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Federal Newscast — Government
Federal Newscast

THE FEDERAL NEWSCAST, (length about seven minutes), is a daily Monday through Friday, high-information compilation of nine 40-second news stories and news packages, generated by the non-partisan, non-political, private-sector team of reporters at Federal News Network. Federal News Radio Producer/Newscasters Eric White and Michele Sandiford assemble and read the stories on the THE FEDERAL DRIVE with TERRY GERTON, the weekday morning-drive program, heard from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. (ET) on the Federal News Network app (and website), on any smart speaker, and on WFED 1500 AM, a 50,000-watt ‘Class A’ powerhouse radio station in the nation’s capital. The podcast is most popular with FNN’s audience of highly educated listeners, who conveniently access THE FEDERAL NEWSCAST, 24/7, on any podcast platform . Listen to it (as just mentioned) or read the stories each weekday morning at FederalNewsNetwork.com, where the news items contain hyperlinks for those who want more information on a given story.

Copyright: © © Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC

Latest Episodes:

Army rolls out new incentive to keep technical experts Sep 23, 2025

Show notes

The Army is rolling out a new incentive to keep some of its most experienced technical experts in uniform. A warrant officer retention bonus will offer a “substantial financial incentive” to officers in critical specialties who commit to additional years of service. High-demand fields like cyber operations, aviation maintenance, signal and communications and special operations are identified as priorities for the program. Lt. Col. Angie Chipman, chief of the Army retention division at the Pentagon, said, The Army is addressing its most pressing retention challenges and ensuring its ability to meet future operational demands by focusing on these fields.”

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Lawmakers push to expand hazard pay for federal wildland firefighters Sep 22, 2025

Show notes

There is a push in Congress to expand the use of hazard pay for federal wildland firefighters. Utah Congresswoman Celeste Maloy has introduced a bill attempting to correct what she says is a gap in the benefit. Currently, wildland firefighters receive higher pay rates, called hazard pay, when fighting active fires. But hazard pay doesn’t apply to situations where firefighters are conducting prescribed burns or doing training jumps. Maloy says firefighters face similar hazards in those additional situations — but their pay rates don’t currently match the risk.

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The Senate confirms nearly 50 of Trump’s nominees Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

Yesterday’s Senate vote confirming nearly 50 of the president’s nominees included some big gains for the Army — filling most of that service’s senior political leadership posts all at once. Among those confirmed was Michael Obadal as the new under secretary of the Army, the service’s number-two civilian leadership position. The en-bloc vote also included confirmations for three Army assistant secretaries: William Gillis as the assistant secretary for energy, installations and environment, Jules Hurst as the assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs, and Brent Ingraham as the assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology.

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Interior and Agriculture departments set to combine wildland firefighting forces Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

The departments of Interior and Agriculture say they are on track to combine their wildland firefighting forces into a single agency by January 2026. The announcement this week comes after President Trump ordered the two departments to consolidate their wildfire response efforts into a single agency: the U.S. Wildland Fire Service. An employee organization called the Grassroots Wildland Firefighters says the effort is a step in the right direction, but is urging congressional action to make lasting changes for federal firefighters.

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House passed NDAA restore union rights for Defense civilians Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

Congress is considering exempting some federal employees from losing their union protections. The version of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act that cleared the House would let DoD civilian workers keep their collective bargaining rights. The provision in the House’s NDAA comes in response to President Trump’s broad cancelation of collective bargaining earlier this year. The proposed exemption for DoD civilian employees, however, is not contained in the Senate’s version of the NDAA. The American Federation of Government Employees is calling on senators this week to include the same exemption in their companion bill.

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Watchdog finds DoD did not have sufficient data about Global Household Goods contract Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

A government watchdog found that the Department of Defense’s Transportation Command did not have sufficient and comprehensive data about its Global Household Goods contract, which was canceled in June. The Government Accountability Office found that TRANSCOM officials were aware of the contractor’s capability constraints, but had limited information and could not verify whether the company could handle the volume of moves. The watchdog also said the Defense Department did not gather or track comprehensive feedback from service members going through military moves, which limited contractor performance assessment. In addition, TRANSCOM did not have full information regarding costs associated with the contract transition.

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Lawmakers call on ICE to halt use of facial recognition application Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

Nine Senate Democrats are calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt its use of a mobile facial recognition application. In a letter to ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, the lawmakers ask for more details on ICE’s Mobile Fortify app. The technology reportedly allows ICE to identify individuals they encounter on the streets using multiple federal databases. The Senate lawmakers say ICE should answer questions about whether it’s using the app to surveil protestors and whether the agency is integrating commercial data into the technology.

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Federal pay caps continue to challenge recruitment and retention efforts Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

Federal pay caps are contributing to ongoing recruitment and retention challenges in the Defense Department’s blue-collar workforce. A new report from the Government Accountability Office has found that multiple DoD installations are struggling to keep employees in the Federal Wage System, due to longstanding pay limitations set by Congress. GAO also pointed to evidence that the pay rates for blue-collar federal employees have deviated from pay rates in the larger labor market, making it even harder for DoD to compete with the private sector.

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House passes its version of 2026 defense policy bill Sep 11, 2025

Show notes

The House passed its version of the 2026 defense policy bill, which includes a 3.8% pay bump for service members. House Republicans pushed the bill through largely without Democratic support after adding conservative provisions and blocking debates Democrats sought on issues like expanding the use of the military inside the country. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith, who voted against the bill, said the GOP included “countless partisan amendments” and “silenced debate of critical issues.” The annual legislation also includes sweeping acquisition reforms aimed at changing how the Pentagon does business. The Senate is expected to pass its version of the defense bill later this week.

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Pentagon publishes final rule implementing CMMC Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

The Pentagon has published the final acquisition rule implementing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program. The rule, released in yesterday’s Federal Register will allow Defense Department procurements to include CMMC assessment requirements. The assessments are intended to ensure defense contractors are following cybersecurity standards for protecting controlled unclassified information. The Pentagon estimates 80,000 defense contractors may be required to obtain a CMMC assessment. Officials plan to phase in the requirements over a three-year period.

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