DOGE’s alleged savings were mostly from IT contracts that it cancelled, but DHS continues to buy these services through other acquisition vehicles.
Michele Sandiford
- Two Democratic lawmakers are demanding Elon Musk, the former head of the U.S. DOGE Service, explain why 99% of the claimed savings from the Homeland Security Department never materialized. Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, and James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) called on Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), chairman of the committee, to hold Musk accountable for DOGE’s actions. Thompson and Walkinshaw say a recent report by the Government Accountability Office shows DOGE alleged savings were mostly from IT contracts that it cancelled, but DHS continues to buy these services through other acquisition vehicles.
- The Marine Corps is offering generous enlistment bonuses to bring talent into fields that support its Force Design priorities. The service will offer bonuses of up to $15,000 to recruits who enter into electronic maintenance, cyber and crypto operations specialties. Recruits can also receive $5,000 or $10,000 shipping bonuses, as well as additional bonuses of up to $15,000 if they extend their contracts for two more years. The incentives are part of the Marine Corps’ fiscal 2027 Enlistment Bonus Program.
- A new bill seeks to create an AI incident and vulnerability reporting program within the Defense Department. The Defense AI Reliability and Reporting Act would require the Pentagon to set up a department-wide program to report, track, analyze and address AI incidents and vulnerabilities across the development, testing, procurement, fielding and operation of AI systems within the Defense Department. The bill is included in the House version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. Lawmakers said there is a need for a department-wide program that can “catch and fix AI incidents and vulnerabilities before they turn into catastrophes.”
- Another CIO at a cabinet level agency is moving on. Sam Berry, the Agriculture Department’s top technology executive, is transferring to a new role within the department. Federal News Network has confirmed Tony Brannum, the agency’s chief information security officer, will be acting chief information officer in the meantime. It’s unclear what Berry’s new role will be. He joined USDA in May 2025 and became CIO four months later. Berry started at USDA as the senior advisor on government efficiency in the Office of the CIO. Berry becomes the latest in a string of politically appointed CIOs to leave their roles in the last few months, joining the Federal CIO, and the CIOs at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Transportation Department.
- The Trump administration’s new rules for reductions-in-force are now official. During any future RIFs, agencies will be required to prioritize federal employee performance over seniority and tenure. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management details the new expectations for agencies, after OPM’s final rule on RIFs took effect September 2nd.
- Federal employees traveling for business will see a slight bump in their daily allowance. The General Services Administration is raising the government’s per diem rates for lodging by $3. Allowances for meals and incidental expenses, however, won’t change from 2026 rates. The slight uptick for 2027 follows GSA’s decision to keep per diem rates flat this year, for first time in five years. Employees on official travel can begin applying the new per diem rates on Oct. 1.
- The Defense Information Systems Agency appears to be moving forward with its plans to migrate all combatant commands’ common-use IT services to the Defense Department Network, but the complexity of the effort is raising questions about whether DoDNet is the right construct to meet combatant commands’ needs. The pace at which the agency is moving has also prompted questions about whether DISA is rushing to meet an aggressive migration timeline or seeking to establish requirements narrow enough to justify another sole-source approach. The agency has until the end of fiscal 2028 to transition all combatant commands’ common-use IT services to the Defense Department Network.
- The General Services Administration is telling Congress that 103 federal facilities need immediate repairs and construction efforts to ensure they are available for use by employees. The agency submitted a prospectus to Capitol Hill last week that outlines approximately $10 billion in critical repairs and modernization needs. GSA is required by federal law to receive approval from Congress for any non-recurring repair or new construction project funded by the Federal Buildings Fund above $3.96 million. Within this latest submission are several prospectuses that the agency submitted as long ago as fiscal 2016 that remain pending, which GSA says drives cost escalation and forces them to rely on temporary measures. In May, GSA proposed to Congress that it raises the threshold to $75 million for routine and emergency maintenance, paired with clear guardrails to ensure Congress maintains proper oversight.
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