Weekly Roundup - June 1-5, 2026

This week's roundup reflects a federal landscape at a meaningful inflection point. An AI executive order signed Tuesday set off a cascade of agency and legislative responses, from CISA preparing binding operational directives to a bipartisan House bill proposing a national AI governance framework. On the management side, GSA released a practical automation playbook, the administration reshaped federal employment categories through Schedule Policy/Career, and USPS put its own regulatory structure on the table as it races to avoid a financial crisis.

AI Policy & the New Executive Order

CISA Prepares Wave of AI Initiatives Following New Executive Order. President Trump's AI executive order, signed June 2, directed agencies to modernize systems, harden defenses against external threats, and participate in a voluntary framework allowing the government to evaluate advanced frontier AI models for cybersecurity risks up to 30 days before public release. The order also calls for an AI cybersecurity clearinghouse to strengthen information sharing across agencies and industry. Acting CISA Director Nick Andersen, speaking at AFCEA's TechNet Cyber conference in Baltimore, outlined the agency's immediate response: rolling out AI platform access for federal partners governmentwide, issuing binding operational directives on vulnerability remediation, and preparing a specific directive on securing large language models before the close of the week.

Lawmakers Propose AI Framework That Would Preempt State Laws for 3 Years. A bipartisan House proposal from Reps. Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan would codify existing AI governance programs, establish an all-hands-on-deck approach to AI oversight, and allow federal law to preempt state AI regulations for three years. The bill reflects growing congressional appetite for a unified national AI framework and comes in the same week as the administration's AI executive order, adding a legislative track to the governance debate.

Agency Technology Modernization & Innovation

GSA Lays Out Step-by-Step Guide for Agencies to Cut, Streamline and Automate Work. The General Services Administration released its Elimination, Optimization and Automation playbook, giving agencies a structured framework for identifying and automating repetitive tasks. Drawing on internal pilots and mature automation programs, the guide is designed to scale adoption across government through demonstrations, showcases, and shared tools. GSA plans to back implementation with direct technical assistance to agency teams.

VA CIO Nominee Proposes Creation of Program Management Office. Gary Shatswell, the president's nominee for VA chief information officer, told senators his top early priority would be standing up a program management office to bring transparency and accountability to the department's technology portfolio. Shatswell also called for strong AI governance, saying the PMO would help the VA track and deliver on its technology commitments to veterans more consistently.

Defense, Cyber & Emerging Technology

Defense Leaders Key on Data Dominance, Faster Tech Fielding for Future Military Advantage. Senior defense leaders at TechNet Cyber said future battlefield advantage will be determined by how quickly the military can manage data at speed and move emerging technology from development into operational use. Speakers identified lengthy acquisition timelines as the central obstacle to fielding AI, automation, and advanced sensing capabilities at the pace and scale the mission demands.

Sutton: CYBERCOM 2.0 Is Foundation for Future Cyber Force, Not Alternative. The Defense Department's cyber policy chief told TechNet Cyber attendees that the CYBERCOM 2.0 restructuring is designed to support any future organizational configuration for U.S. cyber forces, including the possibility of a standalone cyber service. The overhaul is built to be adaptable rather than prescriptive as debate about the long-term shape of military cyber operations continues.

Federal Workforce & Management

USPS Axing Its Regulator Is on the Table, as It Looks for Ways to Avoid Running Out of Cash. The Postal Service, facing the prospect of running out of cash by early 2027, is pricing out a wide range of possible reforms it hopes Congress will act on, including the elimination of its own regulatory body, the Postal Regulatory Commission. A document titled 'Accelerating Progress: Elements of Postal Reform' outlines both longstanding proposals backed by unions and watchdogs, and more controversial options such as closing post offices and reducing delivery days. Postmaster General David Steiner has publicly warned lawmakers that action is urgently needed.

OPM to Set New Requirements to 'Verify' FEHBP Enrollments. The Office of Personnel Management published new regulations implementing tighter eligibility screening for family members enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and Postal Service Health Benefits Program. The rules respond to a 2022 GAO finding that the government may spend over $1 billion annually on benefits for individuals who no longer qualify as dependents. Agencies will now verify eligibility on a broader and more systematic basis.

Trump Moves About 8,000 Federal Positions to Schedule Policy/Career. Close to 8,000 career federal employees will be reclassified under the new Schedule Policy/Career employment category following an executive order signed June 3. The move eliminates civil service protections for a broad swath of senior-level positions across agencies. Federal unions and employee organizations have sharply criticized the order, arguing it threatens the independence of career public servants, while implementation questions around appeals and grievance rights are expected to play out in the months ahead.

What DOGE Taught Us About AI and Federal Workers. Kristen Cordell and Adrian Brown argue that the DOGE-era workforce reductions constitute the federal government's most concrete test yet of what happens when large categories of professional work disappear faster than any transition system can absorb. The authors contend that support programs must address purpose and identity, not just skills retraining, and that workers and communities affected by AI deployment decisions need a meaningful voice in how those decisions are made.

Forest Service Offers Separation Incentives to Employees Ahead of Upcoming Relocations. The Forest Service is offering VERA and VSIP separation incentives to employees affected by the Agriculture Department's planned reorganization, which calls for moving agency headquarters to Salt Lake City and closing all nine regional offices. The agency also plans to retain only 20 of its 77 research facilities. Eligible employees who accept the VSIP can receive up to the $25,000 statutory maximum under current law.

Leadership  

How to Cultivate Your “Personal Power” as a Leader. We all know the stereotypes of leaders who use charisma, manipulation, domineering behavior, or their status in the hierarchy to exert control. But there is another type of leader whose power isn’t necessarily related to their position on the org chart. Chris Lipp has spent years studying people who’ve developed this “personal power” that is rooted in their internal values. Lipp is a professor at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business, an executive coach, and the author of the book The Science of Personal Power. He’s investigated where this second type of power comes from and how to tap into it using simple strategies and tools.

Why Effective Leaders Get Branded as Problems. When a leader creates friction, organizations default to a single explanation: the leader needs to change. In reality, that friction usually comes from one or a combination of four different sources—capability, perception, identity, or system. Because those look similar on the surface, organizations tend to categorize them under one bucket, behavior and make high-stakes decisions based on that assumption. The cost is not just ineffective development. It is flawed promotion decisions, stalled succession pipelines, and the quiet loss of high-impact leaders who are labeled as “difficult” when they are, in fact, misread

THIS WEEK @ THE CENTER 

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