

Architect of the Capitol

Thomas E. Austin

The Architect of the Capitol has the care and superintendence of the Capitol and maintains the buildings and grounds of the Capitol campus (2 U.S.C. 1812). A commission of congressional leaders and appropriations and administration committee members appoints the Architect to a renewable 10-year term and can remove the holder at any time (2 U.S.C. 1801a).

Archivist of the United States, the institutional head of National Archives and Records Administration. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under National Archives and Records Administration Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-497); directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

Archivist of the United States

Bradford Pentony Wilson

Arctic Research Commission

Chairman of the Arctic Research Commission

Operates the two homes for retired and former enlisted members of the armed forces, Armed Forces Retirement Home-Washington and Armed Forces Retirement Home-Gulfport, providing residences, meals and graduated levels of health and long-term care. Eligibility is statutory, turning on length of service or wartime service.

Armed Forces Retirement Home

Stephen T. Rippe

Hears and decides contractors' appeals from the final decisions of Department of Defense and NASA contracting officers - disputes over payment, delay, termination and contract interpretation. Its full-time judges must have at least five years of experience in public contract law and are selected the way administrative law judges are.

Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals

Reviews court-martial convictions from the Army, sitting in panels of at least three appellate military judges. It can affirm, modify or set aside findings and sentences, may hold a sentence inappropriately severe, and its decisions can be taken on to the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

Army Court of Criminal Appeals

Heads the National Security Division and is the Justice Department's primary liaison to the Director of National Intelligence. One of the Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorneys General, designated for the role by the President (28 U.S.C. 507A).

Assistant Attorney General for National Security

John A. Eisenberg

Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, the institutional head of Office of Justice Programs. Appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, under Justice Assistance Act of 1984; directs the agency's staff, budget, and statutory functions.

Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs

Maureen A. Henneberg

Heads CBP's intelligence office and reports directly to the Commissioner, with responsibility for the agency's intelligence enterprise, its counterintelligence operations and its intelligence-sharing agreements. A career official, not a presidential appointee.

Assistant Commissioner, CBP Office of Intelligence

Ronald J. Ocker

Directs CBP's foreign initiatives, its personnel stationed abroad and its partnerships with foreign customs and border agencies, and reports directly to the Commissioner. A career official, not a presidential appointee.