• A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to save the Navy Reserve Center system. They say a provision in the Senate version of the fiscal 2026 defense policy bill would shutter 107 commands that provide administrative support and serve as home for approximately 48,000 Navy reservists across the country. In a letter to the House and Senate Armed Services committees, the lawmakers said if the Navy has issues with the current force structure, the service should identify those issues, present them to Congress along with their plans to fix them.
  (House lawmakers urge Congress not to close Navy reserve centers across the country - Social media platform X)
• One of the longest serving federal agency CIOs has found a new home. Former Agriculture Department chief information officer Gary Washington has left government, but is remaining a part of the federal community. Washington, who served as USDA's CIO for more than seven years before leaving at the end of October, is the new chief strategy officer for the industry group ACT-IAC. Washington has been an active member of ACT-IAC as a federal employee, serving as the president of the American Council for Technology and is a 2006 graduate of the Industry Advisory Council Partners Program. Washington spent more than 25 years in government, also working at OMB, the FDA and Treasury during his career.
  (Former USDA CIO Washington joins ACT-IAC - ACT-IAC)
• The American Postal Workers Union is under new leadership. Jonathan Smith who previously led union members in the New York metro area has been sworn in as APWU’s new national president. Smith ran on a platform focused on fighting back against privatizing, closing or consolidating Postal Service operations. He’s taking over for Mark Dimondstein who led the union for 12 years.
  (Jonathan Smith takes office as APWU national president - American Postal Workers Union)
• Paychecks for Defense Department civilians who haven’t been paid in over a month are slated to be processed on Sunday, while servicemembers are expected to get paid on time. President Trump signed a bill late Wednesday to fund the government through January 30, clearing the way for tens of thousands of Defense Department civilians to return to work. A senior administration official said that checks are scheduled to go out on Sunday, but DoD civilians are being told to expect payment sometime between Monday and mid-week. Agencies have also been told to “take all necessary steps to ensure offices open in a prompt manner on November 13.”
  (DoD civilians to receive back pay Sunday, military pay remains on schedule - Federal News Network)
• Nine Democratic lawmakers of Maryland are asking acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy about the future of NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center. In a letter to Duffy, the legislators asked for details about NASA's plans to consolidate buildings on Goddard's campus in Greenbelt, Maryland. They also are concerned about NASA moving specific technological capabilities away from Goddard. The House and Senate members say actions taken over the last nine months with thousands of civil servants and contractors no longer working at the center threaten the organization's ability to meet its science and exploration missions. The lawmakers want answers to their questions by November 17.
  (Maryland congressional delegation concerned about NASA Goddard's future - Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.))
• Many federal employees are asking when they’ll receive their paychecks, now that the shutdown is over. Federal HR and payroll offices are working to process back pay as soon as possible, but when those checks actually hit employees’ bank accounts will depend on the agency. Feds from the General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management will be among the first to receive their retroactive paychecks on Saturday. Others won’t see their checks until next Wednesday, including feds at departments of Agriculture and Treasury, as well as Homeland Security. Both furloughed and excepted federal employees are guaranteed back pay, according to the spending agreement Congress passed on Wednesday.
  (Post-shutdown, here’s how soon federal employees can expect back pay - Federal News Network)
• Two non-profits are joining together to launch a new fellowship program, geared toward enhancing public service. The new opportunity from the National Academy of Public Administration and the Bridge Alliance will focus on public service leadership and civil service reforms. The two organizations have put out a request for proposals from the public this week. The end result of the initiative is expected to be a series of action plans for improvements across government.
  (Fellows for democracy and public service initiative - National Academy of Public Administration, Bridge Alliance)
• The Trump administration is staffing up immigration enforcement, but not the courts that hear these cases. The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act passed this summer gave the Department of Homeland Security billions of dollars to hire 10,000 new Immigration and Enforcement agents, as well as more Customs and Border Protection staff. The legislation also authorizes the Justice Department to hire about 100 immigration judges. But the Trump administration fired nearly that many earlier this year. Recently terminated immigration judges say the courts are severely understaffed and unable to chip away at a backlog of more than three million cases.
  (Immigration courts understaffed and overwhelmed, as Trump administration surges enforcement hiring - Federal News Network)

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