• U.S. Cyber Command has a new chief artificial intelligence officer. Brig. Gen. Reid Novotny, who was tapped to serve in the role, said his priority will be ensuring that AI strengthens the nation’s cyber forces and improves decision-making advantages. Novotny previously served as the National Guard Bureau’s director of intelligence and cyber effects operations and most recently as the Office of the National Cyber Director’s senior military policy adviser. Novotny steps into the role amid leadership turnover and other turmoil at the military’s top cyber enterprise.
  (Cyber Command names Reid Novotny as new chief AI officer - LinkedIn)
• A Bureau of Prisons union is suing the Trump administration to try to restore collective bargaining rights. The new legal action from the American Federation of Government Employees comes after the Bureau of Prisons director terminated the agency’s labor contract. The agreement covered about 30,000 correctional workers across the country. The lawsuit alleges that the decision to cancel the contract was a form of retaliation, and that it violated employees’ First Amendment rights.
  (Lawsuit over BOP contract cancellation - American Federation of Government Employees)
• Federal employees who are retiring or separating from government can now access some new investment resources. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board has teamed up with the Securities and Exchange Commission to create a new program for retirement advice. The program includes a tutorial covering upcoming changes to the Thrift Savings Plan. It will also explain how to manage a TSP account after leaving government and go over common red flags to look for with potential fraud.
  (What to think about when nearing retirement or considering leaving the government - Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board )
• The Education Department is taking the next step in the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the agency. The Education Department has already begun transferring some of its programs and employees to other federal agencies and says more of this work is under way. Education Secretary Linda McMahon says the department has detailed some of its employees to the Labor Department. Education also signed interagency agreements to transfer more of its personnel and programs to departments of State, Health and Human Services and Interior. McMahon says Education is soft-launching this reorganization and that the ultimate goal is to have Congress approve closing the department.
  (Education Dept soft-launches employee reassignments to other agencies in latest step of closure plans - Federal News Network)
• The Small Business Administration told laid-off employees they were getting their jobs back, but then walked back that promise. SBA sent reduction-in-force notices to some of its employees just before the government shutdown. The agency’s top HR official told impacted staff Monday that those RIF notices have been rescinded. But a day later, the same official said the layoffs will remain in effect. A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from carrying out layoffs that began during the shutdown. Congress also passed shutdown-ending legislation that would keep these layoffs from coming back at least through January 30.
  (SBA told laid-off employees they could get their jobs back. It rescinded that offer a day later - Federal News Network)
• House and Senate negotiators are racing to finalize the fiscal 2026 defense authorization bill. Republican Congressman Rob Wittman said that while disputes between the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have been resolved, there are still issues with other committee jurisdictions. Those committees can either decide to waive jurisdiction or refine the language in ways that ensure the “Big Four” on HASC and SASC will agree to include it in the bill. “I think that those will hopefully be done by the end of the week, and then the bill will be in its final form. It should be on the floor at the beginning of the second week of December.”
  (Lawmakers to finalize NDAA by week’s end, bring the bill to the floor in early December - Federal News Network)
• The Office of Management and Budget has reversed course on a decision to defund the Council on Inspectors General for Integrity and Efficiency. OMB has now released $4.3 million for CIGIE to operate through January 30th. In September, OMB decided not to apportion any new funds for CIGIE. Multiple agency offices of inspector general websites then went dark because they relied on CIGIE services. While CIGIE now has funding through the end of January, OMB is also conducting a programmatic review of the council’s activities.
  (OMB releases some funding for IG council - Federal News Network)
• The Trump administration’s new cybersecurity strategy is coming into focus. National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross says the new cyber strategy will have six pillars. Two of them will be focused on imposing costs on adversaries and strengthening partnerships with industry. And during a talk at the Aspen Institute’s cyber summit yesterday, Cairncross said the strategy will not be a thick, 100-page document. “It’s going to be a short statement of intent and policy, and then it will be paired very quickly with action items and deliverables under that,” Cairncross said. Cairncross didn't give a timeline for when the strategy would be out, but said his office is moving as quickly as possible.
  (Aspen Cyber Summit - Aspen Institute )

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