If enacted, the bill would also create a separate USAJobs portal for positions not requiring a four-year college degree.
- A move toward skills-based federal hiring is getting another push from Congress. A new bipartisan bill would push agencies to ease college degree requirements for many federal jobs. Agencies would have to consider alternative job qualifications like military service, apprenticeships and community college. If enacted, the bill would also create a separate USAJobs portal for positions not requiring a four-year college degree.
- A Defense Department task force has written a handbook to teach other federal agencies, private companies and academia how to protect themselves from small drones. Based on lessons learned from the Middle East and Europe, the guide walks readers through how adversaries can use drones to spy on or attack U.S. interests and explains what goes into a successful anti-drone system. The task force hopes to work more closely with its interagency partners for a unified approach to tracking, identifying and if necessary, downing drones.
- Federal wildland firefighters could soon earn higher pay rates for more of their duties. A new bipartisan bill would provide hazard pay to firefighters and smokejumpers when working on prescribed burns and training jumps. Lawmakers say their bill would correct an unfair pay gap. Firefighters receive hazard pay when responding to active wildfires. But they don’t get the same for prescribed burns, despite facing similar risks. The new legislation mirrors a recent proposal from the Office of Personnel Management that also seeks to expand hazard pay for firefighters.
- The SBA is changing the name of its government contracting office. SBA’s Office of Government Contracting and Business Development will become the Office of Industrial Base Resilience and Contracting under the agency’s planned reorganization. Ryan Lambert, the associate administrator of the office, speaking at an ACT-IAC event yesterday, said the name change is part of a broader effort. “As far as what we can do at SBA and focus on the entire pool of small businesses, including those certified and not certified in any one of our programs, that’s really the focus we are trying to shift to.” SBA announced the reorganization in June but, at that time, didn’t mention the name change for GCBD.
- The General Services Administration is adding an eighth airline to the City Pairs program for fiscal 2027. For the first time, GSA awarded a spot on the governmentwide contract for airline travel to a small business, Key Lime Air. The small firm, doing business as Denver Air Connection, joins seven other large carriers, including United, Delta, American, Southwest, Jet Blue, Alaska and Breeze Airways on the vehicle. GSA says agencies can expect an average discount of 48% compared to commercial fares. The program includes 98% of the top nonstop federal travel markets among the more than 17,000 city pairs routes.
- The Secret Service is upgrading a system used to manage staffing and assignments. The agency is developing a new protective resource management application to maximize the efficient use of personnel. That’s according to the Secret Service’s response to a recent Department of Homeland Security inspector general report. The IG found understaffing and poor planning have increased risks to the agency’s protective operations. It was understaffed by an average of 21.4% in fiscal 2023 and 2024. The Secret Service last year launched an ambitious hiring campaign to fill those staffing gaps.
- Sailors who receive grooming waivers because of a medical condition that makes it painful to shave their facial hair are now racing the clock to treat their ailment or face getting kicked out of the Navy. The service will allow sailors with razor bumps and similar conditions to continue sporting a beard for a year before they are considered for separation. The change complies with a directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that troops should be clean-shaven for safety and uniformity. Critics say the policy will hurt Black men, who are most often diagnosed with razor bumps.
- The General Services Administration crossed a new milestone in its goal to shrink the federal government’s real estate footprint. GSA has now sold a dozen high-value federal properties that a congressionally created board recommended be put on the market seven years ago. The Public Buildings Reform Board advises GSA on which properties it should offload from the federal real estate portfolio. GSA’s last sale from the board’s list was the former Chet Holifield Federal Building, a step-pyramid building that sits on nearly 90 acres in Orange County, California. Sales from these properties have generated more than $533 million that will go toward further consolidation activities.
- Veterans Affairs is partnering with a fast-food chain as part of a business program for veterans. Under a deal with the VA, Steak ‘n Shake will waive fees for veterans to own and operate their own franchises and will prioritize the hiring of veterans and VA beneficiaries for leadership positions across the company. Its restaurants will put up signs promoting VA health care and benefits programs. The chain recently revamped its ingredients and cooking methods as part of a deal with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has reshuffled some senior leaders. Scott Breor is now acting executive assistant director for CISA’s infrastructure security division. Breor most recently served as the associate director of security programs at CISA. He replaces Steven Casapulla, who recently joined the White House Office of the National Cyber Director. Chip Abernathy is now leading CISA’s National Risk Management Center.
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