Lawmakers renew effort to offer paid family and medical leave to feds
15/06/2026 | 7 mins.
Lawmakers are renewing an effort to offer paid family and medical leave to federal employees. A bipartisan bill would give feds 12 weeks of paid leave in the case of a serious illness for themselves or an immediate family member. Legislation passed in 2019 to give federal employees access to paid parental leave. But family and medical leave remains unpaid, which lawmakers say makes federal recruitment and retention more difficult. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Senate Democrats urge reversal of ruling threatening civil service protections
12/06/2026 | 7 mins.
Senate Democrats are urging a federal appeals court to reverse a decision upholding the firings of two immigration judges at the Department of Justice. The lawmakers warn that the previous ruling from the Merit Systems Protection Board could give the president much broader firing powers over many civil servants. The Democrats’ new amicus brief follows a previous request in the same court case for a full-bench appeals court hearing.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Service members could see a 5% to 7% pay raise in 2027
11/06/2026 | 6 mins.
House appropriators are backing the Trump administration's proposed pay raise for U.S. troops in fiscal 2027 as part of a $1.7 trillion defense spending bill. Military service members could see their paychecks grow by 5% to 7%, depending on their rank. It's a higher bump than the previous raise of 3.8%. The proposed legislation would help troops stay ahead of inflation as living costs continue to crunch Americans' budgets. The House's defense appropriations subcommittee will vote on the measure on Thursday. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Lawmaker wants answers about proposed NDAs for feds
10/06/2026 | 7 mins.
A House Democrat is demanding answers on the Trump administration’s proposed nondisclosure agreement for the federal workforce. In a letter to the Office of Personnel Management, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill) warns that pushing feds to sign an NDA would undermine First Amendment protections and whistleblower activities. OPM has two weeks to respond to the congressman’s new investigation into the legal and workplace-related impacts of the administration’s proposal. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
House adds DoD name change to NDAA
09/06/2026 | 7 mins.
Congress is one step closer to adopting a tougher name for the Department of Defense. An amendment added to the annual defense policy bill that passed the House would formally change its title to the Department of War. The name change echoes an executive order President Donald Trump signed in September. Only Congress has the authority to legally rename a federal department. Both chambers of Congress must approve the new name for it to take effect. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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.
Ireland