• July was not a good month for your money in the Thrift Savings Plan. Fifteen of 16 funds saw month-over-month declines, including the S Fund which dropped more than 4% over the last 30 days. Of the 15 funds that dropped in July, the good news is 12 of them saw declines of less than 1%. The G Fund was the only account to come in positive last month with a growth of just under 0.4%. For the year, 15 of 16 funds are growing at a healthy rate with nine earning double digit returns.
• A federal union is calling for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to resume work on federal sector class action complaints. The American Federation of Government Employees has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in its case against the EEOC. The union is suing the commission for reportedly halting adjudication of all federal employees’ class complaints since at least late last year. AFGE alleges that the indefinite suspension is harming plaintiffs who allege they are facing persistent sexual harassment at work, and who now have no avenue for obtaining relief.
• More than a year after many Department of Government Efficiency members vacated their posts at federal agencies, information is still murky on who they were, and what they did. In a new report, the Government Accountability Office managed to identify 206 DOGE personnel who were working at agencies during 2025. But the new findings on DOGE are still limited: White House officials declined to give GAO details on the ethics training that DOGE members received. GAO also reported that it obtained only limited information on DOGE members’ identities, and whether they received training or completed financial disclosures.
• A federal judge has thrown out an Energy Department policy that attempted to close out older Freedom of Information Act requests. In a ruling Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson vacated DOE’s mass “Still Interested” FOIA policy. The proposal would have required anyone with a request submitted prior to Oct. 1, 2024, to email the agency if they were still interested in moving forward. Energy said the new policy was needed to deal with an ever-increasing number of requests. But Jackson found that nothing in the FOIA statute gives an agency the power to require all individuals and organizations with requests of a certain age to re-affirm their continued interest.
• Building the first 15 ships of President Donald Trump's "Golden Fleet" nuclear-powered battleship program could cost U.S. taxpayers about $200 billion and $75 billion in today's dollars, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday. That projection grows to about $400 billion and $55 billion if 25 ships come to fruition as previously proposed. CBO found the first battleship could run about $23 billion, plus about $18 billion per ship that follows. The office noted that shipbuilders may also struggle to ramp up production of large vessels over the next decade.
• The Air National Guard is dangling reenlistment bonuses and turning to social media influencers for help bringing in new members as it risks falling short of its annual recruiting goal. As of the end of June, the Air Guard was about three-quarters of the way toward its target of signing up more than 8,800 new airmen, with three months left in the fiscal year. It's offering $7,500 bonuses to entice airmen to reenlist or transfer in. Troops who take the money are locked into a three-year enlistment contract.
• The Department of Homeland Security has awarded 12 companies spots on a $1.5 billion counter-drone contract. The indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity deal will give components across DHS access to technology and services to defend against unmanned aircraft. The contract has two tracks: one focused on hardware and software, and a second focused on “comprehensive” services. DHS said it expects to spend up to $1 billion under the hardware and software track alone.
• Vendors have two additional weeks to provide the General Services Administration with comments about the future of the USAccess shared service program. GSA issued a request for information in mid-July seeking feedback on how to modernize the platform that provides HSPD-12 cards and services to 1.4 million federal employees. GSA is seeking feedback on capabilities, innovation trends and technology to modernize credential production, strengthen operational resilience and explore alternative credential form factors. GSA had awarded a follow-on contract to XTec in 2025 but cancelled it in 2026. Comments on the RFI are now due by Aug. 14.

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