Federal Newscast

Army and Navy miscalculated number of low-scoring recruits entering military, IG finds

The watchdog found the services used recruits’ improved test scores instead of the scores they had when they first signed up.

Michele Sandiford

December 16, 2025 2:50 pm

< a min read

The Pentagon inspector general found the Army and Navy miscalculated the number of low-scoring recruits entering the military through their preparatory programs. The watchdog found the services used recruits’ improved test scores instead of the scores they had when they first signed up. As a result, both services exceeded the legal limits of recruits with low test scores entering the program. The courses are designed to help recruits meet academic and physical standards before starting basic training. The services also failed to notify the Secretary of Defense and Congress that they had exceeded that limit, as required by law.
(Army, Navy exceeded legal limits of low-scoring recruits in future prep courses - Defense Department IG)

The Department of Homeland Security has named a leader to oversee projects under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Jaclyn Rubino is now serving as executive director of the newly created OB3 Principal Executive Office. Rubino was previously executive director of DHS’s Strategic Programs Division. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides DHS with approximately $190 billion through 2029. Most of the spending is concentrated on immigration enforcement and border security.
(OB3 announcement - LinkedIn)

Senate Democrats say they’re concerned about a stricter reasonable accommodation policy at the Department of Health and Human Services. The HHS reasonable accommodation policy requires an assistant secretary at the department to approve all telework, remote work or reassignment requests. The new policy said telework should not be granted as an interim accommodation. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) are leading colleagues in a letter against these changes. They say they’ve heard from federal employees who have been harmed by these decisions.
(Letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy - Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.))

The number of protests filed with GAO are down for a second straight year. Vendors filed 1,617 bid protests with the Government Accountability Office in fiscal 2025. That is a 7% decrease over the amount filed in 2024 and 17% fewer than in 2023. GAO's annual bid protest report to Congress released yesterday shows only 380 cases resulted in a decision, of which 53 were sustained. The most common reason for a sustained protest was unreasonable technical evaluation, followed by unreasonable cost or price evaluation, and then unreasonable rejection of proposals. The effectiveness rate, which shows the percentage of cases where the protestor received some sort of relief, remained at its traditional level of 52%. GAO also said it reviewed and closed 359 cases under its task and delivery order jurisdiction.
(GAO sees decrease in number of protests filed in 2025 - Government Accountability Office)

Veterans Affairs is launching a long-awaited reorganization of its health care operations. VA said the changes aren’t expected to result in a significant change in overall staffing levels. Internal documents earlier this year showed the VA is looking to put limits on how many currently vacant positions it will fill. VA said it’s briefed lawmakers on the reorganization. Implementation will take place over the next two years.
(VA launches Veterans Health Administration reorganization - Department of Veterans Affairs)

A bipartisan bill in the Senate would have the Commerce Department play a lead role in securing satellites from cyber threats. The Satellite Cybersecurity Act introduced last week would require Commerce to develop voluntary cybersecurity recommendations tailored to commercial satellites. It would also require the agency to create an online clearinghouse of cybersecurity best practices and other information that helps companies secure their systems. The bill was introduced by Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
(Peters & Cornyn reintroduce legislation to protect commercial satellites from cybersecurity threats - Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee)

Appeals court judges scrutinize Trump’s national security basis for collective bargaining rollback. The US. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is weighing what limits, if any, exist for President Donald Trump to classify which agencies are essential to national security, while rolling back collective bargaining rights in the process. Trump signed an executive order exempting many agencies from collective bargaining on the grounds that their mission is primarily based in national security. A Justice Department attorney representing the Trump administration said the president is the “expert” on which agencies meet this classification. But some members of a three-judge panel suggested the president’s designation is overly broad.
(Appeals court judges scrutinize Trump’s national security basis for collective bargaining rollback - Federal News Network)

For the second straight year, the House passed a bill to bring more rigor to how agencies oversee software licenses. And for the second straight year, it's unclear if the Senate will do the same. Under the Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act, agencies would have to create a software inventory and undergo an independent assessment of software license management practices and contracts. Lawmakers unanimously approved the bipartisan legislation yesterday. OMB would have to publish a governmentwide strategy for software modernization based on those audits.
(House passes SAMOSA bill for second year in a row - Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio))

The Defense Logistics Agency has launched a new major subordinate command aimed at improving how the military gets spare and repair parts. The command, known as DLA Weapons Support, merges the missions of DLA Aviation and DLA Land and Maritime into a single, unified organization. Agency leaders say the move is designed to standardize processes, reduce duplication and deliver faster, more cost-effective support to warfighters across the joint force. The new command will operate out of existing sites in Ohio and Virginia and the transition will continue over the next year.
(DLA launches new weapons support command - DLA.mil)