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Stanton, Shutt promoted to new roles in FAS as reorganization nears

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3 months ago

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The General Services Administration is promoting some familiar faces into leadership roles as it prepares to reorganize its Federal Acquisition Service.

Laura Stanton is the new deputy commissioner of the FAS. Stanton, who has worked for GSA since 1997, has been the assistant commissioner for the IT category since 2020.

Stephanie Shutt is the new FAS chief of staff. Shutt has worked for GSA since 2004, running the schedules program for five years before becoming the director of operation and innovation in September 2023.

FAS Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum announced these and other changes in an email obtained by Federal News Network.

Gruenbaum said Stanton also will continue to lead the IT category office in addition to her new role.

Laura Stanton is the assistant commissioner in the Office of Information Technology Category (ITC) in the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA.

“The work you all do is critical – FAS plays a central role in helping the government buy smarter, be more efficient and deliver value to taxpayers,” Gruenbaum wrote in the email. “Laura and Stephanie both understand how important collaboration is to that mission. I encourage you to show our support as they step into these new roles.”

Stanton replaces Tom Howder, who has been deputy commissioner of FAS since 2018 and has worked at GSA for more than 38 years. He spent his entire federal career with GSA, starting as a GS-5 in 1987.

Howder, who served as acting FAS commissioner in 2024, is retiring taking the deferred resignation program offer.

“I want to express my gratitude to Josh Gruenbaum and Stephen Ehikian, who encouraged me to stay a bit longer so I could contribute to one final effort – the redesign of the Federal Acquisition Service that we are calling FAS 2.0,” Howder wrote in a post on LinkedIn on April 21. “I won’t offer any spoilers, but I think you will find it nothing short of transformative. It will reimagine how we serve our clients, eliminate burdensome processes, streamline our operations and leverage technological innovations. I leave FAS knowing it has a bright future.”

Gruenbaum also thanked Howder for his guidance and support over the last few months.

Shutt replaces Teri Osabutey, who has been FAS chief of staff since August 2024 and been in government since 1999, starting her career with NASA.

Osabutey came to GSA in 2008 as a senior contracting officer and rose through the ranks serving as the acting deputy assistant commissioner for the Assistant Acquisition Services division before taking the chief of staff role.

“Teri has been a steady presence in the AAS portfolio for years, and those skills were exactly what the front office needed over the past year,” Gruenbaum wrote. “Personally, I want to thank Teri for her support and for making me feel welcome in this role.”

In addition to Howder and Osabutey, several other GSA executives are leaving, including:

  • Kim Garcia, The deputy assistant commissioner for acquisition in the Office of IT Category.
  • Casey Kelley, Retiring after 24 years with GSA, including five as the regional commissioner for the San Diego area and the last 19 months as the client executive in AAS for the Air Force, Space Force and Navy. “I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the most talented, dedicated, and mission-driven professionals in the federal acquisition community. From the early days building the Alliant/Alliant 2 GWAC team, where innovation and collaboration defined our success, to leading legacy Region 9, transforming operations, achieving financial solvency and building a strong, united culture across diverse business lines — each challenge and achievement has been an unforgettable part of my journey,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Most recently, launching a new organization within AAS, bringing together experts from multiple legacy regions and FEDSIM to serve Air Force, Navy and Space Force organizations worldwide, has been a career highlight. Establishing a foundation for success and leading the industry engagement collaboration initiative, sharing pipeline information consistently across the enterprise in such a short time was no small feat. I’m immensely proud of what we built together.”
  • Erv Koehler, Retiring after three years as the assistant commissioner of the Office of General Supplies and Services and more than 22 years at GSA.
  • Jeff Thurston, The contract operations director in the Office of General Supplies and Services and the category executive and liaison with the Office of Management and Budget for the Industrial Products Category.
  • Jake Marcellus, Leaving after serving the past four years as the enterprise technology director in the Office of the IT Category. He worked for the Defense Information Systems Agency for 12 years before coming to GSA in 2021. Marcellus also served in the Army for 20 years.

The post Stanton, Shutt promoted to new roles in FAS as reorganization nears first appeared on Federal News Network.

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Politics

Hulk Hogan’s Death Certificate Released

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23 hours ago

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August 2, 2025

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Hulk Hogan’s death certificate was obtained by TMZ on Friday.

Hogan passed away at the age of 71 last Thursday from acute myocardial infarction. He also had a history of leukemia.

The wrestling legend was rushed to the hospital last week after emergency responders received a phone call for “cardiac arrest.”

The death certificate revealed Hulk Hogan was cremated in Clearwater, Florida.

“Hulk’s official cause of death was previously revealed as a heart attack. His medical records also showed a history of atrial fibrillation, a heart condition that causes an irregular heartbeat. HH was also diagnosed with a form of cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), though details surrounding the cancer are unclear,” TMZ reported.

Hulk Hogan death certificate / TMZ

President Trump praised Hulk Hogan for his “absolutely electric” speech at last year’s RNC convention.

“We lost a great friend today, the “Hulkster.” Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart. He gave an absolutely electric speech at the Republican National Convention, that was one of the highlights of the entire week. He entertained fans from all over the World, and the cultural impact he had was massive. To his wife, Sky, and family, we give our warmest best wishes and love. Hulk Hogan will be greatly missed!”

Hulk Hogan and his wife were baptized in December 2023.

“Total surrender and dedication to Jesus is the greatest day of my life. No worries, no hate, no judgment… only love!” Hulk Hogan said.

RIP to an American icon.

The post Hulk Hogan’s Death Certificate Released appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Politics

Stephen A. Smith SLAMS Zohran Mamdani and the Democrat Party

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23 hours ago

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August 2, 2025

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Stephen A. Smith SLAMS Zohran Mamdani and the Radical Democrat Wing: “Either the Party Ends, or the United States Ends”

In a bold and fiery statement that has made waves across social media and major news outlets, commentator Stephen A. Smith unleashed a scathing rebuke of the radical left’s takeover of the Democratic Party. Targeting the likes of New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Senator Bernie Sanders, Smith warned of the existential threat their socialist ideas pose to the future of the United States.

Smith reacted to a recent statement by Mamdani, who argued that “no

The post Stephen A. Smith SLAMS Zohran Mamdani and the Democrat Party appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Trump Gets Backlash Over RNC Chair Endorsement: An LGBT ‘Ally’ Who ‘Just Tried to Pass Amnesty’

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23 hours ago

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August 2, 2025

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Get ready for the next clash of conservatives.

When Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley announced Thursday he is entering the race for Senate in North Carolina, he did more than put a second high-profile name in the running in the Tar Heel State.

He set up what could be a bruising battle for leadership of the GOP on a nationwide scale.

In a July 24 post on the social media platform Truth Social, President Donald Trump, the hands-down heavyweight of party politics, heartily endorsed Whatley in the North Carolina race, and at the same time endorsed Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters, the party’s current national treasurer, to step into Whatley’s place.

But there’s already a groundswell of opposition to Gruters. And one of his most vocal opponents is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

As the Sunshine State news website Florida Politics noted in a July 16 report, DeSantis slammed Gruters in a news conference where DeSantis appointed Florida state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia to the post of Florida chief financial officer.

It’s a job Gruters has been running for since May of last year.

While appointing a rival to the vacant post, DeSantis made his distaste for Gruters painfully clear.

“If George Washington rose from the dead and came back and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Will you appoint Joe Gruters CFO?’ my response would be, no, I can’t do that without betraying the voters that elected me,” DeSantis said, according to Florida Politics.

He accused Gruters of siding with teachers’ unions in battles with the state government, as well as supporting the marijuana industry (a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational use failed in November).

According to the Tampa Bay Times, DeSantis and Gruters clashed over a bill Gruters supported that would have put the job of chief immigration officer in the state in the hands of the state’s agriculture commissioner.

In a post on the social media platform X, DeSantis called the bill “truly contemptible” and described it as “amnesty.”

And as the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported in January 2020, Gruters had a history of sponsoring pro-gay legislation in the state before appearing to reverse course.

“I’m an ally of the LGBTQ community,” he told the newspaper.

More recently, in April, Gruters made the wrong kind of headlines when the U.K.’s Daily Mail, a British outlet with a major North American presence, revealed he was a follower of 60 accounts on the adult-themed OnlyFans site.

(“I typically engage accounts that are recommended or interact with my account,” Gruters told the Daily Mail. “That said, I will review my follows and remove any content that may be considered questionable.”)

Conservative media users aren’t letting that past go.

“Perfect for San Francisco, nightmare for Florida,” one pro-DeSantis account on the social media platform X declared.

“Gruters just tried to pass amnesty for illegal aliens in Florida,” wrote another user.

The conservative pro-life website LifeSiteNews made its view clear in its headline and summary head about Trump’s endorsement.

“Trump endorses LGBT ‘ally’ Joe Gruters to be next RNC chair,” the headline declared.

The summary headline?

“Donald Trump has endorsed Joe Gruters to lead the Republican National Committee despite the Florida lawmaker’s liberal stances on LGBT ‘discrimination,’ immigration, teachers’ unions, and marijuana.”

According to Florida Politics, Gruters was the first Florida lawmaker to make an official endorsement of Trump in the Republican 2024 primary — snubbing DeSantis’ short-lived, mistake-in-hindsight primary challenge to the 45th president.

That no doubt plays a role in both Trump’s support for Gruters and DeSantis’ opposition, but there appear to be deeper factors at play here.

In a job as crucial as the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, having anything less than sterling, unblemished bona fides is going to be a problem with a voter base with a limited trust in establishment politicians, even if they have an “R” next to their name.

Questionable positions on “trans” issues, illegal immigration, and drugs — not to mention raising eyebrows by following OnlyFans models — are serious red flags for any contender for the job.

Trump has proven over and over again what he can accomplish with sheer force of will, and he’s almost single-handedly responsible for revising the ideological power of the Republican Party after the dormancy of the post-Mitt Romney world.

As the titular head of the party, as well as probably the single most influential human being in the world, much less the American GOP, he could almost certainly install any chairman of the party he chooses.

However, the situation now is the midterms are approaching next year, and the magic “Trump” name is not on the ballot — which means the energy of the party faithful is going to be at a premium for all of the Republican Party.

The question for Trump is, is a clash with conservatives worth it?

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post Trump Gets Backlash Over RNC Chair Endorsement: An LGBT ‘Ally’ Who ‘Just Tried to Pass Amnesty’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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