• The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency has new leadership in place. Justin Overbaugh has been serving as acting director of DCSA since November. Overbaugh was confirmed by the Senate in September to serve as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. His appointment to also lead DCSA comes after full-time director David Cattler stepped down in September. Overbaugh is a retired Army colonel with 25 years of intelligence and special operations experience.
  (DCSA leadership - Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency )
• The Coast Guard said it’s awarded some long-awaited contracts to start building a new fleet of icebreakers. Both contracts will go toward the construction of medium icebreakers. The work will start in Finland, where the Coast Guard has awarded a contract to Rauma Marine Constructions to start building one, and possibly two, of the new class of cutters. From there, the Trump administration said it wants to “on-shore” the icebreaker building expertise, partly through a second contract with Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana. That contract will support the construction of up to four more ships. The first ship is expected to be finished in Finland in 2028, and the first American-built hull will follow a year later. It’s part of a broader Coast Guard plan to rebuild its icebreaking capability. As of now, the service only has two icebreakers in service and the ships are at or beyond their planned service life.
  (Coast Guard announces new contract to start building new fleet of icebreakers - U.S. Coast Guard)
• The Energy Department faces big human capital challenges heading into 2026 after it lost 20% of its workforce this year. That’s according to the DOE inspector general’s latest report on Energy’s top management challenges. The IG reports that more than 3,500 of DOE’s 15,705 employees departed the agency in 2025 through deferred resignations, early retirements and other actions. The report also highlights challenges with DOE’s cybersecurity program and its efforts to leverage artificial intelligence.
  (Management challenges at the Department of Energy fiscal year 2026 - Energy Department)
• Federal employees looking to join the Senior Executive Service may soon see changes in training requirements for the higher-level positions. The Office of Personnel Management is proposing to alter the timeframe and content of SES candidate development programs. But that’s far from the only change in senior executive development this year. The Trump administration has also launched several leadership training programs through OPM, as well as a required training for supervisors on recent reforms to performance management.
  (OPM proposes overhaul of SES candidate development programs - Federal News Network)
• Probationary federal employees are on track to see more restrictions when appealing their terminations, according to a new proposal from the Trump administration. In addition to the limitations on appeals, the new proposal would also put the Office of Personnel Management in charge of adjudicating employees’ cases. That’s instead of the Merit Systems Protection Board. Generally, OPM said the upcoming changes should help streamline the appeals process and hold probationary employees accountable.
  (OPM proposes more changes for probationary federal employees - Federal News Network)
• A Florida congresswoman accused of stealing federal COVID relief funds is maintaining her innocence. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) was scheduled to be arraigned on fraud charges yesterday, but her attorneys asked that the hearing be postponed while she assembles a legal team. Outside the courthouse, she told reporters the charges are politically motivated. Federal prosecutors claim the congresswoman stole funds that were overpaid to her family’s health care company and that at least some of those funds went toward her campaign for Congress.
  (Florida Congresswoman accused of COVID fraud - Associated Press)

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