Bradley Peniston

As Trump administration cries ‘fraud,’ experts worry it does more harm than good “It’s dismaying,” one longtime anti-fraud expert told Nextgov/FCW of how the administration is using fraud as rationale but firing the watchdogs that are tasked with finding it.

Trump says that Vance will lead a "war on fraud," pointing to the Somali community and a list of blue states.

Trump fired nearly 20 IGs- whose job it is to fight fraud- last year. Experts say his politicization off fraud makes actual fixes more difficult.

www.nextgov.com/policy/2026/...

Defense One reporters will turn in their Pentagon passes today rather than sign a Defense Department agreement that threatens to punish them for routine but vital journalism. This morning, we joined seven other defense-oriented publications in a statement:

www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/1...

Defense One’s reporters will not be signing the Pentagon’s agreement.

Chitty Chitty Interrobang

Parenthesister Act

The Maltese Falconsonant

I've learned that in the lead-up to Hegseth's upcoming trip to Singapore, the Pentagon quietly attempted to block CNN producer Haley Britzky from serving as the designated television pooler. Because space on such trips is limited, the press corps designates a small group of reporters to travel with the secretary and share information with the broader press. Britzky had been slated for the role. But Pentagon officials- apparently irked by some of her tweets, despite their innocuous nature - relayed to CNN brass that she was not welcome.

The move was a plain act of retribution, a targeted attempt by the Pentagon to sideline a journalist for doing her job in a way that it did not like. It triggered immediate backlash. Reporters from other news organizations expressed outrage, with other outlets indicating that if Britzky was excluded, they too would pull out of the trip—effectively denying Hegseth the press coverage he relies on for visibility. “They don’t get to decide who covers them,” one correspondent told me. After a brief standoff, I'm told the Pentagon relented. Britzky will travel with Hegseth as originally planned. A CNN spokesperson declined to comment and a Pentagon spokesperson did not respond to a request for one Monday evening.

Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department tried to bar a CNN journalist from serving as a pool reporter for an upcoming foreign trip.

Other reporters threatened to boycott the trip.

Guess what happened next.

The Pentagon caved.

Via @oliverdarcy.bsky.social

www.status.news/p/pete-hegse...

I went to the Naval Academy to defend freedom, not to dismantle it Stripping the library of books undermines our Navy—and mimics regimes we spent decades confronting.

I wrote for Defense One (@defenseone.bsky.social) on why banning books at the Naval Academy is a betrayal of everything we’re supposed to stand for: www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...

State of the Navy 2025 Could a new, more productive era in shipbuilding be on the horizon?

A quick 1,000-word tour through the state of the U.S. Navy: www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...

No Higher Honor, Bradley Peniston No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf By Bradley Peniston Foreword by Adm. (ret

I wrote a book about it, published in 2006 by Naval Institute Press: www.navybook.com/no-higher-ho...

On this day in 1988, the USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian naval mine in the wartorn Persian Gulf. The explosion blew a hole in the hull and broke the ship’s keel. Over the next five hours, the ship’s crew fought fire and flood to save their ship.

And for good measure, the "Reforming Foreign Defense Sales" EO is listed twice on the Executive Orders page.

4) The URL for the "Reducing Competitive Regulatory Barriers" EO points to the "Reforming Foreign Defense Sales" EO.

3) The URL for the "Reforming Foreign Defense Sales" EO points to the "Reducing Competitive Regulatory Barriers" EO.

2) The URL for the "Modernizing Defense Acquisitions" EO points to the Susman Godfrey EO.

1) The URL for the EO punishing the Susman Godfrey law firm points to the EO for "Restoring America's Maritime Dominance."

The White House released seven executive orders today. In its rush, someone mixed up several of the URLs. A thread:

SecDef gives DOD leaders less than two weeks to lay out cuts, changes A Friday memo opens a new phase in Hegseth’s hurried effort to shrink the defense workforce.

On Friday, SecDef Pete Hegseth ordered senior DOD leaders to propose plans to shrink and reorganize their commands, agencies, and departments. He gave them a deadline of less than two weeks.

Read: www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...

GovExec (@govexec.bsky.social) Government Executive is the federal government's business news daily and the premier digital destination for senior leaders in the federal government's departments and agencies. Send tips to newstips...

My colleagues at GovExec, a trade pub for government workers, has been doing crucial work covering the federal government: govexec.bsky.social

'Different Spanks for Different Ranks': Hegseth's Signal Scandal Would Put Regular Troops in the Brig Despite what amounts to among the most startling security snafus in recent memory -- one that would almost certainly trigger severe disciplinary action for lower-level personnel -- Hegseth and others ...

"How are soldiers supposed to interpret this?" an Army brigade commander said. "It's a cartoonish lapse in security."

Story by @stevenbeynon.bsky.social, @ktoropin.bsky.social, @dflawrence.bsky.social + @kheel.bsky.social

Heads must roll for Signal-chat debacle To hold no one accountable would undermine operational security and send a corrosive message to troops.

Here's how a former Air Force manpower chief views Signalgate: "To hold no one accountable would undermine operational security and send a corrosive message to troops."

Read his oped at @defenseone.bsky.social:

www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/0...

Pentagon is placing probationary employees on leave in advance of mass firings The terminations are expected within weeks under plans to fire nearly one-tenth of DOD’s 55,000 “probies.”

The Pentagon is placing probationary employees on leave in advance of mass firings. The terminations are expected within weeks under plans to fire nearly one-tenth of DOD’s 55,000 “probies.” By Meghann Myers at Defense One:
www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...

At least one Pentagon agency has begun firing probationary workers The Defense Logistics Agency has begun dismissing its share of the Defense Department’s 5,400 targeted employees.

This has begun: "Defense officials have said they aim to fire a total of 5,400 probationary employees as the first step in what will ultimately be a 5- to 8-percent reduction in the Pentagon’s roughly 764,000-member civilian workforce."

www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...

As Defense Department preps for mass firings, Hegseth says a hiring freeze and more firings are coming SecDef confirms a "reevaluation of our probationary workforce"—and adds that a hiring freeze is coming, during which a more comprehensive search for "redundancies" and "underperformers" would be condu...

Update: SecDef Hegseth says firings of "poor performers" among new and recently promoted Defense employees to be followed by department-wide hiring freeze, then firings of "redundancies" and "underperformers."

www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...

Defense Department prepares for mass civilian firings within days The dismissals are expected to be widespread, though commanders and agency leaders are scrambling to carve out exemptions for their own workers.

Firing of new and recently promoted employees of the Defense Department are expected soon; leaders have been drawing up lists all week.

The Navy’s robot refueler is coming—even as the fleet works out integration The MQ-25 will “unlock” other manned-unmanned teaming, naval aviation leader says.

It's been a long road for the Navy's unmanned MQ-25 tanker, but the naval air forces commander says the Boeing UAV will be operating from aircraft carriers next year. Lauren Williams and I report from the USS Abraham Lincoln: www.defenseone.com/technology/2...

Tracking Trump’s national-security conflicts of interest Experts say the businessman-turned-president has even more entanglements this time around.

Tracking Trump’s national-security conflicts of interest: Having declined to divest as most feds must, the president enters office with most of the conflicts of interest from his first term—plus many newer ones.

By Sarah Sicard for defenseone.bsky.social

www.defenseone.com/threats/2025...

Trump orders military to plan to ‘seal the borders’ Inaugural-day executive order instructs NORTHCOM to “repel forms of invasion”—a legal formulation that might not stick.

Trump orders the U.S. military to produce a plan to “seal the borders.” Experts say the order is worded unclearly and invites legal challenge that turns on the word “invasion.”

Read my report for Defense One: www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...

Russia launches intercontinental ballistic missile in attack on Ukraine, Kyiv says Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from its southern Astrakhan region during a morning attack on Ukraine on Thursday, Kyiv's air force said, the first time Russia has used such a powerful, long-range missile during the war.

The Russian "ICBM" that Kyiv says struck near Dnipro on Thursday was in fact a shorter-ranged ballistic missile, an official tells reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus.

Classified-info pact sets stage for closer US-Philippines cooperation And a new coordination center will replace “random conference rooms.”

All I want for Christmas is GSOMIA: Classified-info pact sets stage for closer US-Philippines cooperation
by @navybook.bsky.social reporting from Manila: www.defenseone.com/policy/2024/...