Federal court puts hold on Trump administration plan to close three agencies

BlackHays

10 hours ago

Originally published Federal court puts hold on Trump administration plan to close three agencies on May 8, 2025 03:44 by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2025/05/federal-court-puts-hold-on-trump-administration-plan-to-close-three-agencies/ at Federal News Network

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A federal court is putting a hold on the Trump administration’s plans to eliminate three small agencies. A judge at the US District Court in Rhode Island issued a preliminary injunction, putting a temporary hold on cuts to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which helps resolve collective bargaining disputes and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for U.S. libraries and museums. The judge’s ruling also blocks further cuts to the Minority Business Development Agency.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is preparing for significant cuts to its workforce, after hiring surged under the Biden administration. The VA is setting a goal of cutting 15% of its workforce which would mean tens of thousands of fewer employees. Secretary Doug Collins told lawmakers that a plan hasn’t been finalized yet, and that the cuts could be higher or lower than that goal. Collins defended the upcoming workforce cuts and said increased staffing hasn’t always led to better service for veterans. “The department’s history shows that adding more employees to the system doesn’t automatically equal better results,” Collins said.
A senior lawmaker said the Justice Department should look into an insecure messaging platform used by a top White House official. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said DOJ should investigate the national security risks of TeleMessage. The company claimed to offer agencies a secure way to archive messages sent over Signal. But hackers recently breached TeleMessage databases forcing the company to shut down all services. The hacks came after recently ousted National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was photographed using TeleMessage at the White House.
Managers at the IRS are now being told to continue working with their union representatives. That change comes after political leadership at the IRS told managers a couple weeks ago to stop communicating with the National Treasury Employees Union. The agency is now reversing course in light of a preliminary court injunction that paused the Trump administration’s efforts to broadly cancel collective bargaining at agencies. The IRS now said managers should treat NTEU as the exclusive bargaining representative. Leaders should also continue union meetings, grievances, arbitrations and other federal labor proceedings.
Lawmakers are weighing in on how to respond to workforce challenges within the Federal Bureau of Prisons. During a House committee hearing yesterday, Republicans raised concerns about issues with staff retention, low morale and safety breaches for federal correctional officers. Although lawmakers agreed on the staffing issues at hand, Democrats argued that the recent removal of pay incentives, and the elimination of the BOP’s union, will only make the challenges worse. The Government Accountability Office has named the management of the federal prison system as a top challenge in government. That’s in large part due to severe staffing shortages of correctional officers at the BOP.
The Defense Information Systems Agency is turning to artificial intelligence and automation to address workforce shortages. The deferred resignation program along with the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority have shrunk the agency’s workforce. Jeff Marshall, DISA’s J9 Hosting and Compute director, said one of the solutions to the agency’s workforce gap is automation. DISA already has plans to conduct an exercise where the agency’s workforce will utilize generative AI tools to identify gaps within their offices. The agency will also focus on upskilling and training the remaining workforce.
Defense Information Systems Agency officials said the rollout of the next iteration of the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract may face delays due to the Defense Department’s workforce cuts. Jeff Marshall, DISA’s J9 Hosting and Compute director, said the agency is “slightly behind” but may be able to “get back on track within the next year.” In the meantime, DISA is gathering feedback from Combatant Commands, military services, and defense agencies on what they need from JWCC 2.0.
Congress wants more details on proposed budget cuts at several Department of Homeland Security components. Members of the House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee are pressing DHS for more details on proposed cuts. The Trump administration’s budget request includes reductions at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Transportation Security Administration and more. During a hearing yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended those cuts. She also said the Trump administration would be releasing a new cybersecurity plan shortly.

Originally published Federal News Network