Fed Layoffs Hit the Contractor Workforce
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Layoffs and firings across government agencies have spread into the contractor workforce, reports Washington Technology. Companies with over 100 employees are required to file notifications when they conduct a mass layoff. A total of 13 GovCon companies have issued WARN notices in Virginia and Maryland, which adds up to 2,425 people losing their jobs.
DepDefSec Stephen Feinberg issued guidance this week on how DoD’s civilian workforce would be restructured. “Every civilian role should directly enable lethality, readiness, or strategic deterrence. If not, it should be reclassified, outsourced, or removed,” he wrote to Pentagon leadership, combatant commanders, and defense agency and DOD field activity directors, reports Defense Scoop. “Every role must now meet a simple test: If this position didn’t exist today, and we were at war tomorrow, would we create it? If the answer is no, it should be consolidated, restructured, or eliminated.”
China and other groups are “targeting current and former US government employees for recruitment by posing as consulting firms, corporate headhunters, think tanks, and other entities on social and professional networking sites.” The National Counterintelligence and Security Center released the finding on Tuesday amid sweeping layoffs impacting much of the federal workforce, reports NextGov.com.
Service officials assured lawmakers this week that junior enlisted pay raises would not disqualify military families from federal nutrition assistance programs, but promised to monitor and ensure the extra money doesn’t cause unintended problems, reports Military Times. The prior administration’s 10% pay boost for troops ranked E-4 and below went into effect this month, bringing paychecks for nearly all troops to more than $30,000 annually. E-4s with three years in the ranks saw their pay rise from $35,000 a year to more than $40,000.
President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement on Monday that the US is poised for its first $1 trillion defense budget request, reports Breaking Defense. “… you’ll like to hear this,” Trump said while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “$1 trillion, and nobody’s seen anything like it. … So we’re going to be approving a budget, and I’m proud to say, actually, the biggest one we’ve ever done for the military.”
Citizens Against Government Waste, established at President Ronald Reagan’s suggestion to help implement his cost-cutting proposals which have garnered $2.4 trillion in savings, has called on DOGE to target the DOD budget, which represents one-sixth of federal spending and the largest discretionary expenditures. Financial irregularities at the Pentagon have been on the Government Accountability Office’s list of programs at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement since 1990, CAGW said. Of the five DOD branches, only the Marine Corps has passed an audit, in both 2023 and 2024.
The US Space Force announced more than $13.5 billion in launch contracts Friday to SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin for missions that will fly between fiscal years 2027 and 2032. Defense News reports, under the deal, SpaceX will receive $5.9 billion to fly 28 missions, ULA $5.3 billion to launch 19, and Blue Origin $2.3 billion to conduct seven.
After Lockheed Martin lost out on the Air Force’s F-47 program and withdrew from the Navy’s F/A-XX competition, analysts from Bank of America, Melius, and RBC Capital downgraded the company’s rating to “neutral” last week, reports Breaking Defense. Ron Epstein of Bank of America cited the lack of major competitions left on the horizon, Lockheed’s recently lackluster earnings, and questions about future F-35 sales, reports Breaking Defense.
The economy added 228,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans dropped from 4.3% to 3.1% despite stock market cratering and federal workforce cutbacks, says Military.com.
For the first time, US Marine Corps F-35 and Air Force F-22 pilots trained as a joint fighting force in the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Joint Simulation Environment at Naval Air Station Patuxent River March 24-27, according to a release from NAVAIR. The training event brought eight US Marine Corps F-35s to train alongside four Air Force F-22 Raptors in the DoD’s most advanced digital test and training range.
The US military representative to the NATO Military Committee, VADM Shoshana Chatfield, is the latest top military leader to be fired. The Navy did not give a reason for her firing, reports Stars and Stripes. Chatfield’s firing follows Thursday’s removal of UAAF GEN Timothy Haugh, who led the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command. Other top military officers have been removed from their posts since Trump took office, include USAF GEN Charles “CQ” Brown, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; ADM Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations; and the commandant of the Coast Guard, ADM Linda Fagan.
DefSec Pete Hegseth will travel to Panama next week, as the president says America is “reclaiming” the Panama Canal, reports Defense News. Hegseth will meet with the country’s president, Jose Raul Mulino, and attend a meeting of regional chiefs of defense. He will also visit military sites and the Panama Canal itself.
Hegseth will call into the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a summit of 50 countries that have met for the last three years to coordinate military aid for Ukraine. Military.com reports the group has raised more than $126 billion in security aid for Ukraine, around half of which has come from America. The Trump administration has lowered the US’s priority of arming Ukraine, and Hegseth allowed Britain to chair the last meeting in February, the first time a US secretary ceded that role.
The US Army is pulling forces out of Jasionka, a site near Poland’s border with Ukraine that has been instrumental in getting Western arms into the war-torn country, reports Stars and Stripes. Equipment and personnel will relocate to other parts of Poland, and “facilitating military aid to Ukraine via Jasionka will continue under Polish and NATO leadership, supported by a streamlined US military footprint,” according to the Army.
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Elbridge Colby to be the top policy adviser at the Pentagon, overcoming concerns that he has downplayed threats from Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Defense News reports the vote was 54-45. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the only Republican to vote against him, said Colby’s confirmation “encourages isolationist perversions of peace through strength to continue apace at the highest levels of administration policymaking.” Three Democrats voted for Colby.
The Navy will begin installing security cameras in passageways of 100 civilian-run ships in June to deter sexual assault and harassment following multiple accusations of rape at sea, reports Stars and Stripes. The security cameras, which are required to record video and audio, will be placed in passageways to view the doors of the crew’s staterooms aboard Military Sealift Command ships, according to a memo dated March 27.
The Air Force, including the Space Force, is scrapping the prohibition on preferred personal pronouns in airmen and civilian employees’ email signatures and correspondence, backtracking on a Trump administration restriction after recognizing that a law exists protecting the practice. The executive order — titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” — aimed to deny legal recognition of nonbinary and transgender people, reports Military.com.
Books on the Holocaust, histories of feminism, civil rights and racism, and Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” were among the nearly 400 volumes removed from the US Naval Academy’s library this week after Hegseth’s office ordered the school to get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, reports AP News. Afterward, leading Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee are demanding the Navy “immediately” stop removing books from the service’s academy library, reports Military.com.
Trump administration officials have told some US government employees that Elon Musk’s DOGE team of technologists is using artificial intelligence to surveil at least one federal agency’s communications for hostility to Trump and his agenda, reports Reuters.
An appeals court on Monday cleared the way for DOGE to once again access people’s private data at the Education Department, Treasury Department and Office of Personnel Management, reports AP News. In a split ruling, the three-judge panel blocked a lower court decision that had halted DOGE access.
Trained rats can sniff out buried chemicals and due to their small size do not set off landmines when they find them. Task & Purpose reports one rat, Ronin, based out of Cambodia has now detected more landmines than any other rat in history. Ronin has detected 109 landmines and 15 items of unexploded ordnance since 2021. The rats work only 30 minutes each day.
The Canadian government is warning citizens visiting the United States that US border officials have the authority to search travelers’ electronic devices – including phones, laptops, and tablets – without providing a reason, reports CNN. A revised travel advisory posted online urges Canadians to “expect scrutiny” when crossing the border and warns that refusing to comply involves risks including device seizure, travel delays, or the denial of entry for non-US citizens.
Contracts:
Sedna Digital Solutions LLC, Manassas, Virginia, is being awarded a $9,100,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-23-C-6109) to exercise options for supporting material for sound navigation and ranging systems. This action combines purchases for the Navy, and the government of Canada under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by March 2026. FMS Canada funds in the amount of $80,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
Valiant Global Defense Services Inc., Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $13,556,673 firm-fixed-price contract for operation support services for the Korea Battle Simulation Center Operation Center. Bids were solicited via internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2030. Army 411th Contracting Support Brigade, Camp Humphreys, South Korea, is the contracting activity (W91QVN-25-F-0145). (Awarded Feb. 27, 2025)
Guidehouse Inc., McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $250,000,000 hybrid (firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials) contract for financial support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2028. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-25-D-0014).
Ascendancy One LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia (H92240-25-D-0012); Spathe Strategic Support JV LLC, Belleair, Florida (H92240-25-D-0013); Seventh Dimension LLC, Mocksville, North Carolina (H92240-25-D-0014); People, Technology and Processes LLC, Tampa, Florida (H92240-25-D-0015); and Skybridge Tactical LLC, Tampa, Florida (H92240-25-D-0016), were awarded a $399,000,000 (maximum ceiling value across all contracts) multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with an ordering period of up to seven years for subject matter expertise through logistics support services, equipment-related services, and knowledge-based services supporting Naval Special Warfare Command enterprise requirements. The work will be performed in various locations within and outside the continental US and could continue through fiscal 2032. Naval Special Warfare Command, Coronado, California, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 20, 2025)
Management Services Group Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, was awarded a $26,650,165 firm-fixed-price, cost plus fixed-fee, and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-5608 to procure network, processing, and storage Technical Insertion 16, Modification One production equipment, spares, other direct costs, and engineering support. Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2026. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) (Canada) funds in the amount of $12,872,726 (47%); FMS (Australia) funds in the amount of $10,655,584 (40%); fiscal 2025 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,246,014 (4%); fiscal 2024 ship construction (Navy) funds in the amount of $801,162 (3%); fiscal 2023 ship construction (Navy) funds in the amount of $603,055 (2%); FMS (Japan) funds in the amount of $187,932 (1%); fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $160,643 (1%); fiscal 2024 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $66,507 (1%); and fiscal 2024 procurement, defense wide funds in the amount of $56,542 (1%), will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. (Awarded on March 28, 2025.)
