• Kirsten Davies has officially taken over the role of the Defense Department's chief information officer. She was sworn in right before the Christmas break. Congress confirmed Davies on Dec. 18 as part of the final tranche of nominees from President Donald Trump. Davies succeeds Katie Arrington, who has performed the duties of DoD CIO since March. Arrington spearheaded a number of major initiatives during her tenure, including an overhaul of the department’s legacy processes for buying software.
  (Kirsten Davies officially takes helm as DoD CIO - LinkedIn)
• The Marine Corps has stood up the Family Member Travel Screening Cell to address long-standing delays and coordination issues with overseas and remote-duty assignments. For many Marines and their families, one of the most challenging parts of moving overseas is the suitability screening process, which has long been complex and confusing. The new office will serve as a central help desk, providing information about the screening process, connecting Marines and families with the appropriate medical screening offices and offering support to ensure screenings are completed on time. Officials say the lack of a coordinating office has led to missed deadlines, gaps in manning and added stress for families.
  (Marine Corps creates new office to improve overseas moves for families - MARADMINS message)
• A Navy contractor has agreed to pay $1.5 million over allegations that it sold the service parts that didn’t meet their contract’s specifications. The Justice Department claims Teledyne Electronic Safety Products violated the False Claims Act when it delivered critical ejection seat components that turned out to have been sourced from an unauthorized broker. The components, part of what’s called Digital Recovery Sequencer, were sold between 2011 and 2012.
  (Navy contractor violated False Claims Act - Justice Department)
• Congressional appropriators are rejecting some of the most severe agency budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration. The latest spending package seeks modest spending reductions for most agencies. But it departs from the Trump administration's calls for major budget cuts. It would cut the EPA’s budget by about 4% in fiscal 2026, a far cry from the 55% budget cut the Trump administration proposed. It also rejects the administration’s proposals to cut NASA’s science budget by nearly half. The spending package seeks additional guardrails on unilateral agency reorganizations that could further shrink the federal workforce.
  (Lawmakers reject deep budget cuts, limit agency reorganizations in ‘minibus’ spending package - Federal News Network)
• A Democratic holdout on plans to keep the FBI’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., said there’s a compromise in the works. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said a spending deal for fiscal 2026 allows the FBI to tap into funds previously approved for an FBI campus in Maryland. But first, the FBI must provide congressional appropriators with a plan for a new headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building. Van Hollen said this plan would help address longstanding security concerns.
  (Lawmakers reject deep budget cuts, limit agency reorganizations in ‘minibus’ spending package - Federal News Network)
• The National Institute of Standards and Technology would get a funding bump under the minibus spending agreement. The appropriations agreement released by House and Senate lawmakers yesterday includes $1.8 billion for NIST, well above the cuts proposed by the Trump administration. The bill would include $55 million for NIST’s artificial intelligence research efforts. And it would allocate $128 million in construction funding for NIST to upgrade outdated facilities, including at its main campus Gaithersburg, Maryland.
  (Lawmakers boost funding for NIST after proposed cuts - Federal News Network)
• UL Solutions has withdrawn as lead administrator for the FCC’s Cyber Trust Mark program. The company notified the FCC of its decision in a Dec. 19 filing. That comes after the FCC last summer launched a probe into the company’s potential ties to China. The voluntary Cyber Trust Mark program was started late in the Biden administration to certify whether digital consumer products like smart TVs and refrigerators are cyber secure. The FCC has not said whether it picked a new company to serve as a testing lab for the Cyber Trust Mark program.
  (UL Solutions filing - Federal Communications Commission)

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