• The number of Thrift Savings Plan millionaires is on the rise. There are now just over 88,000 TSP accounts totaling more than $1 million. That's about a 15% jump from the roughly 77,000 TSP millionaires that there were at the end of 2022. But it's still far below the highest-ever number of reported TSP millionaires. That was at the end of 2021, when there were almost 112,000 millionaire participants. Million-dollar accounts currently make up about 1.3% of all TSP accounts.
  (Thrift Savings Plan millionaires report - Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board)
• The Navy's acting chief technology officer is heading to a new job. Don Yeske is leaving the Department of the Navy after more than 16 years to join the Department of Homeland Security. Yeske, who has been the Navy's acting CTO since January, will become the director of the National Security Cyber Division at DHS headquarters. His last day at the Navy is June 16. Yeske said in a post on LinkedIn that he was attracted to the new position because it is both a Senior Executive Service position, and that he would have the opportunity to help lead the fight against the ever-growing threat of cyber attacks.
  (Don Yeske - LinkedIn)
• Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. "CQ" Brown, Jr., was nominated by President Biden on Thursday to serve as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After 39 years of service, the Air Force fighter pilot would become the nation's top military leader, replacing retiring Gen. Mark Milley. But before ascending to chairman, Brown must get through a fraught nomination process, as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) continues to block military nominations in an effort to effect policy changes at the Defense Department.
  (Biden Nominates 'Top-Notch Strategist' as Next Joint Chiefs Chairman - DoD)
• A new collective bargaining agreement has been reached between the Department of Veterans Affairs and a union representing thousands of nurses. The VA has reached an agreement with National Nurses United, a union that represents nearly 14,000 VA nurses. The department said the agreement will lead to improved hiring and retention and that it is on track to meet its goal of hiring more than 10,000 nurses this year. This hiring is meant to keep up with the demand for VA health care under the toxic-exposure PACT Act signed into law last year. The VA earlier this year reached agreements with the National Federation of Federal Employees and a tentative agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees.
  (VA and National Nurses Organizing Committee, National Nurses United sign agreement to better serve Veterans and support VA nurses - VA)

        Learn how federal agencies are preparing to help agencies gear up for AI in our latest Executive Briefing, sponsored by ThunderCat Technology.

• House lawmakers want details on how a key agency and federal council are combating threats to technology supply chains. Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee are asking how the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is defending against potential Chinese intrusions into critical software and technology supply chains. In a letter to CISA Director Jen Easterly this week, the lawmakers asked how CISA is taking on that issue in its role as lead coordinator for the Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC). They also want an update on what progress the FASC has made to date. The council was established by law in 2018 to develop governmentwide supply chain risk management policies.
  (Homeland Security Republicans Request Admin Briefing on Threats Posed by CCP to ICT Supply Chain - House Homeland Security Committee)
• The nation’s top intelligence office is looking for entry-level recruits. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced plans to hire entry-level intelligence research specialists to work at its National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). The new hires will embark on a two-year training program designed to turn them into bonafide intelligence pros. Positions at the NCTC will include all-source analysts, watch officers, identity intelligence analysts, and strategy officers. Intel agencies have been on a hiring spree this year. In January, the National Security Agency launched one of its most ambitious hiring campaigns in more than three decades.
  (National Counterterrorism Center opens entry-level vacancies - ODNI)
• Starting in June, Air Force enlisted airmen will have a chance to swap assignments with each other. Using a discussion forum called my MyVector, airmen will be able to post their assignments and start discussions to determine interest in swapping assignments. The program is designed to offer airmen more flexibility and control over their career paths. They can apply for assignments through the "my application" link on the site.
  (Air Force’s enlisted swap assignment program starts June 1 - Air Force)
• Small firms in the 8(a) program are getting their own pool under the General Services Administration's schedules program. GSA and the Small Business Administration agreed yesterday to create this new section of the schedules program to make it easier for contracting officers to work with small, disadvantaged businesses. GSA said once an 8(a) company is accepted into the new pool, they will receive a designation that indicates they are eligible for sole source and competitive set-aside awards. Small businesses won $14.5 billion in contracts through the schedules program in 2022, out of total sales of $41 billion.
  (Biden-Harris administration to launch new initiative to increase federal contracting with small disadvantaged businesses - GSA.gov)
• The Treasury Department is bringing federal regulators and businesses together to oversee the financial industry’s move to the cloud. Treasury is launching the Cloud Executive Steering Group, which includes the Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, the acting Comptroller of the Currency, and the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The steering group is chaired by financial-sector leaders with experience in cybersecurity.
  (Department of the Treasury kicks off public-private executive steering group to address cloud report recommendations - Treasury Department)
• Agencies are partnering up to try to help federal employees improve their mental health and wellbeing. The Office of Personnel Management, along with the departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs, are outlining new strategies to improve agency wellness programs and remove the stigma around mental health challenges for employees. OPM also plans to host more wellness activities, and give agency leaders more resources for their Employee Assistance Programs. Agency executives can find details of the changes, and how they can better help their employees, in OPM's new guidance on wellness.
  (Employee wellness programs guide for agency leaders - Office of Personnel Management)

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