Applications for the Lateral Entry Pilot Program — a Foreign Service initiative aimed at bringing in professionals at the mid-career stage — are now being accepted by the State Department. According to the American Foreign Service Association, a pool of more than 2,000 vetted candidates sits on the State Department's waiting list for open positions.
According to the American Foreign Service Association, that figure represents the total number of workers separated from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Foreign Service during 2025. The group's position called on the State Department to reinstate those personnel at grade levels reflecting their accumulated experience and years of prior service, without requiring them to sit entrance examinations. The organization further noted that two pieces of legislation — the PATH to the Foreign Service Act and the Foreign Service Test-Free Reentry Act — represent avenues through which Congress could take action.
Performance-based incentive payments for civilian employees are being rolled out across Defense Department offices. Figures released by a Pentagon representative put the number of department civilians who have collected the new bonus payments at more than 90,000 to date. Each payout worked out to just over $13,000 on a per-recipient basis.
The funds were approved by Secretary Hegseth in December, with the stated aim of retaining high-performing personnel during a period of wide-ranging reductions to the federal workforce. Under the proposal, Pentagon civilian employees ranked in the upper 15 percent of the workforce would become eligible for performance payments ranging from 15 to 25 percent of their annual base salary, with a ceiling of $25,000 applying to that figure.
The Space Force's newly established special operations component command was described in an official release as a structural step that codifies how the Space Force organizes, trains, equips, and presents forces in support of the special operations enterprise — building on space capabilities that had already been incorporated into U.S. Special Operations Command missions before the unit came online. Space Force Col. Norsky has been designated to head the newly established command.
The command was brought into operational status by the Space Force on Oct. 7. An activation ceremony is scheduled to be held at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida on Nov. 2.
A labor contract covering Veterans Affairs workers is being allowed to expire by the agency. Internal guidance at the VA has been updated to declare that its collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees carries no further force — a position taken after a federal appeals court, earlier this month, placed a hold on the judicial order that had kept the contract in effect. The union contended that the original court injunction remained in effect, meaning the VA lacked the legal authority to move forward with re-terminating the contract. The union covers a workforce of more than 320,000 people employed across VA facilities nationwide.
Ahead of the midterm election, the U.S. Postal Service has been putting protocols in place to strengthen both oversight and protection of mail-in ballots. Over the past five years, the postal service has been rolling out a series of operational adjustments, agency representatives noted. Oversight of operational and performance metrics will fall to a newly formed Strategic Government Services Committee, according to Amber McReynolds, who chairs the Board of Governors.
Postal authorities and their partners have opened an inquiry into an unidentified material that was delivered to election officials, a development unfolding alongside ongoing preparations for the vote.
Plans are underway within the Federal Chief Information Security Officers Council to hold its second yearly cyber drill. A cyber-incident response exercise is scheduled for the council in the first weeks of November. Acting federal CISO Duffy outlined that the year's primary focus centers on building the capacity to withstand attacks driven by artificial intelligence, with CISO Council members and their security operations directors gathering to assess whether the federal enterprise holds the workforce, procedures, and tools needed to address any threat that arises.
A federal oversight body has called on defense leadership to collaborate on establishing shared guidelines for the responsible use of artificial intelligence. A working group stood up by the Pentagon to address those matters has seen its momentum hampered by gaps in personnel. Convening only on an irregular basis, the Responsible AI Working Council operates without defined roles or any assigned accountability structures.
According to a Government Accountability Office assessment, establishing a charter would expand the council's capacity to serve its intended function. Among its proposals, the report calls for the Responsible AI Division to be staffed at a level that meets its operational demands. The oversight body noted that legislative pressure from Congress holds the potential to drive stronger AI accountability measures within the Pentagon.
A hiring process that attracted minimal public notice brought a wave of political appointees into the administration. By last August, a minimum of 25 Schedule G hires had been brought into various agencies, with the intake continuing from that point forward. A recent analysis from the Partnership for Public Service found that details about the appointees have been made available to the public only sparingly, with disclosure falling well short of what observers would typically expect.
Submissions for the Partnership for Public Service's yearly Public Service Viewpoint Survey are being accepted. According to the organization, the survey aims to capture a range of workplace factors — from how staff feel about their roles and managers to broader questions of morale and day-to-day engagement. Data gathered through the survey are expected to give Congress, policymakers, and the public a clearer picture of conditions inside the federal workforce. Responses will be accepted through Dec. 4, and all submissions are kept confidential.
The Army is expanding its presence in orbit-focused warfare, building out a Space Operations Branch established only recently, with the aim of bolstering ground-force support and countering threats posed by rival nations' space-based assets. A space branch took shape within the service that June, giving the Army's expanding pool of space professionals a defined set of career tracks for the first time. Roughly 600 personnel transitioned into the newly designated 40D Tactical Space Operations Specialist role during the first weeks of the month, laying the groundwork for what became the unit's inaugural permanent enlisted corps.
Space and Missile Defense Command's top officer, Gen. John Rafferty, outlined a personnel target of roughly several thousand members spread across both enlisted and officer ranks within the branch.
