TSP funds see losses in March | Federal News Network

• It was a tough March for Thrift Savings Plan. 15 of the 16 funds had monthly declines and only the G Fund showed growth last month. The I Fund saw a steep decline, losing more than 9% month-on-month. L funds are also reflecting tough market conditions, losing anywhere from 3% to nearly 7% for March. In comparison, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 also saw month-over-month declines of around 5%. A bad month for TSP also means that 12 of the 16 funds are in the red for 2026.
• A Senate Democrat is pushing back on the Postal Service’s plans to add a temporary fee to most of its delivery and package services. The USPS said the higher prices are necessary to cover higher fuel and transportation costs. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said the USPS could have avoided these costs by moving forward with plans to electrify its next-generation vehicles. He is calling on the USPS to eliminate its surcharge plans and accelerate the acquisition of more electric vehicles.
• Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has canceled his predecessor’s contract review plan. A DHS spokesman confirmed that Mullin has eliminated the requirement that the secretary review all department contracts over $100,000. That policy was created by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last year. It was blamed for delaying disaster relief and other national security costs. Mullin is expected to continue to review all contracts valued at more than $25 million.
• The Forest Service is moving its headquarters to the West, the first step in an extensive reorganization of the agency. The agency will move its headquarters from Washington, DC, to Salt Lake City, Utah. The Forest Service will close its nine regional offices and relocate the work to six locations across the country. Other buildings that currently serve as regional offices will also be purchased. Forest Service operations will continue to operate largely unchanged. The center says that its reorganization will bring the leaders of the organizations and employees closer to the communities they serve. Most of the Forest Service land is concentrated in the Western part of the state.
• Department of Homeland Security officials lamented the ongoing shutdown. Employees of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other parts of DHS continue to work without pay. They said they were concerned that the recent order to pay TSA workers through the shutdown could reduce pressure on Congress to reach a funding deal. Thousands of administrative staff at the Department of Customs and Border Protection also work without pay. They said they received little communication about why some CBP employees were being paid while others were not.
• The Trump administration is opening up yet another hiring opportunity. This time, it is looking for about 250 government project managers across the state. Selected candidates will lead projects in AI, healthcare, security, energy and more. The interagency hiring effort, led by the Office of Personnel Management, aims to combat what it says is the government’s critical skills gap in project management. More than 15 organizations have expressed interest in participating in OPM’s recruitment opportunity.
• The federal government simultaneously has the most political staff and the lowest levels of senior leadership in decades. A new report from the Partnership for Public Service found that there are now more political appointees under the Trump administration than any other current US president. At the same time, the senior leadership staff has shrunk by 30% since President Donald Trump took office.
• The Office of Management and Budget is out with its latest effort to strengthen chief information officers. OMB issues new requirements for how CIO organizations should manage IT. Greg Barbaccia, the government’s CIO, said in a video sent to X that the new memo strengthens the decision-making power of the CIO and eliminates the shadow of IT. Among the new requirements is that CIOs must approve all IT contracts, and now “CIOs of the organization must inform my office about the approved IT contracts for their entire organization. This bird’s eye view will help us identify cases of joint use, prevent duplication and reduce costs.” Barbaccia says that understanding the prices paid and IT usage rates will help drive better decisions across the government.

Copyright © 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located in the European Economic Area.