Federal Newscast

Add the employees at the Agriculture Department's Rural Development Agency to the growing list of successful feds who have won grievances before an arbitrator after losing their remote work and telework rights. Arbitrator Margaret Donaghy ruled Wednesday in favor of RDA employees represented by the American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees. The union filed a grievance when USDA ended teleworking and remote work agreements without bargaining in April 2025. Donaghy ordered USDA to restore the telework and remote work arrangements and make the employees whole by paying any travel expenses, compensation or credit for additional hours worked. Suzanne Summerlin, the attorney representing the employees, says this is the fifth arbitration award won by employees in recent months with similar awards issued at the Forest Service, HUD, the IRS, and SSA.
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The Space Force has opened its own recruiting squadron nearing seven years after the newest service was created. The 320th Recruiting Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, is the service's first unit dedicated to bringing in new generations of guardians. Air Force united handled Space Force recruiting to save money as the youngest service matured. Now the military space workforce has expanded enough that the Space Force wants to grow its recruiting apparatus to keep up. The service has already reached its goal of enlisting 730 new guardians in 2026.
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The Space Force’s fiscal 2027 budget request would significantly increase funding for missile warning, missile tracking and command and control programs. That would account for more than 45% of the proposed growth, according to a recent analysis. Classified spending would account for about 30% of the service’s overall budget growth. The Space Force budget could see a major budget increase in fiscal 2027. The White House requested $71 billion for the newest military branch. But that figure is not guaranteed. The White House’s base budget request is around $59 billion. Another $12. 1 billion is contingent upon Congress passing another reconciliation package, which faces a difficult path in the Senate.
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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 says 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 says. The memo follows a broader Trump administration directive on the same topic and will be replaced with a permanent rule.
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The Federal Aviation Administration has hired over 2,000 new air traffic controllers, all with a shared passion: videogames. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says in a recent online post that the FAA hiring initiative focused on gamers, launched in April, has met 94% of its hiring goal. Duffy says this is the highest-ever number of hires at FAA in a year. The hiring surge comes as FAA has struggled with workforce shortages in recent years.
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