• The Justice Department said it's fired more than a dozen employees who had worked on criminal investigations into President Trump before his election. A DOJ official said the career prosecutors were fired because the acting attorney general doesn't trust them to carry out Trump's agenda, and that it's part of ending quote, "the weaponization of government." DOJ didn't identify the fired employees, and it's not yet clear whether they'll challenge their terminations under civil service protection rules.
  (Justice Department fires employees who worked on Trump criminal investigations - Associated Press )
• President Donald Trump’s new FEMA Review Council begins to take shape. Congressman Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) said he’s been tapped to serve on the new FEMA task force, so have Representatives Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Tim Moore (R-N.C.). Trump announced a task force would look at FEMA reforms during a visit late last week to parts of North Carolina that were ravaged by Hurricane Helene. Michael Whatley, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, is slated to lead the FEMA task force.
  (Trumps appoints Edwards to task force to fix FEMA - Office of Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC))
• Federal agencies are being told to prepare more detailed plans on returning their employees to the office. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget gave agencies until Feb. 7 to submit those plans. But some feds are raising concerns about what a crackdown on telework and remote work will actually look like, since office space is limited at some agencies. In a recent Federal News Network survey, close to two-thirds of respondents said they would be “extremely” or “very” concerned about their agency having enough physical space for a full return-to-office. Still, the new Trump administration memo tells agencies to make a plan for overcoming any barriers, including office space, budget and resources.
  (OPM and OMB give agencies deadline to return-to-work plans - Office of Personnel Management)
• The Secret Service is asking industry to share their innovative technology proposals under a broad agency announcement released this month. Under the BAA, companies can submit video solution pitches to the Secret Service across a range of strategic focus areas including digital and data analytics, cybersecurity assurance and advanced situational awareness. The agency said companies should keep their video pitches to five minutes or shorter. The BAA will stay open through next January.
  (Secret Service broad agency announcement - SAM.gov)

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• Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is the new chair of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on personnel. He will oversee key issues impacting the Defense Department personnel, including military benefits and compensation, military nominations and staffing key military and civilian personnel within the department. Tuberville is now responsible for overseeing a wide range of military budget accounts and management of various offices and agencies within the Defense Department. In 2023, Tuberville placed a blanket hold on hundreds of military promotions for nearly a year as a protest against a Pentagon policy that covers the costs for service members to travel to seek reproductive care.
  (Tuberville now leads the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on personnel - Sen. Tommy Tuberville)
• The Army has launched a pilot program that separates recruiters and processing teams. The Focused Engagement Distributed Processing (FEDP) program seeks to shift administrative tasks to processing teams, which will allow recruiters to focus on their mission of marketing the military service to young Americans. The program was kicked off in the Miami area due to its close proximity to recruiting stations, a Military Entrance Processing Station and the Miami Recruiting Battalion. The service is also working to consolidate the fragmented tools recruiters and processing teams are currently using into a single, streamlined platform.
  (Army kicks off pilot program to cut through red tape - Federal News Network)
• President Donald Trump adds a confirmed Treasury secretary to his Cabinet. The Senate approved former investor and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to run the Treasury Department. Bessent told senators during his confirmation hearing he’ll keep Direct File, the IRS’ free online tax prep service running during this year’s filing season. Republican lawmakers have called on Trump to axe the program saying it competes with private-sector software.
  (Scott Bessent confirmation - Associated Press)
• The IRS sees a busy start to this year’s tax filing season. The IRS said it received millions of tax returns for processing on the first day of the filing season. The agency expects to receive more than 140 million returns by the April 15 deadline. Tax professionals help with more than half of all filed returns. But for those filing on their own, the IRS is offering its free online Direct File service in 25 states. Some taxpayers can also file using commercial tax prep software for no charge through the IRS Free File program.
  (2025 tax filing season starts as IRS begins accepting tax returns today - Internal Revenue Service )

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