• Every fund in the Thrift Savings Plan rebounded in April to not only move into the black, but most posted significant month over month increases. Half of all funds increased by at least 9%, with the C Fund seeing the biggest 30-day increase, 10.49%. So far in 2026, the I Fund continues to be the big winner, increasing 11.12%, including rising 9.1% in April. The F fund is seeing the smallest growth with a month over month increase of just 0.12% and only going up 0.16% for all of 2026.
• Federal employees may get some protection for their credit scores during future government shutdowns. Senate Democrats are pushing new legislation that would shield federal employees' credit history from missed payments during a government shutdown. Since federal employees can miss paychecks during a shutdown, there are often delayed credit card payments as a result. The Democrats' new bill would prohibit any missed payments from affecting feds' credit scores. The legislation would maintain the protection for 30 days past the end of a shutdown as well.
• Public Service Recognition Week is officially underway. The week-long national event honors the contributions of those working in the public sector at the federal, state, county and local government levels. All week long, many local organizations are offering free and discounted deals to public servants, like career coaching and walking tours. Since 1985, Public Service Recognition Week has been celebrated during the first week of May.
• The Defense Department has struck agreements with some of the nation’s largest technology companies to deploy their advanced artificial intelligence capabilities on its classified networks. Companies including SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Reflection and Oracle will integrate their AI capabilities into the department’s Impact Level 6 and Impact Level 7 network environments. The deal with the companies comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continues his push to bring commercial AI into the Defense Department, following the launch of the GenAI.mil platform in December. DoD said these new AI tools will enable new capabilities across warfighting, intelligence and enterprise operations.
• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other agency partners released a guide for organizations, on how to safely and responsibly implement agentic artificial intelligence. CISA, the NSA and others say it’s important to remain aware of the risks the technology brings and implement best practices to secure systems. CISA worked alongside other government cybersecurity agencies, including from Australia and the United Kingdom, to compile the guide. Some of the guide’s best practice recommendations include granting limited access, especially to sensitive information, and beginning use of agentic AI with low-risk tasks.
• When it comes to AI, the Navy wants the training of its employees to lead to better mission outcomes. The Navy may be the biggest user of the DoD's GenAI.mil platform, but leaders know the build it and they will come model isn't a recipe for success. The Navy's CIO's office is ensuring its employees are gaining real benefits from AI tools by mandating training and then measuring how that training is turning into mission outcomes. In a recent memo, the DoN told users to log into GenAI.mil, complete at least one free training course within 30 days and then begin tracking savings based on five outcome based metrics, including time saved.
• The Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee is actively seeking nominations for new members. The National Archives and Records Administration said it will renew the committee’s charter for a seventh term and needs members to serve on the committee. The committee will have a total of no more than 20 members, both from government and non-government sectors, who will serve from 2026 to 2028. Nominations are due by June 1.
• The White House has tapped Lt. Gen. Doug Schiess to serve as the next chief of space operations. Schiess would succeed Gen. Chance Saltzman, who is set to retire later this year. If confirmed, he would be the third person to hold the role since the Space Force was created in 2019. Schiess is currently serving as deputy chief of space operations, as well as Saltzman’s deputy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Prior to his current role, he served as the commander of Space Forces–Space.
• The Department of Agriculture intends to work with the EPA to roll back restrictions on the use of prescribed burns and fire retardants. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins says the department had completed all of the actions necessary to consolidate resources with the Department of the Interior in order to streamline federal firefighting. USDA, which oversees the largest wildland firefighting force in the country, is expecting an especially active fire season this year, given what the agency says is a "historically small winter snowpack and expected above normal temperatures leading to drier than normal conditions across the western U.S." Rollins says the department had completed all of the actions necessary to consolidate resources with the Department of the Interior in order to streamline federal firefighting.

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