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House Advances FY2026 Spending Bill, Cuts IT Modernization Funds
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US Capitol. The House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2026 spending bill.

The House Appropriations Committee has approved the fiscal year 2026 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act in a 35-28 vote, advancing a measure that Republican leaders said restores fiscal discipline while reshaping funding priorities for federal technology and cybersecurity.

Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee Chairman Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, said the legislation “caps federal spending to ensure responsible use of taxpayer dollars, modernizes technology infrastructure to increase efficiency and effectiveness, and strengthens national security by preventing bad actors from taking advantage of our financial system.”

Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., added that the bill “reinforces national security and community safety with investments to prevent crime in the nation’s capital, strengthen foreign business acquisition review, advance cutting-edge cybersecurity and IT modernization, and bolster anti-drug enforcement.”

Deep Cuts to IT Modernization Accounts

The bill eliminated new funding for the Technology Modernization Fund for the third year in a row. The House did not explain the action, but it follows the General Services Administration’s proposal to convert TMF into a revolving fund supported by expired agency funds, Federal News Network reported. 

Lawmakers also reduced the Federal Citizen Services Fund to $55 million, with $5 million directed toward implementing the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, and cut the IT Oversight Reform Fund to $10 million, half the administration’s request. The ITOR allocation is split evenly between the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer and the U.S. Digital Service, with lawmakers requiring quarterly reporting on personnel hiring and detailees.

Cybersecurity and Treasury Accounts

While modernization funds were curtailed, the measure boosts certain cybersecurity efforts. The bill allotted $99 million to the Department of the Treasury’s Cybersecurity Enhancement Account, up from $36.5 million in fiscal 2025, with funding targeted at zero trust architecture, low-code application development and cloud cybersecurity. The committee directed the agency to submit quarterly reports on how the money is being spent, citing concern about prior cyber intrusions linked to third-party providers.

By contrast, the Office of the National Cyber Director faces a reduction, with its budget set at $18.1 million—below both its FY 2025 appropriation and $20 million request for FY 2026. The committee urged the office to prioritize protecting federal data in transit and coordinate more closely with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Overall Spending Framework

The FSGG bill provided $23.3 billion in discretionary funding, roughly $410 million less than fiscal 2025 and a 7.9 percent cut from the enacted level. Republicans highlighted the measure’s alignment with the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda, pointing to provisions codifying recent executive orders, limiting diversity and climate-related initiatives, and reinforcing oversight of federal spending.

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DLA Publishes White Paper for Machine Learning-Driven Logistics Planning
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DLA seal. The Defense Logistics Agency published a white paper pushing for machine learning to modernize logistics planning.

The Defense Logistics Agency has published “Transforming Defense Logistics Planning: Leveraging Machine Learning for Enhanced Warfighter Readiness,” a white paper that pushes for a significant shift in strategies to strengthen military logistics and address the evolving needs for modern warfare.

Modernizing Supply Chain Planning

Authored by David Bella for the Campaign of Learning, the paper emphasizes the potential of advanced technologies, particularly machine learning, to enhance material planning and warfighter readiness. It also recommends incorporating advanced data-sharing and ML algorithms to bolster DLA’s planning processes, enhancing the agency’s supply chain accuracy, resilience and strategic responsiveness.

The DLA currently utilizes traditional material demand and supply planning methods, which depend on historical data and struggle to meet modern demands. This results in inefficiencies, stockouts and reduced readiness. To address this, Bella developed an approach to adopting a new data-rich planning system integrated with ML capabilities. The initiative involves data integration, secure infrastructure and balanced planning metrics.

“Machine-learning-based planning methods are uniquely positioned to leverage this expanded data environment by incorporating multiple variables, identifying nonlinear relationships and adapting to changing patterns in real time,” wrote Bella.

Potential Challenges to Machine Learning-Driven Planning

The paper acknowledges possible challenges with the ML-driven approach to planning. These include dismantling data silos, maintaining data quality and cultivating a culture that accepts data-driven insights.

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NASA’s Dragonfly Rotorcraft Clears Key Tests Ahead of 2028 Titan Launch
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Dragonfly Rotorcraft. NASA's Dragonfly mission completes key tests ahead of 2028 launch to Saturn's Titan.

NASA’s Dragonfly mission, a nuclear-powered rotorcraft, has completed multiple tests to stay on schedule for its planned July 2028 launch on a SpaceX Falcon.

Mission to Titan

The agency said Monday the car-sized rotorcraft, designed and built at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, will embark on a six-year mission to explore Saturn’s moon Titan. The mission involves identifying possible landing sites and studying Titan’s habitability.

Dragonfly Rotorcraft Undergoes Testing

APL worked with NASA engineers to conduct aerodynamic analyses of the Dragonfly’s rotor system to determine the effects of Titan’s thick atmosphere, stress loads and vibration on its performance. The rotorcraft’s Solimide-based foam coating was subjected to structural and thermal tests to ensure its durability and ability to protect the lander from Titan’s temperatures.

Lockheed Martin led tests for the Dragonfly’s flight aeroshell, which verified that the casing can withstand extreme thermal and structural loads to protect the rotorcraft during entry into Titan. The Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer, a key component of the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer designed to study chemical components and processes on Titan, successfully completed its acceptance review. It is now undergoing preparations for environmental testing and integration. Dragonfly’s flight systems and Frontier flight radio also underwent rigorous testing, while the science payload is being prepared for further testing.

With the completion of the recent round of tests, the Dragonfly mission will move forward to the integration and test phase in January 2026.

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OSC Seeks Partners for Commercial Conjunction Assessment Screening Services Pilot Program
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OSC seal. The OSC issued solicitations for CASS providers and a data monitor for the CASS pilot.

The Office of Space Commerce has announced a new round of solicitations for the General Services Administration’s Global Data Marketplace for the Commercial Conjunction Assessment Screening Services, or CASS, pilot program.

Enhancing Space Safety

OSC said Monday the initiative, part of the Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS, marks the initial move toward boosting the quality of conjunction analysis, a critical space safety process involving enhancing space situational awareness. The solicitations aim to leverage commercial CASS capabilities to enhance space traffic coordination. This key directive was assigned to the Department of Commerce from Space Policy Directive-3.

Dual Solicitations

The first solicitation aims to identify potential contractors who can support the evaluation and enhancement of the CASS program. Up to five CASS providers will be selected to supply data to determine services for possible integration into the TraCSS operational system.

The second solicitation seeks a vendor who will function as the CASS data quality monitor. The selected contractor will oversee the data flow and conduct an independent assessment of the CASS providers’ products.  

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Coast Guard Creates Office of Coordination, Programming, Accountability
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U.S. Coast Guard's logo. The Coast Guard established an office to coordinate service-wide efforts

The U.S. Coast Guard has established a new office dedicated to ensuring that programs and activities are aligned with service leadership and the administration’s priorities.

The new Office of Coordination, Programming and Accountability, or CG-CPA, will be led by Capt. Nick Simmons, who will retain his current title of Coast Guard Budget Director, the service said Monday. He will report directly to Gary Rasicot, the chief of staff of the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Creates Office of Coordination, Programming, Accountability

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CG-CPA’s Responsibilities

CG-CPA was formed from the Office of Budget and Programs, or CG-82, which operated under the purview of the assistant commandant for resources and chief financial officer, or CG-8.

The office will continue to perform the responsibilities of CG-82, including formulating and defending the service’s annual budget, reviewing Government Accountability Office and Office of the Inspector General audits, and ensuring that programs and activities are aligned with the Coast Guard’s direction.

CG-CPA’s mission to align programs and activities will particularly be critical in achieving the service’s modernization effort under Force Design 2028, which aims to transform the Coast Guard to become a more agile, capable and responsive fighting force.

USCG Headquarters Overhaul

The creation of CG-CPA comes weeks after the Coast Guard headquarters executed its biggest reorganization since World War II. The reorganization saw the service divide its mission support unit into two new directorates: the deputy commandant for personnel, or DCP, and the deputy commandant for systems, shortened to DCS.

The DCP will be in charge of matters related to personnel management, including recruitment and training. The directorate will oversee a new workforce and family services center, where military members and their loved ones can access wellness and support services.

The DCS is tasked to manage assets and ensure that all equipment and technologies are mission-ready.

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Trump’s Executive Order Renames DOD to Department of War
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The Pentagon. Trump’s executive order renames DOD to the Department of War as a secondary title.

President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War as a secondary title.

The department said Friday the EO authorizes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, DOD and the deparment’s subordinate officials to use secondary titles, such as “Secretary of War,” “Department of War” and “Deputy Secretary of War,” in official correspondence, public communications, ceremonial contexts and non-statutory documents within the executive branch.

According to a White House fact sheet, the order requires all executive departments and agencies to recognize the secondary titles in internal and external communications and directs Hegseth to recommend executive and legislative actions to permanently rename DOD to the Department of War.

Enhancing the Department of War’s Focus on National Interests

According to the executive order, restoring the name Department of War will sharpen the department’s focus on national interests and indicate to adversaries the country’s readiness to wage war to protect its interests.

“We changed the name after World War II from the Department of War to the Department of Defense and … we haven’t won a major war since,” said Hegseth, a 2025 Wash100 awardee.

“And that’s not to disparage our warfighters … That’s to recognize that this name change is not just about renaming, it’s about restoring; words matter,” he added.

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Lt. Gen. Michele Bredenkamp Nominated as NGA Director
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Lt. Gen. Michele Bredenkamp. The director’s adviser for military affairs at ODNI has been nominated as the next NGA director.

President Donald Trump has nominated Army Lt. Gen. Michele Bredenkamp, director’s adviser for military affairs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, as the next director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a 2025 Wash100 awardee, announced Bredenkamp’s nomination in a news release published Friday on the Department of War’s website.

Lt. Gen. Michele Bredenkamp Nominated as NGA Director

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Who Is Lt. Gen. Michele Bredenkamp?

In January 2024, the Senate confirmed Bredenkamp as the director’s adviser for military affairs at ODNI. In her current role, the lieutenant general advises the director of national intelligence on Department of Defense activities and issues.

Before taking on this position, she was commanding general of U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

Her joint assignments include serving as director of intelligence for U.S. Forces Korea; vice director for intelligence, J-2, Joint Staff; and deputy director of program analysis and evaluation, G-8, U.S. Army.

Bredenkamp previously served as staff officer for the strategic advisory group to the commanding general and intelligence officer for the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

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Federal Hiring Modernized as OPM Implements “Rule of Many”
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Office of Personnel Management seal. OPM's “rule of many” expands candidate pools and promotes merit-based selections.

The Office of Personnel Management has issued a final rule replacing the longstanding “rule of three” with the “rule of many” to modernize federal hiring. OPM, which announced the reform on Friday, said the rule applies to competitive and excepted service appointments to ensure agencies hire based on practical skill and merit, as measured by skills-based assessments.

What Is OPM’s Rule of Many?

The rule allows agencies to select from a broader pool of top-ranked candidates by certifying a “sufficient number” of applicants using one of four methods: a cut-off score based on job analysis data, a cut-off score based on business necessity, a set number of top-ranked applicants or a percentage of top-ranked applicants. It replaces the category rating system under which all applicants in a broadly defined category were treated as equally qualified. Hiring managers can now stack rank the full slate of candidates based on skills and competencies, without regard to the category rating system, and remove more than one candidate at a time, up to the number of remaining positions being filled, beginning with the fourth selection.

Rule of Many Operational Guidance, Expected Impact

OPM will issue updated instructions through a revised Delegated Examining Operations Handbook to guide implementation. The fact sheet accompanying the final rule states the reform is intended to remove barriers to using skills-based assessments in federal recruitment and to give hiring managers greater flexibility in candidate selection.

OPM said the rule will improve workforce quality, reduce reliance on direct-hire authorities, and promote a more efficient, effective and equitable federal hiring system.

“For more than 150 years, the federal hiring process has been shaped by outdated rules that limited hiring managers’ ability to bring in the best candidates,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said. “American taxpayers deserve a government that hires the most capable people to serve them, and this rule makes that possible.”

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HR Modernization Effort at DHS Shows Limited Progress Despite $262M Spent, GAO Reports
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Government Accountability Office logo. GAO assessed the Department of Homeland Security's HR system modernization.

The Government Accountability Office said in its new report that the Department of Homeland Security’s investment in modernizing its human resources IT systems has produced limited results.

According to the congressional watchdog, DHS does not have an approved strategy or measurable goals to guide the effort, preventing progress.

HR Modernization Effort at DHS Shows Limited Progress Despite $262M Spent, GAO Reports

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DHS HR Modernization Project

Between 2005 and 2023, DHS spent at least $262 million to digitize paper-based processes and consolidate duplicative systems used in HR.

The DHS has established program goals in 2011, 2020 and 2022, with the latest goals remaining in draft status as of April 2025.

GAO attributed DHS’ lack of progress in achieving its goals to gaps in the implementation of key portfolio management practices. For example, DHS has only partially implemented risk management practices, such as maintaining a risk register to track portfolio risks.

DHS leaders also shared challenges overseeing federal shared services provided to the agency by the Department of Agriculture. The report revealed that DHS cannot ensure that Agriculture complies with federal cybersecurity requirements.

GAO made 10 recommendations to the DHS, including addressing remaining portfolio management gaps and renegotiating agreements with the Agriculture Department. Both departments concurred with the recommendations.

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Rep. Pat Harrigan Introduces SkyFoundry Act to Scale Drone Production
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Rep. Pat Harrigan. The North Carolina congressman has introduced the SkyFoundry Act to enhance the production of drones.

Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C.-10, has introduced the SkyFoundry Act of 2025, a new legislation designed to significantly enhance the United States’ capacity to design, test and build drones.

Mass-Producing Small Drones

According to Harrigan’s office, the new bill aims to establish a government-operated facility that can manufacture one million small drones each year. The facility will leverage rapid research and development with high-volume production within the U.S. Army’s existing industrial base.

The proposed legislation is intended to fast-track the production and deployment of drones by eliminating red tape and reducing other delays associated with traditional military contracting.

Pat Harrigan Comments on SkyFoundry Act

“China and Russia are flooding the battlefield with millions of drones while America has sat on its hands. More than 80 percent of casualties in modern war now come from drones, yet we still have no capacity to build them at scale. That failure is reckless, and it leaves our troops exposed,” said Harrigan.

“I introduced the SkyFoundry Act to end that weakness. This bill creates the capacity to design, test and build a million drones a year right here in America” Harrigan continued.

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