A federal judge has blocked the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security in their latest attempt to dissolve TSA’s union agreement.
In a Jan. 15 ruling, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead granted an emergency motion to prohibit TSA from eliminating a collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 47,000 airport security screeners. TSA had been planning to dissolve the CBA effective Jan. 18.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents transportation security officers under the CBA, celebrated the ruling.
“TSA officers – many of whom are veterans – are patriotic public servants who swore an oath to protect the safety of the traveling public and to ensure that another horrific attack like September 11 never happens again,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “The administration’s repeated efforts to strip these workers of a voice in their working conditions should concern every person who steps foot in an airport.”
The ruling is the latest development in the Trump administration’s effort to eliminate TSA union rights.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem first moved to eliminate TSA’s union last March. AFGE sued to block that effort, and in June, the court issued a preliminary injunction that prohibited TSA from moving forward with eliminating TSO union rights while the court case played out.
But in September, Noem signed a separate determination that directed TSA to strip security screeners of union rights and eliminate the CBA. DHS and TSA did not announce the new determination until early December.
TSA argued that the determination was based on a new analysis of the costs associated with the union agreement.
In Whitehead’s latest ruling, however, he pointedly criticized TSA’s latest attempt to eliminate the union agreement. He wrote that officials “do not cite, quote, or otherwise engage with the operative language” in the preliminary injunction, which prohibits TSA and DHS from denying AFGE and TSO’s “any and all rights and/or working conditions guaranteed in the 2024 CBA.”
“The question before the court is straightforward: does defendants’ planned implementation of the September Noem Determination violate the existing preliminary Injunction? The answer is plainly yes,” Whitehead wrote.
He directed TSA to notify bargaining unit TSO’s that the Noem determination will not take effect on Jan. 18, “the 2024 CBA remains applicable and binding, and the currently pending grievances and arbitrations submitted under the 2024 CBA will continue to be processed.”
The case is still scheduled to go to trial in September 2026, absent any new developments or updates.
Bipartisan lawmakers are seeking to secure a 35% federal pay raise for correctional officers at the Bureau of Prisons, in an effort to address longstanding staffing shortages across the agency.
The Federal Correctional Officer Paycheck Protection Act, which both House and Senate lawmakers introduced this week, would implement a 35% increase to the base pay rates for BOP correctional officers in the 0007 job series, as well as certain correctional officers on various other government pay scales.
“Persistent and often dangerous staffing shortages at federal prisons nationwide cause safety concerns for BOP personnel and incarcerated individuals alike,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), one of the bill’s original cosponsors, said in a statement. “Our bill will help to ensure that staff within our federal prisons are paid adequately for the critical work they do across this country.”
A bipartisan companion bill in the House comes from Reps. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), who said that pay rates for correctional officers fall short of other similar federal law enforcement personnel. In turn, that leads to low staffing levels, coupled with excessive use of overtime to try to compensate for the vacancies.
“This strains workforce morale, disrupts inmate programming and creates unsafe conditions inside Bureau of Prisons facilities,” Bresnahan said in a statement.
The new bill comes shortly after BOP correctional officers received a 3.8% federal pay raise, as part of President Donald Trump’s orders for a larger 2026 pay increase for certain law enforcement personnel.
The American Federation of Government Employees said it “appreciates” the 3.8% raise for law enforcement, including BOP correctional officers. But AFGE added that for the BOP, “the one-time pay bump simply isn’t enough to make up for decades of pay disparity.”
Brandy Moore White, national president of the AFGE Council of Prison Locals, expressed support for the new legislation.
“This reform is critical. It will align BOP compensation with federal law enforcement standards, stem the loss of experienced officers and attract qualified applicants in an increasingly competitive hiring market,” Moore White said in a statement. “Most importantly, it will help restore safe staffing levels across federal institutions, reduce violence, protect staff and ensure mission readiness.”
The introduction of the bill also comes shortly after BOP Director William K. Marshall III announced upcoming retention-based pay incentives for certain correctional officers and other BOP positions seeing consistent staffing shortages. The new pay incentives, which are expected to take effect in February, will give some agency employees a temporary pay boost between 5% and 25%, depending on their job position and geographic location.
For years, BOP has attempted to stave off poor recruitment and retention levels by using pay-based recruitment and retention incentives as a way to try to keep federal correctional officers in their jobs. But because the pay incentives are a temporary fix, many have advocated for a larger and permanent federal pay raise for the BOP workforce.
A Justice Department Office of Inspector General report from February 2024 said the BOP workforce uses excessive overtime hours and staff “augmentation” to try to compensate for persistent understaffing. But the OIG wrote that those factors “overburdened existing staff and potentially contributed to staff fatigue, sleep deprivation, decreased vigilance and inattentiveness to duty.”
Recent federal workforce data also shows that BOP correctional officers’ attrition levels over the last year have resulted in 1,700 officers leaving their jobs, including more than 1,100 correctional officers who have either quit or retired since January 2025. Over the same time period, the agency had about 1,200 new officers join the ranks, resulting in a net loss of nearly 500 correctional officers over the last year.
Under the new legislation, the 35% pay increase would initially last for five years. Within the last six months of that timeframe, the bill would require the Justice Department OIG to assess the progress BOP has made toward improving recruitment and retention levels, as well as reducing overtime hours and staff augmentation. If that OIG assessment shows BOP has made progress as a result of the federal pay raise, the 35% salary boost would remain in place.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is offering retention-based federal pay incentives to correctional officers and other critical frontline positions, in an attempt to address longstanding understaffing across the agency.
The upcoming retention bonuses will take effect in February, according to an all-staff message BOP Director William K. Marshall III sent Monday.
“These retention incentives are about keeping the experience in our institutions while we throw everything we have to deliver reinforcements and bring relief to an exhausted workforce,” Marshall wrote in the Jan. 5 email, viewed by Federal News Network.
The BOP for years has faced significant workforce challenges, including persistent understaffing and high use of overtime. The Government Accountability Office once again named the management of the federal prison system as an item on its 2025 high-risk list, in part due to the workforce issues at BOP.
Retention incentives are one way federal agencies can try to address challenges with keeping employees in their jobs — and it’s a tactic that BOP has used for years. Generally, agencies provide the pay incentives to federal employees in positions that are considered hard to fill. The pay increases are distributed over a certain time period and up to a certain percentage, as long as the employee meets the incentive requirements.
“We will continue to pursue special salary rates for hard to fill positions where they make sense and will have the greatest impact,” Marshall wrote.
Using retention incentives is a temporary pay fix — federal regulations state that agencies must review the bonuses annually to determine if they are still needed. Agencies are required to terminate incentives when the conditions that warranted the incentives in the first place no longer apply.
Because the incentives are susceptible to being revoked, some have advocated for larger pay fixes for the BOP workforce. A representative with the American Federation of Government Employees, speaking anonymously for fear of professional retaliation, called for the implementation of an across-the-board, permanent federal pay increase for all frontline BOP staff.
“While the retention incentives are appreciated, it’s doing nothing for us long-term. You’re attracting them, but you’re not retaining them. Within two years, they could say, ‘I’ve met my requirement,’ and then leave us to go to a different agency,” the union representative told Federal News Network. “We have to fix the pay structure to incentivize people to stay.”
The new incentives also come as BOP correctional officers are expected to receive a 3.8% federal pay raise, as part of President Donald Trump’s orders for a larger 2026 pay increase for certain law enforcement personnel.
But the AFGE official said that leaves other critical BOP positions, such as psychologists and nurses, with the smaller 1% raise — something that will likely sow tension among the frontline employees.
“The agency is putting a divide in our workforce — a lot of people in the field are just genuinely frustrated that the agency would take one group and pay them a certain amount and not the others,” the union official said. “This causes such a wedge.”
The upcoming federal pay incentives are a departure from BOP’s actions last March, when the agency reduced, and in some cases fully removed, retention incentives for certain correctional officers and other BOP staff. At the time, BOP said the decision to remove the incentives was made in an effort to address budget shortfalls. But the resulting pay cuts led some employees to leave their jobs.
Now, the value of the upcoming retention pay incentives depends on the employee’s position and location, as well as the staffing levels at that specific BOP facility. BOP defined three “tiers” of institutions, based on staffing levels, to determine the size of the bonus.
“Tier 1 and tier 2 institutions represent our most critically understaffed locations and will receive the strongest support,” Marshall wrote.
For instance, correctional officers at “tier 1” institutions will receive a 10% pay bonus, while correctional officers at “tier 2” institutions will receive a 5% pay bonus.
Meanwhile, all mid-level practitioners and psychologists — regardless of location — will receive a 25% retention bonus, the BOP email shows. All lieutenants, registered nurses and special education teachers will receive a 10% bonus.
Any BOP employees who are eligible for a new retention incentive, but who are already receiving an incentive, will maintain only the higher of the two values, at least until the end of September.
In his all-staff message, Marshall encouraged more BOP staff members to become correctional officers, saying that “those who choose that path will be eligible for the same special salary rates and location-based incentives while gaining the critical skills necessary to strengthen the security of our institutions.”
FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2020, file photo, the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind. The federal Bureau of Prisons will begin allowing inmates to have visitors again in October, months after visits were suspended at the 122 federal prisons across the U.S. The visitation plan is detailed in an internal memo issued Monday, Aug. 31, and obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
If you only read the contract clause, you’re missing the playbook.
As of Nov. 10, the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.204-7021, also known as the “Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification [CMMC] clause,” is now in effect. With implementation officially underway, contractors are under pressure to understand not only what 7021 demands of them, but also what contracting officers (KOs) are required to do behind the scenes. Those instructions, which are buried in DFARS subpart 204.75, tell KOs when to include 7021, when they cannot award, and what they must verify before exercising options or extending a period of performance.
Contractors often treat 7021 as a black box dropped into their contracts. Now that the clause is active across new awards, KOs are following explicit procedures you never see. Understanding those procedures gives you visibility into how requirements are determined, enforced and sustained over the life of your award.
Where 7021 really comes from — and what KOs must do
The CMMC clause doesn’t appear in your contracts out of nowhere. It’s part of a stack. At the top is 32 CFR Part 170, the Defense Department’s CMMC program policy (effective Dec. 2024). DFARS 204.75 translates that policy into concrete guidance for contracting officers: policy, procedures and instructions on when to use the clause. You see it in practice as DFARS 252.204-7021, paired with 252.204-7025. DFARS 204.7500-7501 set the scope and definitions. The point is that DFARS isn’t inventing anything new; it’s carrying out CMMC program policy and telling KOs how to enforce it.
The KO instructions are unambiguous. Under DFARS 204.7502, a KO shall insert the required CMMC level when the program office or requiring activity tells them to. The KO doesn’t decide the level, as that comes from the program office based on the data and mission, but they are responsible for putting it into your contract language. Just as clearly, KOs shall not award a contract, task order or delivery order to an offeror without a current CMMC status at the required level.
Two qualifiers matter. First, “CMMC status” doesn’t mean “in progress.” It means you’ve achieved the minimum required score for the assessment, and your status is recognized (self or third-party; final or — at Levels 2 and 3 — conditional). Second, “current” matters. Status is generally valid for three years, and you must maintain it for the life of the award.
To make sense of this, it helps to decode what “status” really means at each level:
Level 1: Only a final self-assessment counts and no plans of actions and milestones (POA&Ms) are allowed.
Level 2: Can be self- or certified third-party assessor organization (C3PAO)- assessed, in either final or conditional status.
Level 3: Always a government assessment — Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Assessment Center (DIBCAC) — which can be final or conditional.
KOs may award if your status is final or conditional at Level 2 or 3, provided it meets the required level in the solicitation and any open items are limited to those allowed by 32 CFR §170.21. But conditional status is time bound: 180 days from the status date. If you achieved conditional four months ago and bid today, you’ve only got about 60 days left to close those POA&Ms. There is no conditional path for Level 1.
The message is clear: While conditional paths exist, they are narrow and tightly limited.
The SPRS/UID reality check
Before a KO awards, extends or exercises an option, they verify your status in the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) using your 10-character alphanumeric CMMC Unique Identifier (UID), which is tied to the specific system or enclave that was assessed. This binding matters. The government wants traceability from the contract to the exact enclave processing its data. If your UID points to System A, but CUI ends up in System B, you’ve created a mismatch with contractual — and potentially False Claims Act — implications. Keep your boundary, documentation and operational reality aligned to the UID you present.
This KO check isn’t one-and-done. KOs verify at initial award, again at option exercise or performance extensions, and again if you introduce a new UID mid-performance (for example, after a significant scope change requiring a new assessment). If your status isn’t current at any of those points, the instruction is simple: no award, or no option for extension.
When 7021 must be used — and when it isn’t
The rule is now active, placing us in the phased rollout period that runs through Nov.9, 2028. During this stage, DFARS 204.7504 requires KOs to insert 7021 whenever the program office identifies a CMMC level and no waiver applies. Waivers remain rare and are issued only at the contract level, not as carve-outs for individual contractors.
When the rollout ends on Nov. 10, 2028, the requirement broadens: 7021 must appear in any contract involving the processing, storage or transmission of federal contract information (FCI) or CUI, unless formally waived. Wherever 7021 is used, 7025 follows to ensure all offerors see the requirement before bidding.
What this means for the contractor
Contractors should assume that KOs are already verifying CMMC status in SPRS today, not at some future point. Here’s how the KO’s world translates into your action list:
Don’t “strategy-bet” on KO discretion: The KO isn’t picking your level. The program office is. The KO’s job is execution and verification under “shall” language.
Know your status category and the timeline: If you’re planning to bid with conditional Level 2, track the 180-day closeout window from your status date. Build that into proposal schedules and risk plans.
Engineer your scope and keep it stable: Your CMMC UID binds the assessment to the specific system that will handle DoD data. Avoid unnecessary “significant change” events mid-performance that would force a new assessment/UID, unless you’ve planned for it.
Keep status current through the entire period of performance (PoP): Treat the three-year validity like a maintenance interval. If your status expires during performance, you’ve put option exercises and extensions at risk.
Map data flows to the assessed system: Ensure your CUI boundary and your assessed enclave are the same in reality, not just on paper. Align your system security plan (SSP), network diagrams, asset inventory and boundary controls to the UID’s scope.
Bid packages should include UID clarity: Make it easy for the KO to verify SPRS entries. Label the UID, level, status (final or conditional), status date and expiration in your cover letter or compliance matrix.
Have a POA&M closure plan you can execute: If conditional, your plan should show who/what/when, procurement lead times and validation steps. Assume the government will ask for evidence of progress.
Prepare for options early: Six months before option exercise, review your status currency, any scope drift, and whether new UIDs have appeared. Give your KO a smooth verification path.
The KO’s lens
Now that 7021 is in effect and being applied to new awards, KOs are already following the same mandatory procedures across solicitations, evaluations and option exercises. From the KO’s perspective, 7021 is not subjective. It’s a procedure backed by “shall” language: Include the required level, verify status in SPRS by UID, and do not award or extend if the status isn’t current at the required level. Conditional Level 2/3 can win you work, but only within the 180-day window and only with allowable POA&M items per policy.
By understanding the KO’s checklist, contractors can predict how requirements will appear in your contracts, anticipate when status checks will occur, and avoid surprises that might otherwise cost you awards or option years.
Jacob Horne is the chief cybersecurity evangelist at Summit 7.
The specifics of a larger federal pay raise for law enforcement officers are coming into view, following President Donald Trump’s directive to offer a 3.8% salary increase for certain positions.
In a memo Wednesday, the Office of Personnel Management established new “special salary rates” for federal law enforcement personnel, as a way to implement the bigger raise for 2026.
“These new special rates support ongoing agency hiring efforts for mission-critical law enforcement positions essential to implementing the administration’s priorities to secure the border, enforce federal laws, and protect public safety,” OPM wrote. “Without these special rates, agencies may face challenges in recruiting and retaining the personnel needed to carry out these missions effectively.”
The pay increase for law enforcement is nearly quadruple the 1% federal pay raise that most civilian employees on the General Schedule will receive, but in line with a 3.8% raise for military members. Trump signed an executive order finalizing the 2026 federal pay raise on Dec. 18.
The pay increase will take effect Jan. 11, coinciding with the first day of the General Schedule’s first full pay period of 2026.
OPM’s new memo comes after Trump directed OPM Director Scott Kupor to “assess whether to provide” up to a 3.8% raise for “certain federal civilian law enforcement personnel.”
After consulting with various agencies, OPM determined that the following law enforcement personnel will receive a 3.8% federal pay raise for 2026:
Customs and Border Protection law enforcement officers, including Border Patrol agents, officers, criminal investigators, and Air and Marine interdiction agents
ICE personnel, including special agents, detention and deportation officers, and technical enforcement officers
Secret Service personnel, including security specialists, officers, investigators and technicians
Federal Protective Service criminal investigators and officers
Federal Bureau of Prisons correctional officers
FBI special agents
Drug Enforcement Administration special agents
U.S. Marshals Service officers and special agents
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives special agents
National Park Service park police officers
Interior Department law enforcement officers
Forest Service law enforcement officers and criminal investigators
Agriculture Department law enforcement officers in the Office of Safety, Security and Protection
State Department criminal investigators in the Diplomatic Security Service
National Nuclear Security Administration couriers
The memo provides more specifics on the eligibility of certain law enforcement personnel for the 2026 raise. The pay tables for law enforcement are also now available on OPM’s website.
Like the rest of the General Schedule, law enforcement pay rates are still capped at the pay rate for level IV of the Executive Schedule, which for 2026 is $197,200.
“This statutory pay cap will prevent some covered law enforcement personnel from receiving the full 3.8% increase, but most employees should receive at least a 1% adjustment,” OPM wrote.
OPM also told agencies to request additional special salary rates for other law enforcement positions, as needed. Generally, special salary rates are reserved for federal positions deemed particularly difficult to recruit and retain.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has set out to teach law enforcement officers in Uzbekistan how to conduct crypto and dark web investigations. The regional body recently organized a training course for employees of the country’s security agencies in Tashkent.
Uzbekistan Police and Security Agents Attend OSCE Course on Cryptocurrencies
Representatives of Uzbekistan’s Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the State Security Service have taken a training course on cryptocurrency and dark web investigations held by the OSCE between Oct. 17 and 21 in the capital Tashkent.
The course was organized by the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in co-operation with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and the Academy of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the intergovernmental security body said on its website.
“Participants learned about the main concepts and key trends in the areas of internetworking, anonymity and encryption, cryptocurrencies, obfuscation techniques, dark web, and Tor networks,” the announcement detailed.
They also practiced various approaches and methods for seizure of crypto assets, blockchain analysis, and darknet searching. The course was based on materials provided by the European Cybercrime Training and Education Group (ECTEG).
A new computer classroom donated by the OSCE to the Prosecutor General’s Academy was inaugurated before the course by Deputy Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan Erkin Yuldashev and Acting OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan Hans-Ulrich Ihm.
Crypto Training in Region to Continue Throughout Next Year
Digital technologies have been transforming the criminal landscape, noted Evgeniy Kolenko who heads the Prosecutor General’s Academy. He insisted that educating law enforcement in this field needs a long-term and systematic approach.
“Cybercrime education requires adequate equipment – both hardware and software,” added Gayrat Musaev, Head of the Academy’s Department for Implementation of Information and Communication Technologies and Information Security. Musaev also praised the new dark web lab.
The OSCE course is the first of this kind in Uzbekistan within the second phase of the “Capacity Building on Combating Cybercrime in Central Asia” project funded by the U.S., Germany, and South Korea. Similar training activities will continue across the region throughout 2022 and 2023.
This year, the government in Tashkent has been taking steps to more comprehensively regulate Uzbekistan’s crypto sector. In the spring, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev issued a decree providing definitions for terms like crypto assets and exchange. New registration rules for crypto miners were presented in June and earlier in October, Uzbekistan introduced monthly fees for crypto companies.
Do you think law enforcement authorities in Central Asia will continue to increase focus on the crypto space? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
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