by Meghan Maury
Form of the Week: Reporting Portal for Civil Rights Violations. Despite a Federal Register title incorrectly referring to this listing as the “International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program,” in this listing DOJ is actually revising its online Portal for Reporting Civil Rights Violations. Notably, the revised portal adds Second Amendment rights as a category of civil-rights complaints, reflecting DOJ’s unusual new treatment of alleged restrictions on gun ownership and carrying as a Civil Rights Division enforcement priority.
Comments due September 25.
Every time the government makes a change to a survey or a form — or introduces a new survey or form — you have the right to weigh in on that decision. The Take Action! newsletter highlights surveys or forms the government is changing, renewing, or introducing. Click the links to tell the government what you think about the changes they are making.
Note: The Take Action tab of dataindex.us provides information about even more surveys, forms, evaluations, and records notices than are listed in your weekly newsletter.
Gun Violence
Application To Restore Federal Firearms Rights (Relief From Federal Firearms Disabilities). DOJ is creating a new application for people and entities prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms to seek restoration of their federal firearms rights. The form implements DOJ’s newly finalized process for granting relief from federal firearms prohibitions, reviving a pathway that had effectively been unavailable for more than 30 years. DOJ estimates that approximately 330,000 people or entities will apply each year.
Comments due September 23.
Waste, Fraud, and Abuse (WFA)
Modernizing Suspension and Debarment Rules. FCC is implementing new suspension and debarment requirements across programs including Lifeline, E-Rate, Rural Health Care, Telecommunications Relay Services, and the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program. Participants will be required to disclose certain criminal or civil charges, convictions, federal exclusions, and recent terminations of government transactions, and to certify that contractors, subcontractors, consultants, and other downstream partners also comply with federal suspension and debarment rules. The FCC says it will use the information to identify fraud and other misconduct and determine whether applicants and other participants should be permitted to receive federal funds.
Comments due September 23.ED and Treasury Matching Program. ED is establishing an agency-wide matching program with Treasury’s Do Not Pay system to identify, prevent, and recover allegedly improper federal payments. ED will compare information about recipients and applicants for federal funds, including certain grant and scholarship recipients and people identified as having received overpayments, against federal databases used to verify payment and award eligibility, with matches potentially triggering additional review or recovery action. The program explicitly implements the administration’s “fraud, waste, and abuse” agenda and is part of a broader expansion of automated data matching to scrutinize eligibility for federal funds.
Comments due September 24.OPM and Treasury Data Sharing Agreement. OPM is establishing a new matching program with Treasury’s Do Not Pay system to verify continued eligibility for federal retirement benefits and identify and recover allegedly improper payments. OPM will compare records for federal retirees, survivors, and other beneficiaries against Do Not Pay databases as part of the administration’s broader “fraud, waste, and abuse” initiative. A database match cannot by itself result in benefits being denied, suspended, or recovered; OPM says it will independently verify matches and provide applicable notice and appeal rights before taking adverse action.
Comments due September 25.
Civil Rights
NASA Complaint of Discrimination Form 1355. NASA is revising its discrimination complaint form to remove gender-related reporting options and replace references to “gender identity” with “sex,” which NASA says aligns the form with current executive orders and federal requirements. The form continues to cover complaints based on sex, including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. Other changes update contact, Privacy Act, and administrative information.
Comments due September 24.
Disability Justice
Title IV Loans Matching Program. ED and SSA are establishing a matching program to identify student loan borrowers and TEACH Grant recipients whom SSA has determined have disabilities for which medical improvement is not expected and who may qualify for Total and Permanent Disability discharge. ED will use matched name, date of birth, Social Security number, and disability-status information to proactively notify eligible borrowers and automatically discharge their loans or obligations unless they opt out, reducing the need for borrowers to separately document their disability.
Comments due September 24.
Healthcare
DOD and HHS Matching Program. DOD and CMS are establishing a matching program to verify Medicare enrollment for military health system beneficiaries and determine their eligibility for TRICARE benefits. DoD will match identifying information for eligible beneficiaries against CMS Medicare records and use the results to update DEERS with current Medicare enrollment information.
Comments due September 24.
Civic Engagement
CPS Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement. AmeriCorps and Census are seeking approval for the 2027 CPS Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement, which measures volunteering and other forms of civic participation. The 2027 questionnaire is unchanged from 2023 and 2025, although AmeriCorps is also clearing alternative wording for possible future internet self-response. Commenters urged AmeriCorps to restore more detailed questions about formal volunteering; AmeriCorps agreed the data would be valuable but said Census limits on supplement length prevent adding them now and identified questions about types of volunteer organizations and activities as priorities for future rounds.
Comments due September 24.
Education
Data Elements for Bureau-Funded Schools. BIE is renewing its collection of student enrollment and educational-needs data from Bureau-funded schools, which is used to determine eligibility, support services, and allocate federal funding. The revision ends data collection for the Behavioral Health and Wellness Program because the program has concluded. A Tribal education organization urged stronger Tribal data ownership and governance, culturally relevant measures, consultation, and transparency about funding decisions; BIE largely responded by pointing to existing student-record privacy protections.
Comments due September 28.