Army and Navy miscalculated number of low-scoring recruits entering military, IG finds
The watchdog found the services used recruits’ improved test scores instead of the scores they had when they first signed up.
Michele Sandiford
December 16, 2025 2:50 pm
The Pentagon inspector general found the Army and Navy miscalculated the number of low-scoring recruits entering the military through their preparatory programs. The watchdog found the services used recruits’ improved test scores instead of the scores they had when they first signed up. As a result, both services exceeded the legal limits of recruits with low test scores entering the program. The courses are designed to help recruits meet academic and physical standards before starting basic training. The services also failed to notify the Secretary of Defense and Congress that they had exceeded that limit, as required by law.
(Army, Navy exceeded legal limits of low-scoring recruits in future prep courses - Defense Department IG)
The Department of Homeland Security has named a leader to oversee projects under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Jaclyn Rubino is now serving as executive director of the newly created OB3 Principal Executive Office. Rubino was previously executive director of DHS’s Strategic Programs Division. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides DHS with approximately $190 billion through 2029. Most of the spending is concentrated on immigration enforcement and border security.
(OB3 announcement - LinkedIn)
Senate Democrats say they’re concerned about a stricter reasonable accommodation policy at the Department of Health and Human Services. The HHS reasonable accommodation policy requires an assistant secretary at the department to approve all telework, remote work or reassignment requests. The new policy said telework should not be granted as an interim accommodation. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) are leading colleagues in a letter against these changes. They say they’ve heard from federal employees who have been harmed by these decisions.
(Letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy - Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.))
The number of protests filed with GAO are down for a second straight year. Vendors filed 1,617 bid protests with the Government Accountability Office in fiscal 2025. That is a 7% decrease over the amount filed in 2024 and 17% fewer than in 2023. GAO's annual bid protest report to Congress released yesterday shows only 380 cases resulted in a decision, of which 53 were sustained. The most common reason for a sustained protest was unreasonable technical evaluation, followed by unreasonable cost or price evaluation, and then unreasonable rejection of proposals. The effectiveness rate, which shows the percentage of cases where the protestor received some sort of relief, remained at its traditional level of 52%. GAO also said it reviewed and closed 359 cases under its task and delivery order jurisdiction.
(GAO sees decrease in number of protests filed in 2025 - Government Accountability Office)
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2025/12/army-and-navy-miscalculated-number-of-low-scoring-recruits-entering-military-ig-finds/
