The Senate Armed Services Committee included a provision in its version of fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act that would reduce funding for Hegseth’s travel to no more than 25% until the committee receives what lawmakers describe as overdue reports and supporting documents.

The committee approved its version of the NDAA last week in an 18-9 vote, sending the bill to the full Senate. House lawmakers advanced their version the week prior.

The provision cuts Hegseth’s travel funding by 75% until the committee receives the civilian harm investigations for three separate 2025 Yemen strikes and the February strike on the girls’ school in Minab, Iran.

On Feb. 28, the first day of the Iran war, a school in southern Iran was struck by a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile, killing at least 165 people, most of them schoolgirls.

President Donald Trump claimed that Iran could have obtained the missile, despite questions about how Tehran would have gained access. The strike has been under investigation by the Pentagon since March.

Speaking on Wednesday in France, Trump was asked about the investigation and whether anyone in the Trump administration would be held accountable.

“It’s such a strange question to be asked at this state because you’re talking about a long time ago, but nobody did that on purpose,” he said in response.

“Mistakes are made. War is nasty. But I know it’s under investigation, and I could have a report for you tomorrow. I would ask Pete Hegseth that question because they have it under investigation,” he concluded.

Another provision in the Senate NDAA moved to prohibit the use of military funds for the operations against Iran without congressional authorization and restricted travel funding for Hegseth’s office until lawmakers submit a report on how the Iran war has impacted readiness. The amendment failed to pass in a 13-14 vote.

Unedited video of strikes conducted by U.S. Southern Command on terrorist organizations that were allegedly smuggling drugs in Latin American waters would also need to be submitted.

Since September 2025, the U.S. military has conducted strikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that they alleged were carrying drugs.

As of June 16, the military has disclosed 64 strikes that have killed at least 191 people.

The committee is also seeking information about the Defense Department procedures for notifying Congress about sensitive military operations.

Lawmakers have previously criticized Hegseth over congressional oversight following reports that a special operations team attacked survivors of an alleged drug-smuggling vessel strike off Venezuela’s coast in September 2025.

Hegseth refused to publicly release footage of the attack, instead only showing members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee.

The provision would also require the unredacted investigation by U.S. Special Operations Command into Operation Absolution Resolve, the U.S. military operation executed on Jan. 20 to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Senate lawmakers also requested a certification that shows contractor support for clandestine and intelligence activities and a report on support to Ukraine required under last year’s NDAA.

Following recent “unauthorized disclosures,” the Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday announced its intention of drafting a governmentwide NDA that agencies can implement at their discretion for workers who have access to sensitive information, such as personnel records and operational plans.

“OPM believes that a standard NDA form will promote consistency across government, better protect confidential information and better inform federal employees of their rights and obligations regarding confidential information,” the proposal reads.

OPM’s proposal was published Wednesday in the Federal Register and opened a 30-day public comment period through June 26.

The OPM said the move follows several recent leaks of internal government information.

“There have been several recent instances in which internal agency communications related to rulemaking and policy development were disclosed without authorization,” the proposal says.

“Such disclosures risk chilling candid interagency feedback, disrupting orderly decision-making and weakening trust within and among federal agencies,” the proposal continues.

The draft lists several examples, with one dating back to 2022 when a Supreme Court opinion overturning abortion rights was leaked to a reporter, prompting the Court to implement its own NDA in 2024.

The proposal cited a 2025 incident in which several Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security workers released immigration enforcement plans when unauthorized to do so.

More recently, in early January 2026, the proposal also claims that the New York Times and Washington Post received unauthorized disclosures from federal employees about the planned U.S. raid on Venezuela before it began, which prompted the organizations to postpone “publishing what they knew to avoid endangering US troops.”

The New York Times disputes that assertion.

“Contrary to some claims, however, The Times did not have verified details about the pending operation to capture Maduro or a story prepared, nor did we withhold publication at the request of the Trump administration,” the New York Times Executive Editor Joe Kahn wrote in January 2026 in response to questions from readers.

OPM’s announcement comes less than two months after President Donald Trump vowed to find the “leaker” behind the release of information involving a missing U.S. airman from a downed fighter jet in Iran. In an early April press conference, Trump did not specify which media company received the leak but did threaten to put the reporter in jail if they, or their organization, did not disclose their source.

OPM previously published a separate rule in June 2025 addressing federal employee “suitability and fitness” requirements with nondisclosure requirements.

The draft says that the NDA will be an “Optional Form,” allowing federal agencies to decide for themselves whether or not to use the agreement. If an agency decides to use the NDA, it would be given to new hires as well as current employees.

Even though the draft says that the proposal is not meant to implement “new substantive restrictions on employee speech or disclosure rights,” union leaders have criticized the move, calling it unnecessary and warning it could silence workers.

“This proposed NDA is another attempt by the administration to purge the civil service of nonpartisan career employees and replace them with loyalists who won’t speak out against waste, fraud and abuse,” Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union, said in a statement.

Doreen Greenwald, the president of the second largest federal employee union, National Treasury Employees Union, said there was “no basis” for this action and that the union would oppose the proposal.

“Existing law protects our nation’s secrets. Non-disclosure agreements would preemptively chill First Amendment-protected speech and dissuade protected whistleblowing activity,” Greenwald said in a release.

There are currently over two million federal employees, according to OPM, with the largest share of workers serving in the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The department persists in attempts to recruit its civilian employees to volunteer and support DHS operations, according to a Thursday email sent to DOD civilian employees that circulated on social media.

“I am renewing the call for additional dedicated civil servant volunteers to meet continued mission-critical roles in support of DHS,” the email reads.

The email, sent by the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, first circulated on the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/sno Facebook page. A Pentagon official declined to confirm or deny the authenticity of the email to Military Times on Thursday.

DOD’s encouragement of civilian employees’ interagency collaboration when it comes to DHS is nothing new. Since August 2025, the department has tried recruiting civilian employees for up to six-month details in support of the southern border mission at participating DHS agencies.

Last week DOD issued a release urging civilian employees to consider volunteering. Any civilian can volunteer regardless of their job or skills and no resume is required, according to the release, which states 1,000 civilians have been “added to the roster to assist DHS” and 200 have already been deployed.

The Pentagon official declined to comment on whether civilian volunteers approved undergo any additional training.

Details typically last 60 days, but volunteers can opt to complete three 60-day details for a total of 180 days, according to the release.

The email, meanwhile, states that many personnel have already “answered the call to defend the homeland,” claiming that 900 individuals have already submitted applications.

Detailees, which is how the email referred to the individuals, will directly support Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, according to the email.

The email states that participants have assisted ICE and CBP in developing “concepts of operations, provide logistics support, and managed informant tiplines that led to the arrests of human smugglers, drug dealers and other criminals.”

The Pentagon official declined to comment on how many applicants have been approved and deployed already out of the 900 or on what the application process looks like exactly.

Amid President Donald Trump’s push for immigration enforcement operations across the country, ICE has offered large signing bonuses and reduced their age requirements in an effort to expand its workforce.

Despite claims that ICE has exceeded its recruitment goals, National Guard troops have been mobilized in the past to offer the department support on top of Federal Emergency Management Agency employees being temporarily reassigned to ICE, according to The Washington Post’s reporting.

According to an August 2025 Defense Department memo, the agreement between DOD and DHS agencies lasts until Sept. 30, 2026.

The department granted 20 state veterans cemeteries over $77 million in fiscal 2025 for their improvement, expansion, reimbursements and the new establishment of one in Alaska, according to a VA statement released Dec. 30.

“Under President Trump, VA is committed to ensuring America’s Veterans cemeteries have the resources they need to provide excellent memorial benefits and services to our nation’s Veterans and their families, and these grants underscore that fact,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in the release.

The cemeteries awarded grants include cemeteries in Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as the establishment of the Interior Alaska Veterans Cemetery in Fairbanks.

VA’s National Cemetery Administration works to reimburse states for their state-run veterans cemeteries’ building, improvement or expansion costs.

The administered grants usually fund items such as improvements necessary for burials and operations and the construction of pre-placed crypts or columbaria, per the memo.

In fiscal 2025, more than 43,705 veterans and eligible family members were interred in VA grant-funded cemeteries, making up roughly 25% of the 174,705 total annual interments in all national and VA grant-funded veterans cemeteries.

The department has long strived to establish a veterans cemetery close to where almost every American veteran resides to improve burial options.

Currently, just under 94% of veterans nationwide have “reasonable access” to one, meaning about 77 million veterans live within 75 miles of a national, state or tribal veterans cemetery, according to the VA.

Since 2023, VA officials have set the goal to 95%, but the task requires a mix of federal and local funding as well as a commitment from regional leaders for preservation of the cemeteries.

The VA has awarded a total of over $1.1 billion in grants since 1980 to 124 veterans cemeteries in 47 states, 14 tribal nations and three territories, working in tandem with the VA’s 157 national cemeteries to provide more access for veterans.

As ranking member, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., led 19 other senators who asked McDonough to ensure veterans’ right to community care — a program the VA utilizes to connect veterans to health care through local providers. The senators claim that a panel, dubbed the Red Team, meant to assess the reasoning behind community care’s increased spending, made recommendations that are negatively impacting veterans in need of care.

“VA leaders — including yourself — addressed the Red Team and provided it with select data and briefings that contributed to the conclusion that frames community care as a potential existential threat to VA’s direct care system, rather than the vital lifeline it is for veterans and for VA,” the senators wrote.

The letter states that the Red Team suggests the VA reduce community care referrals for veterans needing emergency, oncology or mental health care.

“It is unconscionable that VA would consider leaving them with fewer options to seek needed care,” the senators said in the letter.

Even as the Red Team’s recommendations have not formally been implemented yet, the senators write they noticed a steep uptick in reports from veterans and their families, saying the suggestions are being adhered to already. The VA already canceled, revoked or denied community care for a number of veterans, according to the letter.

VA issued a hiring pause in February and is striving to reduce staffing by 10,000 employees, which the letter argues will affect veterans’ welfare, especially for those in need of care.

The letter cites the VA’s 2018 MISSION Act, with the goal of giving veterans more options for health care access, that included the community care program, launched in 2019.

“VA must embrace both the spirit and letter of that transformational piece of legislation to ensure this does not continue,” the senators said. “Doing anything less is detrimental to the progress VA has made through the MISSION Act and a personal affront to veterans across the country.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated 5 a.m. ET on July 8.

The NATO Summit will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, marking the first time D.C. hosts the Summit since 1999. The last time it was held in the U.S. was in 2012 in Chicago.

The District expects higher rates of vehicular traffic and commute times for those working in the D.C. area, propelling OPM to urge agencies to allow those workers the ability to telework, request leave or explore other avenues to compensate for next week.

OPM is asking agencies to be more flexible in their workplace practices, telling employees they can request annual leave, earned compensatory time off or other authorized time off.

Even though the Summit is being held July 9 to 11, agencies and their employees should still expect traffic-related issues, like road closures and increased travel times, the entirety of next week.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser released Monday a traffic plan and security map, outlining the temporary areas of impact D.C. residents and workers should look out for during the week of the Summit.

The OPM announcement follows the fight from Republican lawmakers to make telework for federal workers stricter, citing the necessity for in-person work and how agencies, like OPM, don’t know how many employees are teleworking.

Some agencies, like OPM and the Office of Management and Budget, have defended the Biden administration’s telework policy, saying they need help from Congress to gather telework data on its effectiveness.

The review of FDIC’s workplace culture was released last May, conducted by the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, which the FDIC’s Special Committee oversaw. The report showcased the toxic work environment within the agency, filled with stalking, sexual harassment and favoritism, along with other workplace violations.

“We also find that a patriarchal, insular, and risk-averse culture has contributed to the conditions that allowed for this workplace misconduct to occur and persist, and that a widespread fear of retaliation, as well as a lack of clarity and credibility around internal reporting channels, has led to an underreporting of workplace misconduct over the years,” the report states.

The report claimed more than 500 employees used their hotline to recount personal experiences of harassment, discrimination and other instances of workplace misconduct. Some employees have never told anyone about their experience before, while others reported internally, but were left “disappointed” by the agency’s response, according to the report.

One of the new offices approved by the FDIC is the Office of Professional Conduct where employees can file claims on harassment, retaliation and misconduct. The office will then investigate, determine and enforce disciplinary action, an issue seen in the report. The report showed a lack of accountability among those in the FDIC.

The second office approved is the Office of Equal Opportunity, which will take, investigate and report on complaints of discrimination and retaliation outlined in laws under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Both offices will use independent, third-party investigators, and the FDIC still needs to appoint directors to both offices.

The report also followed Chairman Martin Gruenberg’s behavior in the FDIC and classified “unsettling,” outlining instances where the chairman lost his temper on his employees.

Even though Gruenberg apologized for his behavior on the agency’s website, lawmakers still called on him to resign from his post. In a June 12 hearing, held by the House Financial Services Committee, committee members took a look into the FDIC’s toxic workplace culture and failed leadership.

“While we do not find Chairman Gruenberg’s conduct to be a root cause of the sexual harassment and discrimination in the agency or the long-standing workplace culture issues identified in our review, we do recognize that, as a number of FDIC employees put it in talking about Chairman Gruenberg, culture ‘starts at the top,’” the report said.

The report recommended that the agency institute requests for proposals, and the agency announced they have issued two RFPs: the Independent Transformation Monitor and the Expert Third-Party. The Independent Transformation Monitor will monitor all recommendation to improve the FDIC’s culture and structure, and the Expert Third-Party will guide those efforts.

According to the June 28 announcement, the FDIC’s Board of Directors will make final selections on the RFPs after they received proposals.

The class action alleged that the service discriminated against hundreds of African American deputy marshals and corrections officers in hirings, headquarters assignments and promotions since 1994, according to a summary from Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP, the employment law firm handling the case. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission approved the settlement, marking this case one of the longest-running racial discrimination class actions in U.S. history.

The settlement requires that the Marshals Service implement DEI and implicit bias training and change the hiring process to promote transparency and objectivity within the agency’s hiring, promotion and headquarters assignments processes.

“We’re really thrilled that we finally get to resolve this case and we think it’s a good resolution for our class members,” Christine Dunn, an attorney representative on the case, said to Federal Times. “And, you know, most importantly, I think, is that there will be changes at the Marshals Service, and that has power to positively impact future generations of deputy U.S. marshals.”

Dunn said the Marshals Service will have to give periodic updates on their progress so the law firm can be sure they are making the required changes listed in the settlement.

Class members on the case include 700 African American current and former deputy marshals who allegedly experienced racial discrimination in promotions and headquarters assignments and thousands of African Americans who were allegedly denied hire. Class members that will receive part of the settlement are those who submitted a claim form and were found eligible for monetary compensation.

“It’s been a really long road,” Dunn said. “This case has been going on for 30 years and it feels really wonderful to finally be able to get justice for our class members who have been fighting for a really long time.”

The Marshals Service has denied any wrongdoing on their part throughout the litigation process, according to a USMS press release.

Dunn said class members have already submitted claims for monetary compensation, but before the Marshals Service can release the money owed, those who objected to the settlement during the objection period can appeal within 30 days now that it was approved by the court. She said only a small number of class members objected to the settlement.

She said the objections or appeals would have to be “global,” meaning based on that the settlement itself was unfair, unreasonable or inadequate. For an appeal to be granted, it would depend on if it could be fixed or if it could blow up the settlement, Dunn said.

“I don’t think that an appeal will likely carry much weight, you know, the objections,” Dunn said. “The judge dealt with pretty extensively in her order and why she doesn’t believe they have any merit. So, I would hope that an appellate court would also agree with her on that.”

Dunn said the compensation received depends on everyone’s circumstances because some may have been passed up for more promotions than others, for example. The settlement will be disbursed in a pro rata format, which means a proportional allocation of the funds.

She said it was frustrating to see the delays in the case, especially since some class members passed along the way before able to see justice and receive their monetary compensation.

“That has been one of the hardest parts for me of this case is just seeing justice delayed and for so many people, they will ever get to experience the justice of this case,” Dunn said.

The initiative, led by the Office for Access to Justice and dubbed “Access DOJ,” focuses on customer experiences and human-centered design, a problem-solving process to simplify and promote programs, services and resources.

“The pursuit of access to justice for all requires innovation and modern tools,” Director Rachel Rossi said in a statement to Federal Times. “Human-centered design practices can help close the justice gap by making our services and programs more accessible, effective and efficient.”

For example, human-centered design has already been used in this initiative to revise the presidential pardon form after an individual completes a sentence with the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney. Those forms are complicated and usually completed with the help of legal counsel, so the department simplified the language, eliminated unnecessary questions and built in a checklist to make it easier for applicants to fill it in without one. That new form is currently in use, and its redevelopment involved feedback from the public, usability testing and best practices in design.

In 2022, the latest year for the ranking, the DOJ received an “F” in quality writing in the Center for Plain Language’s report card.

With public trust in government at near-record lows, the Biden administration has ordered agencies to look for ways to revamp, modernize and declutter the systems that Americans use to interact with them. In 2021, an executive order said this trust can be earned back when government is held accountable for “designing and delivering services with a focus on the actual experience of the people whom it is meant to serve.”

Since then, several agencies have taken a look at their aging systems and reliance on paper processing to reflect a more instantaneous efficient exchange of services and information.

Veterans are also facing many of the same legal challenges civilians are, like unemployment and family law disputes. From their service, they can also encounter mental and physical health issues.

According to an ATJ Fact Sheet, veterans experience a multitude of civil and criminal legal disadvantages. For example, in 2021, 84% of civil legal problems braved by low-income veterans did not receive enough or any legal help. Neglected legal issues can increase the likelihood of homelessness or incarceration.

One in three veterans have reported being arrested at least once, compared to one-fifth of the nonveteran population, and over 100,000 are incarcerated in state or federal facilities. Of incarcerated veterans in the U.S., approximately 30% have a history of homelessness.

Since 2021, ATJ has been working to improve access for veterans, servicemembers and their families through veteran-centered engagement to understand their legal needs and perspectives.

Before the launch of Access DOJ, ATJ worked with legal aid providers, veterans and veteran organizations to inform improvements to services provided and the launch can expand this access, according to an ATJ spokesperson.

“Consistent with the mission and goals of Access DOJ, the Office of Access to Justice (ATJ) is centering the voices of Veterans to collaboratively design people-centered solutions,” the spokesperson said.

ATJ is working to increase access to justice for veterans through veteran-centered engagement by hosting virtual briefings, listening sessions and reentry simulations open to legal aid partners and veterans.

For its own part, Access DOJ will conduct “high-impact projects” with internal offices, provide resources and trainings in usability testing and plain language writing, and will chain a group of representations from the department to share their experiences and advance the initiative.

Next on the list for Access DOJ is to focus on the how to reduce barriers to reporting crime or law violations to the department by reviewing and improving the reporting portals.

“When government forms and processes are only accessible to lawyers or those who can afford them, everyone suffers and the justice gap widens,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and White House Council Stuart F. Delery said in a roundtable report. “We remain committed to ensuring that every American can truly access the legal system, services, and benefits of this nation.”

The U.S. military reanchored its temporary humanitarian pier off the coast of Gaza, less than a week after detaching it ahead of high seas, a defense official said.

On Thursday, the pier was once again unloading aid, according to a U.S. defense official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

However, the aid rolling into Gaza won’t immediately reach the Palestinian people — more than 1 million of whom face “catastrophic levels of hunger,” according to the United Nations World Food Programme.

The WFP is responsible for distributing the humanitarian support but paused its deliveries June 9 due to concerns over worker safety. A day before, Executive Director Cindy McCain said, two warehouses had been hit by rockets, leaving one worker injured.

In the meantime, the crates moving from the pier into Gaza are only filling the nearby storage sites.

Following its completion in mid-May, the pier has been a debacle for the U.S. military. It was damaged by stormy weather little over a week later, leaving it out of commission until June 8. U.S. Central Command announced it would detach the pier last week, expecting rough seas that might again cause damage.

In addition, multiple U.S. service members have sustained noncombatant injuries while working on the humanitarian site.

Since its installation, the pier has only been operational for about 10 days and delivered 3,500 metric tons of aid for further transport the aid into Gaza, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh. The Pentagon insists that the pier is a “temporary measure” and that a sufficient amount of aid can only come through land routes into Gaza.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a briefing that he doesn’t have a date on when the pier will cease operations.

Aside from weather conditions, another concern is when the WFP will resume their distribution.

The same day WFP warehouses were rocketed, an Israeli-held raid rescued four hostages and killed at least 274 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is run by the terrorist group Hamas. The Israeli rescue unit used an area near the pier during its operation, leading WFP to conduct a security review on whether they can safely continue operations.

McCain said in a CBS “Face the Nation” interview that she is unsure how the warehouses got rocketed since they are “deconflicted” from the Israeli military.

In a briefing with reporters last week, Ryder affirmed multiple times that the Israeli Defense Forces used no part of the pier or humanitarian staging ground to launch its hostage-rescue operation.

Reporting by The Associated Press contributed to this story.