National Science Foundation employees push back against Trump administration’s plans
Nearly 150 National Science Foundation employees signed a letter of dissent this week.
Michele Sandiford
- Employees at the National Science Foundation are pushing back against the Trump administration’s actions at the agency. Nearly 150 NSF employees signed a letter of dissent this week. They’re criticizing the administration’s terminations of agency workers, while also cutting appropriated funding. Altogether, the NSF employees warn that the administration’s actions amount to a “systemic dismantling” of the scientific agency. NSF’s letter mirrors similar efforts from employees at NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency and several others.
- The SharePoint system at the Energy Department’s top nuclear science component was hacked last week. The National Nuclear Security Administration was among dozens of organizations breached due to a zero day security vulnerability in Microsoft SharePoint. The Energy Department confirmed it was affected starting last Friday. But DoE said the impact was minimal due to its widespread use of Microsoft cloud, which was not affected by the vulnerability. A spokesman for the agency said a very small number of systems were affected and all are in the process of being restored.
- The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s lead software bill of materials (SBOM) guru is stepping down. CISA’s Allan Friedman said his last day will be July 31st. Friedman has been serving as a senior advisor and strategist at CISA, where he coordinated global efforts around SBOM implementation. Friedman previously served as director of cybersecurity initiatives at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, where he advanced SBOM standards. Friedman is the latest in a string of departures of top cyber leaders at CISA under the Trump administration.
- Details of agencies’ reductions in force and reorganization plans will remain confidential. An appeals court has granted the Trump administration’s request to block a court-ordered list of planned RIFs at agencies. The Trump administration previously refused a district judge’s orders to detail the dozens of RIF plans that are ready for implementation. The appeals court’s decision means agencies can still move forward with any planned RIFs and staffing reorganizations. But they don’t need to divulge any information about those plans either to the court or to the public. Instead of providing the information, the government’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the case.
- The Trump administration is calling for faster adoption of AI tools across the federal government. The White House’s AI Action Plan calls on agencies to ensure federal employees have access to large-scale AI models in cases where AI could improve their productivity. The Office of Management and Budget will oversee a group of agencies looking at how AI can improve their level of customer service to the public. The action plan calls for a talent-exchange program that will make it easier for AI experts in the federal government to be detailed to other agencies.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs is reviewing thousands of positions that are at risk of a possible downgrade. The VA is carrying out a “consistency review,” required by the Office of Personnel Management, to ensure position descriptions are classified according to OPM standards and graded consistently across the department. The VA’s review started last year and covered about 4,000 positions. The scope of its review has now grown to more than 24,000 positions. Employees who are downgraded as a result of the consistency review are entitled to mandatory grade retention for two years, followed by mandatory pay retention under OPM rules.
- As the Army moves to incorporate right-to-repair provisions in all new and existing contracts, Congress is grappling with how to strike a balance between military readiness and protecting companies’ intellectual property. The service is currently working to identify where problems related to repair access are occurring and how those gaps can be addressed in existing and new contracts. Meanwhile, both the House and Senate included right to repair provisions in their versions of the 2026 defense policy bills. The House version of the bill includes the Data-as-a-Service Solutions for Weapon System Contracts provision, while the Senate’s provision would require contractors to provide detailed instructions for repair and maintenance.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued a memo instructing the department’s chief information officer to ensure IT capabilities developed and procured for DoD are secure from supply chain attacks. The memo comes days after ProPublica, an investigative media outlet, reported that Microsoft has been using engineers in China to help manage DoD computer systems. While short on details, the new memo directs the Defense Department to “fortify existing programs and processes utilized within the Defense Industrial Base to ensure that adversarial foreign influence is appropriately eliminated.” Programs like CMMC, FedRAMP, and the Software Fast Track initiative will play a key role in meeting these goals. The DoD CIO office has 15 days to issue additional guidance.
- The Army’s former aviation chief is taking a new role. Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman is now the head of the Army’s Enterprise Marketing Office. Braman was the director of aviation at Army headquarters during the January midair collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger jet near Washington’s Reagan National Airport, and he’s been among the officials who have taken criticism from Congress for the service’s handling of the tragedy. The Army says the new assignment has been long-planned, and had nothing to do with the crash.
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