The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday released the details of a massive defense policy bill that authorizes $1.2 trillion in spending, in support of the Trump administration's request for fiscal 2027. The annual legislation would create a new command overseeing military drones and allow for a new under secretary of defense focused on cyber, as well as an assistant secretary in charge of housing and military travel, among dozens of other provisions. The draft heads to the full Senate for consideration. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
A second cohort of technology executives are joining the Army Reserve
16/06/2026 | 7 mins.
A second cohort of technology executives are joining the Army Reserve. The Army commissioned three more senior technology leaders into its Executive Innovation Corps, also known as Detachment 201. The service kicked off the new program last year in an effort to bring in senior tech executives to help integrate and scale commercial technology. The new cohort includes executives from Cloudflare and Sutter Hill Ventures, as well as a co-founder of Facebook AI Research. The Army said members of the inaugural cohort have “influenced” initiatives such as munitions supply chain data analysis and organic industrial base investments. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Lawmakers renew effort to offer paid family and medical leave to feds
15/06/2026 | 7 mins.
Lawmakers are renewing an effort to offer paid family and medical leave to federal employees. A bipartisan bill would give feds 12 weeks of paid leave in the case of a serious illness for themselves or an immediate family member. Legislation passed in 2019 to give federal employees access to paid parental leave. But family and medical leave remains unpaid, which lawmakers say makes federal recruitment and retention more difficult. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Senate Democrats urge reversal of ruling threatening civil service protections
12/06/2026 | 7 mins.
Senate Democrats are urging a federal appeals court to reverse a decision upholding the firings of two immigration judges at the Department of Justice. The lawmakers warn that the previous ruling from the Merit Systems Protection Board could give the president much broader firing powers over many civil servants. The Democrats’ new amicus brief follows a previous request in the same court case for a full-bench appeals court hearing.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Service members could see a 5% to 7% pay raise in 2027
11/06/2026 | 6 mins.
House appropriators are backing the Trump administration's proposed pay raise for U.S. troops in fiscal 2027 as part of a $1.7 trillion defense spending bill. Military service members could see their paychecks grow by 5% to 7%, depending on their rank. It's a higher bump than the previous raise of 3.8%. The proposed legislation would help troops stay ahead of inflation as living costs continue to crunch Americans' budgets. The House's defense appropriations subcommittee will vote on the measure on Thursday. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
THE FEDERAL NEWSCAST, (length about seven minutes), is a daily Monday through Friday, high-information compilation of nine 40-second news stories and news packages, generated by the non-partisan, non-political, private-sector team of reporters at Federal News Network. Federal News Radio Producer/Newscasters Eric White and Michele Sandiford assemble and read the stories on the THE FEDERAL DRIVE with TERRY GERTON, the weekday morning-drive program, heard from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. (ET) on the Federal News Network app (and website), on any smart speaker, and on WFED 1500 AM, a 50,000-watt 'Class A' powerhouse radio station in the nation's capital. The podcast is most popular with FNN's audience of highly educated listeners, who conveniently access THE FEDERAL NEWSCAST, 24/7, on any podcast platform . Listen to it (as just mentioned) or read the stories each weekday morning at FederalNewsNetwork.com, where the news items contain hyperlinks for those who want more information on a given story.
UK