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Lawmakers press acting CISA director on workforce reductions

January 21, 2026 Press, director, Lawmakers, Acting, workforce, CISA, reductions0 comment

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s acting director testified that CISA is “getting back on mission,” but he provided few specifics after the agency lost nearly a third of its staff over the past year. Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala testified in front of the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday. Asked by Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) about reports of plans for a reorganization at CISA, Gottumukkala said there are no plans to reorganize the cyber agency. “We do have a lot of changes in the last year, but we have…

Lawmakers push to overhaul complex reserve duty status system

January 13, 2026 status, Reserve, overhaul, System, Lawmakers, Complex, Push, Duty0 comment

The Defense Department has long tried to simplify and reform the reserve duty status system, which has expanded to more than 30 separate statutes scattered across about 20 different titles of federal law. This complex system has created pay and benefits inequities and frequent administrative delays when National Guard members and reservists shift between duty statuses. A new bipartisan bill now seeks to consolidate dozens of duty statuses under which National Guard members and reservists are called to service to just four. If passed, the Duty Status Reform Act would…

Lawmakers boost funding for NIST after proposed cuts

January 5, 2026 boost, funding, proposed, NIST, after, Lawmakers, cuts0 comment

Congressional appropriators are looking to maintain, and in some cases increase, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s work in areas like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum research. The appropriations agreement released by House and Senate negotiators this week would include $ 1.8 billion for NIST, instead of funding cuts for the agency proposed by the Trump administration. The “minibus” appropriations package rejected many of the administration’s proposed budget cuts and limited agency reorganizations. The agreement includes $ 1.25 billion for NIST’s research and services division, more than $ 542…

Lawmakers to finalize NDAA by week’s end, bring the bill to the floor in early December

November 18, 2025 Bill, bring, floor, December, NDAA, weeks, finalize, Early, Lawmakers0 comment

House and Senate negotiators are racing to finalize the 2026 defense policy bill by the end of the week, with all House and Senate Armed Services Committee disputes resolved and only a few Senate jurisdictional details still holding the legislation’s advancement to the House floor in early December. “I think what they’re doing is, there’s been a couple of pencils-down time frames, but it sounds like it’ll be done by the end of the week. That’s what the focus is. Get it done by the end of the week, and…

Lawmakers ramp up scrutiny of ICE oversight staff furloughs

November 6, 2025 oversight, Lawmakers, Scrutiny, Furloughs, staff, ramp0 comment

Democrats in Congress are pressing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to restore oversight staff who were furloughed at the start of the government shutdown. In a Nov. 6 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the lawmakers said that staff at the Office of Detention Oversight are crucial to ensuring safety at ICE detention centers. Staff at ODO were furloughed at the outset of the shutdown. “Without ODO staff actively performing these duties, there is a heightened risk that detention facilities fail to meet required standards, compromising detainee safety, access to…

Lawmakers seek to revise pay, benefits for some federal employees under shutdown

October 21, 2025 Lawmakers, seek, Under, Some, federal, benefits, employees, shutdown, Revise0 comment

As Congress still appears far from reaching a spending agreement to end the partial government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are expecting to miss their first full paychecks this Friday. Many excepted and furloughed federal employees received partial paychecks around Oct. 10, for the pay period that ended Oct. 4 — although they were only paid for workdays through Sept. 30. But while the shutdown drags on, some members of Congress are looking at other options to try to secure pay and benefits for certain employees impacted by…