As the federal government races to adopt AI, many agencies are looking to buy and build the same exact solutions. Recognizing this, the General Services Administration earlier this year launched USAi, a platform that offers agencies access to leading commercial AI models that they can deploy in a streamlined manner, eliminating redundancy across government and leading to greater efficiencies at scale. Zach Whitman, chief data scientist and chief AI officer for the GSA, recently joined me for a discussion at the Agentic AI Government Summit and Jamfest in Washington, D.C., to highlight the USAi effort, how it’s progressing, the challenges GSA faces and what’s next.

The Department of Health and Human Services has tapped DOGE affiliate Zachary Terrell to be its chief technology officer, sources told FedScoop. Terrell’s CTO title was confirmed by three officials, who were granted anonymity to be more candid. Taking on the role of CTO comes after his involvement in Department of Government Efficiency work at both HHS and the National Science Foundation, including the cancellation of grants at the science agency.  One of those sources told FedScoop that Terrell has been in the technology chief role since the beginning of this month and is still at the NSF as well. While his leadership role is new, Terrell has previously been involved in work at HHS, including as a member of the department’s DOGE team, according to a recent legal filing by the government. Per that document, Terrell was listed as one of the 10 team members given access to at least one sensitive system as part of the DOGE work. Specifically, Terrell was one of five team members who weren’t directly employed by the U.S. DOGE Service — the White House home for the group.

Congress is poised to make yet another run at legislation to reform agency software purchasing practices, with the reintroduction in the House last week of the Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act. The SAMOSA Act, which passed the House last December, would require federal agencies to comprehensively assess their software licensing practices, a move aimed at curbing duplicative tech, streamlining future purchases and reducing IT costs. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, said in a press release: “The GAO has found the federal government spends more than $100 billion annually on information technology and cybersecurity, including software licenses. Far too often, taxpayer dollars are wasted on these systems and licenses agencies fail to use.” The SAMOSA Act, Mace goes on to say, “requires agencies to account for existing software assets and consolidate purchases: reducing redundancy, increasing accountability, and saving potentially billions for American taxpayers.” 

Also in this episode: Salesforce Global Digital Transformation Executive Nadia Hansen joins SNG host Wyatt Kash in a sponsored podcast discussion on how Agentic AI is reshaping the way government teams work and why agencies need top-level sponsorship, transparent governance and workforce training to realize its potential. This segment was by sponsored by Salesforce.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.
If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Inside GSA’s rollout of USAi

It’s Oct. 1 and Congress has failed to pass appropriations for fiscal year 2026. And you know what that means: the federal government has shut down. For the first time since 2019, also during a Trump administration, federal appropriations have lapsed, resulting in furloughs for hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors and the halting of many agency operations. Only “excepted employees” and federal workers who are “exempt” from furlough may perform work until the current lapse in appropriations is over. Though Washington has experienced a number of shutdowns and shutdown threats in recent memory, the politically combative climate surrounding this one is much more amplified. The Trump administration has already threatened to use the shutdown to permanently cut jobs that aren’t aligned with the president’s agenda. And so far, neither party seems willing to budge, with many pundits speculating the lapse could drag on long-term without an agreement between Republicans — who control both houses in Congress and the White House — and Democrats. But one thing is clear: Until that agreement is reached, many of the federal government’s most important missions will operate at less than full capacity, including in areas like cybersecurity. FedScoop will keep you informed as the battle around the shutdown continues.

The Trump administration’s sweeping U.S. military shakeup is expected to gain momentum in the months to come — with more leadership changes, major acquisition updates and possible personnel cuts in the Pentagon’s pipeline, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested during an unusual gathering of military brass Tuesday. At the “key leaders all-call” meeting with hundreds of top generals and admirals summoned from around the world at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Hegseth and President Donald Trump unveiled a broad docket of new and forthcoming directives meant to reflect their overarching vision for “woke”-ending reforms. Trump said: “We will not be politically correct when it comes to defending American freedom. We will be a fighting and winning machine. We want to fight, we want to win, and we want to fight as little as possible.” Theories swirled about the intent behind this mass gathering after Hegseth hastily ordered it last week. In the portion that was publicly livestreamed, Hegseth outlined his plans for policy shifts — via 10 directives — around physical fitness and grooming standards, mandatory training, oversight processes, records retention rules and more.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The federal government shuts down; Takeaways from Hegseth’s meeting with the military’s top brass

It’s day two of the federal shutdown, and with the Senate on leave, there won’t be any sort of appropriations deal until Friday at the earliest — though many have doubts about that possibility. As federal agencies adjust to the new normal with hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed and the White House threatening more layoffs targeting those who’ve been sent home, FedScoop took the time to compile a near-complete look at how agency IT organizations are affected. An analysis of the nearly two dozen civilian Chief Financial Officer Act agencies found that some agencies explicitly outlined plans to scale back IT operations amid the shutdown, while others deemed several IT staff members essential for managing technology and cybersecurity infrastructure. For instance, at the Department of Commerce’s Office of the CIO, just one individual is tasked with taking responsibility for shutdown tasks and assurance that the office will continue to work on critical IT functions. If the lapse in funding continues for an extended period, there is also the potential for staff to be recalled on an intermittent or full-time basis for cybersecurity and maintenance work, and limited staff may be called for administrative functions. While at the Labor Department, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management has selected “a minimal IT staff” within the OCIO to oversee tech operations. Those employees are now tasked with managing Labor’s technology services, applications and website, in addition to having other IT security responsibilities that support the agency’s excepted and exempt staff.

A nonprofit legal group is suing a handful of federal agencies, calling on the federal bodies to release documents related to the use of artificial intelligence to carry out the Trump administration’s “deregulation agenda.” The lawsuit, filed by Democracy Forward on Wednesday, asks a court to require the General Services Administration, Office of Personnel Management, Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to comply with public records laws amid concerns over how AI is being used to “weaken” existing federal regulations. Democracy Forward said it reviewed both public records and documents obtained through FOIA requests and found GSA plays a “central role” in the White House’s efforts to overhaul regulations. The nonprofit cited an apparent email trail, in which a GSA-affiliated email informs other agencies of “significant progress” in reviewing its internal and external policies to ensure consistency with President Donald Trump’s directives. The suit further pointed to reports of an AI tool called SweetREX developed by an affiliate of the Department of Government Efficiency.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

How federal IT shops are continuing work during the shutdown

Former State Department employees whose roles were eliminated as part of a reduction-in-force still received information about whether they would be needed during the government shutdown — including some workers who were told their positions were “excepted.” While the full extent of the issue wasn’t immediately clear, three such employees shared those notifications with FedScoop on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. Others were also aware of the problem even if they didn’t receive the messages themselves.  In response to a FedScoop request for comment, a State spokesperson indicated the department was aware of the issue and had taken steps to address it, confirming there were “minor” discrepancies with data, saying that the department immediately worked to resolve any outstanding issues. Of the three State Department notices reviewed by FedScoop, one informed the RIF’d employee that their position was “excepted” and explained that those roles are defined as those needed for emergencies that threaten life and property or are essential for national security. It then ordered that worker to “report to work on your next regularly scheduled workday.” The other two already RIF’d employees were told that they would be furloughed during the shutdown but that it was “in no way a value judgement on the work you do for the Department.” Those employees were also instructed to review their department emails for updates despite not being able to access that information. Of the three RIF’d employees, only one — a foreign service officer — is still on the department’s payroll.

As employees at the Education Department prepared for a looming government shutdown this week, several set an automatic email reply to inform others of their furloughed status. But by Thursday morning, some furloughed workers discovered that their automatic email replies had been altered, without their knowledge, to include a message blaming Democratic senators for the ongoing government shutdown. According to two furloughed Education Department employees, the agency sent workers suggested language to use for their out-of-office messages earlier this week, but the language was “neutral” regarding the shutdown.  One of the employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told FedScoop they and other furloughed staff mostly cut and paste from the suggested language with little to no changes when setting their automatic replies. But when they checked their automatic email replies Thursday morning, the message changed and included partisan language mentioning Democrats, the employee said. The other furloughed worker said they set the generic text for their OOO email Wednesday morning and the message was changed by Wednesday night.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.
If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

RIF’d State Department workers get confusing furlough messages;  Education workers' automatic email replies changed to blame shutdown on Democrats

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a new edict last week to reduce the time personnel spend on cybersecurity training, among other reforms. The directive came in a Sept. 30 memo to senior Pentagon leadership and DOD agency and field activity directors, ordering the military departments, in coordination with the Pentagon’s chief information officer, to “Relax the mandatory frequency for Cybersecurity training.” Hegseth also called for narrowly tailoring records management training to service member roles and allowing flexibility in training delivery, as well as automating information management systems to eliminate training requirements. Additionally, Hegseth directed the military departments and other Pentagon leaders to “relax” the mandatory frequency for controlled unclassified information (CUI) training; remove Privacy Act Training from the Common Military Training (CMT) list; eliminate the mandatory frequency for “Combating Trafficking in Persons” refresher training after appropriate legislation is enacted; consolidate mandatory training topics, “as appropriate”; and develop an integrated CMT program plan. The changes are to be “implemented expeditiously,” per Hegseth’s directive.

Federal courts are upgrading their cybersecurity on a number of fronts, but multifactor authentication for the system that gives the public access to court data poses “unique challenges,” the Administrative Office of the United States Courts told Sen. Ron Wyden in a letter last week. Wyden, D-Ore., wrote a scathing August letter to the Supreme Court in response to the latest major breach of the federal judiciary’s electronic case filing system. The director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts responded on behalf of the Supreme Court. It is “simply not the case” that the courts have, in the words of Wyden, “ignored” advice from experts on securing the Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system, wrote Robert Conrad Jr., director of the office. Conrad wrote in the Sept. 30 letter: “Substantial planning for the modernization effort began in 2022, and we are now approaching the development and implementation phase of the project. We expect implementation will begin in the next two years in a modular and iterative manner.” In recent years, the office has been testing technical components on its modernization effort, and is centralizing the operation of data standards to enable security, Conrad said. 

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.
If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

DOD cuts mandatory cybersecurity training; Federal judiciary touts cyber work after major breach

A federal workers’ union is suing the Education Department after agency employees on furlough or administrative leave discovered that their automatic email replies had been changed to a message blaming Democratic lawmakers for the ongoing government shutdown. The complaint, filed by the American Federation of Government Employees, asks a court to prohibit the Education Department’s alleged efforts to “put political speech in federal employees’ mouths.”  “Forcing civil servants to speak on behalf of the political leadership’s partisan agenda is a blatant violation of federal employees’ First Amendment rights,” the suit stated, adding that “employees are now forced to involuntarily parrot the Trump Administration’s talking points with emails sent out in their names.”  The suit came one day after some furloughed workers discovered that their automatic out-of-office email replies were changed without their knowledge, from neutral language to partisan messaging that blamed Democrats for the shutdown, which began last Wednesday.

Three House Democrats questioned the Department of Homeland Security on Monday over a reported Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract with a spyware provider that they warn potentially “threatens Americans’ freedom of movement and freedom of speech.” Their letter follows publication of a notice that ICE had lifted a stop-work order on a $2 million deal with Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions, a contract that the Biden administration had frozen one year ago pending a review of its compliance with a spyware executive order. Paragon is the maker of Graphite, and advertises it as having more safeguards than competitors that have received more public and legal scrutiny, such as NSO Group’s Pegasus, a claim researchers have challenged. A report earlier this year found suspected deployments of Graphite in countries across the globe, with targets including journalists and activists. \

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.
If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Education Department sued over altered shutdown emails; Dems launch probe into ICE spyware contract

The Environmental Protection Agency’s pledge to “get out of the way” on chemical reviews to accelerate the buildout of artificial intelligence data centers doesn’t mean those reviews would be any less “robust,” a top EPA nominee told lawmakers Wednesday. Appearing before the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, Douglas Troutman — President Donald Trump’s pick for assistant administrator for toxic substances — was pressed by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., about comments made by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin last month following a White House roundtable with AI and data center leaders. In a Sept. 18 press release, Zeldin announced that the EPA would begin prioritizing the review of new chemicals — under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) — that would be used in data center projects. Markey asked Troutman, a former chemical industry lobbyist, what provisions in federal toxic safety laws indicate the EPA can “get out of the way of reviewing chemicals for safety.” Troutman responded that “nothing will change with regard to the robust review based on the risk-based statute enacted under Section Five of TSCA.” Markey appeared unconvinced, telling Troutman that if he’s confirmed, he will “be under orders from Administrator Zeldin to get out of the way.” The Massachusetts Democrat made the case that “big tech bosses” with ties to the administration could lean on the agency to bypass regular review protocols.

Voting rights groups are asking a court to block an ongoing Trump administration effort to merge disparate federal and state voter data into a massive citizenship and voter fraud database. Last week, the League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and five individuals sued the federal government in D.C. District Court, saying it was ignoring decades of federal privacy law to create enormous “national data banks” of personal information on Americans. On Tuesday, the coalition, represented by Democracy Forward Foundation, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Fair Elections Center, asked the court for an emergency injunction to halt the Trump administration’s efforts to transform the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements into an immense technological tool to track potential noncitizens registered to vote. Until this year, SAVE was an incomplete and limited federal database meant to track immigrants seeking federal benefits. In an Oct. 7 court filing, the groups said an immediate injunction was needed to prevent permanent privacy harms due to the “illegal and secretive consolidation of millions of Americans’ sensitive personal data across government agencies into centralized data systems” through SAVE. 

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.
If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

EPA nominee: Chemical reviews won’t be compromised for AI data centers; Voting groups fight Trump’s SAVE database overhaul

Federal agencies’ latest status updates on how they’re using artificial intelligence reveal persistent barriers and variability on where agencies stand with ”high-impact” use cases. The release of the 2025 AI compliance plans offers one of the first in-depth glimpses at how federal agencies are addressing issues of AI risk management, technical capacity and workforce readiness under the second Trump administration. Those documents, which were required under the Trump administration’s AI governance memo to agencies, were supposed to be released publicly by Sept. 30. As of publication time, FedScoop located roughly 20 plans and 14 strategies across 22 agencies. For nine of the roughly two dozen Chief Financial Officers Act agencies, FedScoop was unable to find either a plan or a strategy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, meanwhile, produced only strategies. FedScoop and DefenseScoop attempted to contact the CFO Act agencies that didn’t produce both documents, but the agencies either didn’t respond or didn’t provide the documents. Two of those agencies, NASA and the Justice Department, noted the government shutdown in their responses, and both the DOJ and Department of Defense indicated they were working to post at a later date. Agencies were also required to submit AI strategies for the first time this year. Those documents contain some of the same information as the compliance documents, including plans to train the workforce, examples of use cases, and systems for governance. The compliance plans, meanwhile, which are in their second year, have changed only slightly from their previous iterations, with some agencies showing progress on their implementation of the technology and risk management practices.

A top Senate Democrat introduced legislation Thursday to extend and rename an expired information-sharing law, and make it retroactive to cover the lapse that began Oct. 1. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced the Protecting America from Cyber Threats (PACT) Act, to replace the expired Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA 2015) that has provided liability protections for organizations that share cyber threat data with each other and the federal government. Industry groups and cyber professionals have called those protections vital, sometimes describing the 2015 law as the most successful cyber legislation ever passed. The 2015 law shares an acronym with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which some Republicans — including the chairman of Peters’ panel, Rand Paul of Kentucky — have accused of engaging in social media censorship. As CISA 2015 has lapsed and Peters has tried to renew it, “some people think that’s a reauthorization of the agency,” Peters told reporters Thursday in explaining the new bill name. 

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.
If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.


How federal agencies are tackling AI use under Trump; Another attempt to extend CISA 2015 law

The Trump administration pushed forward Friday with plans to fire federal employees amid the government shutdown, directing reductions-in-force at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Housing and Urban Development, among other agencies. Prior to and during the current shutdown, the White House repeatedly threatened to lay off additional federal workers in a bid to further its efforts to shrink the size of the government. The Trump administration maintains Democrats are to blame for the shutdown, though Democrats contend that a spending bill from Republicans — who control all levers of power — wouldn’t adequately fund health care. Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, posted on X early Friday afternoon that the “RIFs have begun,” without offering additional details. An OMB spokesperson told FedScoop the RIFs began and are “substantial.”  In a preview of his discussions with Vought last week, President Donald Trump said in a post to his social media platform that they would target “Democrat Agencies,” calling them “a political SCAM.” According to a court filing from the Trump administration late Friday, at least 4,100 federal workers across eight federal agencies may have been sent RIF notices, with the bulk of the staff reductions at HHS, with 1,100 to 1,200 workers impacted, and the Department of Treasury, with 1,446 workers impacted. 

Deploying artificial intelligence requires taking on the right amount of risk to achieve a desired end result, a National Institute of Standards and Technology official who worked on its risk management framework for the technology said on a panel last week.  While federal agencies, and particularly IT functions, are generally risk averse, risks can’t entirely be avoided with AI, Martin Stanley, an AI and cybersecurity researcher at the Commerce Department standards agency, said during a FedInsider panel on “Intelligent Government” last week.  Stanley said: “You have to manage risks, number one,” adding that the benefits from the technology are compelling enough that “you have to go looking to achieve those.” Stanley’s comments came in response to a question about how the federal government compares to other sectors that have been doing risk management for longer, such as financial services. On that point specifically, he said the NIST AI Risk Management Framework “shares a lot of DNA” with Federal Reserve guidance on algorithmic models in financial services. He said NIST attempted to leverage those approaches and the same plain, simple language. “We talk about risks, we talk about likelihoods, and we talk about impacts, both positive and negative, so that you can build this trade space where you are taking on the right amount of risk to achieve a benefit,” Stanley said.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.
If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Federal agencies impacted by Trump RIFs during shutdown

Starting next year, the Army will be able to domestically mass-produce upwards of 10,000 small unmanned aerial systems each month, according to the service. Army Materiel Command is leading a new pilot program dubbed “SkyFoundry” that will allow the service to rapidly develop, test and produce small drones using innovative manufacturing methods. Officials are currently identifying multiple facilities where the platforms will be designed and produced. The department expects it can manufacture at least 10,000 UAS per month once the first site is up and running, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus said Tuesday. He said during a fireside chat at the annual AUSA conference: “We’ll be at 10,000 a month by this time next year, if not more.” The effort comes as the Pentagon looks to ramp up production of small drones across the services following Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance” directive, issued in July. The memo requires low-cost, attritable drones to be fielded to every Army squad by the end of 2026 and calls on the military to partner closely with domestic industry to scale up manufacturing.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., sent a letter Tuesday to acting CISA Director Madhu Gottumukkala raising concerns about staffing levels and the direction of the nation’s primary cybersecurity agency, writing that the “Trump Administration has undertaken multiple efforts to decimate CISA’s workforce, undermining our nation’s cybersecurity.” Swalwell, the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, called out the agency for its reported shift of cybersecurity personnel to the Department of Homeland Security’s deportation efforts, on top of the approximately 760 people that have been let go from the agency since January. Swallwell wrote: “Amid reports that the Department of Homeland Security is now forcibly transferring CISA’s cybersecurity employees to other DHS components, it has become apparent that the Department’s exclusive focus on its mass deportation campaign is coming at the expense of our national security,” calling it “further evidence of the Administration’s failure to prioritize cybersecurity” how CISA is engaging in Reductions in Force that could threaten its capacity to prevent and respond to cybersecurity threats. In the letter, he demanded that DHS cease all efforts to cut CISA’s workforce, reinstate employees who were transferred or dismissed, and provide details on the impacts of the agency’s workforce reductions.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The Army wants to manufacture 10,000 drones per month by 2026

A new report from the password management company NordPass is challenging the idea that federal institutions are more secure than local governments against cybersecurity threats. The study, conducted by NordPass and threat exposure management platform NordStellar, found a total of 53,070 passwords belonging to U.S. civil servants were exposed in public sources since the beginning of 2024. Of the impacted institutions, NordPass found the Department of Defense had 1,897 total exposed passwords, 222 of which were unique. The State Department had 15,272 total exposed passwords, 190 of which were unique, while the U.S. Army had 1,706 exposed passwords, 167 of them unique. The Department of Veterans Affairs also ranked among the top five most-affected institutions, with 1,331 total password exposures, 53 of which were unique. Seven passwords of White House employees were also compromised, according to the study. A State Department spokesperson told FedScoop the agency is “committed to cybersecurity across the department.” They said the agency has instituted multi-factor authentication and regularly rotates credentials.

A Biden-era director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy slammed the Trump administration’s cuts to research and development funding Wednesday, warning of adverse effects to areas such as artificial intelligence. Arati Prabhakar said during a panel held by Harvard’s Kennedy School: “Today what we are in the middle of is an assault on the public investment in research unlike anything we have seen in our country’s history.” Prabhakar specifically pointed to the Trump administration’s moves to withdraw support from certain projects, its removal of federal workers at research agencies, its attacks on universities, reversal of immigration policies that bring talent to the U.S., and the administration’s budget proposal that sought to cut federal R&D spending by roughly $44 billion.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Thousands of federal passwords exposed since early 2024

Federal cyber authorities issued an emergency directive last week requiring federal agencies to identify and apply security updates to F5 devices after the cybersecurity vendor said a nation-state attacker had long-term, persistent access to its systems. The order, which mandates federal civilian executive branch agencies take action by Wednesday, Oct. 22, marked the second emergency directive issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in three weeks. CISA issued both of the emergency directives months after impacted vendors were first made aware of attacks on their internal systems or products. F5 said it first learned of unauthorized access to its systems Aug. 9, resulting in data theft including segments of BIG-IP source code and details on vulnerabilities the company was addressing internally at the time. CISA declined to say when F5 first alerted the agency to the intrusion. CISA officials said they’re not currently aware of any federal agencies that have been compromised, but similar to the emergency directive issued following an attack spree involving zero-day vulnerabilities affecting Cisco firewalls, they expect the response and mitigation efforts to provide a better understanding of the scope of any potential compromise in federal networks. Many federal agencies and private organizations could be impacted. CISA said there are thousands of F5 product types in use across executive branch agencies.

Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, moved to mandate comprehensive new safety reviews for all aircraft operations near DCA and at all major and mid-size U.S. airports, in a new bipartisan agreement that would also require fleets across the nation to be equipped with more precise situational awareness technology. Their proposal aims to resolve safety issues identified by the federal investigation into the tragic crash in January, where an Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter fatally collided with an American Airlines passenger plane over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. All 67 people aboard both aircraft were killed in the collision. In a statement on Thursday, Tim and Sheri Lilley — whose son was the first officer onboard that AA Flight 5342 — called on Congress “to continue moving quickly and decisively to pass and fully implement these reforms, because every person who boards an aircraft depends on it.” The 42-page Cantwell-Cruz Bipartisan Aviation Safety Agreement combines elements of legislation the lawmakers previously put forward separately in the months after the fatal collision. It includes language that directs every military service with an aviation component to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Aviation Administration to share appropriate safety information and expand coordination to prevent future accidents. Another safety failure that came to light in the wake of the crash was associated with the Army Black Hawk helicopter not transmitting via Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) technology, which essentially enables aircraft to receive data and information about other systems, weather and traffic — delivered directly in the cockpit. The senators’ proposal would set a clear 2031 deadline for aircraft operators to equip their fleets with the full package of ADS-B capabilities.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

F5 products pose imminent risk to federal agencies

The Trump administration should reverse cyber personnel and budget cuts, strengthen the Office of the National Cyber Director and expand federal workforce initiatives, the successor organization to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission recommended in a report published Wednesday. The annual implementation report from CSC 2.0 is the first of five iterations to actually determine that the nation has gone backward on enacting the agenda of the landmark bipartisan commission, whose suggestions led to the creation of major new federal organizations and policies, including the national cyber director’s office. In grading the degree to which its 2020 report had been enacted — whether they’re “implemented,” “nearing implementation,” “on track,” “progress limited” or facing “significant barriers” — the percentages dropped in every category, after years of rising or staying steady.

President Donald Trump nominated Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve on Monday to serve as the next vice chief of staff of the Army and recommended his appointment to the grade of general. An official hearing date has not been made public, but if confirmed by the Senate, LaNeve will replace Gen. James Mingus, the long-time innovator who was sworn in as the Army’s No. 2 general officer and principal deputy to Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in January 2024 under the Biden administration. The announcement follows an unusual gathering of hundreds of top U.S. military officials at Marine Corps Base Quantico last month, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that he had already removed several high-ranking service members and suggested that more people would be pushed out if they did not conform to his vision for a “less woke” military that’s “fit not fat.” There’s not a fixed term or limit to the position of vice chief of staff, and former officials’ tenures in the capacity vary. A Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately answer questions from DefenseScoop about the timing for or reasoning behind this nomination, but confirmed LaNeve was selected by the president to serve in the post.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The US is ‘slipping’ on cybersecurity

Edward Forst told lawmakers Thursday that he wasn’t privy to the decision-making behind the General Services Administration’s deal with xAI’s Grok — but if confirmed to lead the agency, he signaled openness to examining the process that led to the procurement of the generative AI chatbot known for having an antisemitic meltdown. During a Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, ranking member Gary Peters, D-Mich., asked the GSA administrator nominee if he shared his concerns about Grok, pointing to the day the tool “produced racist and antisemitic content widely across [Elon] Musk’s social media platform.” Forst, a former private equity and financial services executive, told Peters that he had “not been a part of the decision” by the GSA to contract for the chatbot from the Musk-owned AI firm. With some additional pressing by Peters, Forst acknowledged that procuring a tool with a history of racist and antisemitic posting is “not, I think, the signal we would necessarily want to send to the country.” Peters attempted to get Forst to commit to pausing use of Grok until the committee received “documentation about the details of the procurement, including whether the GSA actually performed a comprehensive risk assessment.” Forst wouldn’t go that far on Grok, which once referred to itself as “MechaHitler.” But he did says his commitment to the lawmakers is that he will “meet with the team, and I’ll understand the process used in selecting them, and I’ll make sure that we have all the facts and if there was incompleteness to the process, that we’ll rectify it.”

A pair of federal judges said staff use of generative artificial intelligence tools and premature docket entry were behind error-ridden orders they issued, according to letters made public by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley on Thursday. Judges Henry T. Wingate and Julien Xavier Neals, who sit on the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Mississippi and District of New Jersey, respectively, both stated in letters that their law clerks had used AI tools to draft orders that were then entered into the dockets before they had been reviewed. Both judges also described measures to prevent repeat issues. The letters come after the orders from both judges were ridden with errors — including misquotes and references to parties not in the current cases — and later withdrawn. Speculation swirled as to whether those judges used AI, which is known to hallucinate, in their orders. Earlier this month, Grassley, R-Iowa, sent letters to both jurists asking for an explanation. The communications published Thursday are responsive to those inquiries. In his response, Neals indicated that previous reporting by Reuters that a “temporary assistant” had used ChatGPT was correct. “In doing so, the intern acted without authorization, without disclosure, and contrary to not only chambers policy but also the relevant law school policy.” Neals said he prohibits generative AI use in legal research and drafting of opinions and orders. While that policy was verbal in the past, he said it is now a “written unequivocal policy that applies to all law clerks and interns, pending definitive guidance from the AO through adoption of formal, universal policies and procedures for appropriate AI usage.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

GSA nominee open to reviewing Grok AI selection process

The Army’s top acquisition official told DefenseScoop that he expects to see further growth in resources for the service’s FUZE initiative. FUZE, which was announced last month by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, combines elements of multiple technology innovation programs — including the xTech, Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR), ManTech, and Technology Maturation Initiative efforts — under a more integrated framework to accelerate the delivery of new capabilities to soldiers, according to the service. Driscoll has described it as the Army’s “new cradle-to-grave capital funding model.” Driscoll said at the recent AUSA event that the Army’s goal with FUZE is to contract with startups that have never, ever worked with the United States Army before in just 60 to 70 days. And for companies that the Army has worked with that have prototypes, the intent is to contract in 10 and start “soldier iterations in 30 to 45 days,” he said, adding, “We train like we fight. Acquisition should be no different.” The Army has already aligned $750 million to this model under FUZE, according to Driscoll. Next year, it plans to raise that slightly to $765 million. Brent Ingraham, the new assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said he anticipates that funding levels for those efforts will be higher in subsequent years.

The federal judiciary has distributed interim guidance on artificial intelligence that allows for use of the technology, while also addressing procurement and security of the tools, according to a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leadership that was made public Thursday. In correspondence to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Director Judge Robert J. Conrad said an AI task force formed earlier this year developed the guidance and it was distributed to federal courts across the country July 31. Although the policy is a temporary measure while the courts work on more permanent guidance, courts can explore the budding technology in the meantime. Disclosure of the guidance came as part of a response to Grassley’s inquiry about the use of AI in error-ridden orders from two federal judges. In addition to letters from the two judges admitting to clerks’ use of generative AI tools and assurances that they’d implemented measures to prevent future issues, Conrad provided detail on the broader efforts to address the technology within the third branch and the balance between use and risk management. A spokesperson for the judiciary declined to share a copy of the guidance with FedScoop. Conrad, however, provided a description of its scope to Grassley.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Army wants to boost funding for its FUZE program

Nearly two months after calling on the Office of Management and Budget to bar use of xAI’s Grok chatbot in government, a coalition of advocacy groups is pressing its case further after the General Services Administration struck a deal with Elon Musk’s AI company to deploy Grok across the federal government. In a letter sent Wednesday to OMB Director Russell Vought, the advocacy groups reiterated their concerns in the wake of the GSA OneGov deal, along with recent comments from Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “OMB is entrusted with ensuring that AI systems procured by the federal government meet the highest standards of truth-seeking, accuracy and neutrality,” the letter, led by Public Citizen, stated. “Grok has repeatedly demonstrated failures in these areas and Director Kratsios himself has confirmed that such behavior is the precise type that Executive Order 14319 was designed to prevent.” The letter refers to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in July that seeks to prevent “woke AI,” or ideological biases in models that are used by the federal government. The groups argued in their August letter to Vought that the use of Grok contradicts this order, given its past controversies with spewing antisemitic and pro-Hitler content. Weeks after the letter was sent, GSA inked a deal with xAI to offer Grok models to the government for a nominal cost. Under the deal, federal agencies can buy Grok 4 and Grok 4 Fast for 42 cents until March 2027.

The White House appears to be moving forward with plans to redesign federal government websites, registering a new government domain — techforce.gov — this week. The new URL, which was first discovered Thursday by a bot tracking new government domains, leads to a sign-in page that states “National Design Studio” and “Tech Force” at the top. It includes a form for users to submit their email and receive a code to access the website. Records maintained by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency show the domain was registered Oct. 24 and last changed Wednesday. The domain registration comes more than two months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order launching an “America by Design” initiative focused on both digital and physical spaces. A new National Design Studio and chief design officer will lead the initiative and coordinate agency actions.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The fight over Grok in government rages on

When a pair of high-profile internet outages took down large chunks of the internet last month, the events briefly brought hundreds of organizations to a near-halt and prevented millions of users from accessing core services for everyday business needs. From Starbucks to crypto exchanges to the messaging app Signal, the outages rippled across nearly every sector, shining a spotlight onto the country’s — and even the government’s — reliance on a mere handful of cloud service providers. In the wake of those incidents, watchdog groups are calling on federal regulators to scrutinize the role that massive cloud companies like Amazon and Microsoft play in owning and maintaining much of our collective backend IT infrastructure. Meanwhile, technology and cybersecurity experts point out that, because of financial and business realities, there are very few alternatives to the large companies that now dominate the market. The Amazon Web Services outage began Oct. 19 and lasted into Oct. 20. According to Amazon’s post-mortem, a single software bug in DynamoDB — the system that manages website addresses, along with efforts to repair it — caused all services in the Northern Virginia region that relied on the tool to go down for 15 hours. Just over a week later, Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform experienced an outage impacting several of its services. According to Microsoft, an “inadvertent tenant configuration change” occurred in Azure Front Door, the company’s content delivery network. The outages exposed just how fragile the country’s digital infrastructure is and showed the risks of letting a few companies hold so much power. As a result, some groups are urging federal regulators to address the issue.

Federal agencies would be required to report artificial intelligence-related layoffs to the Department of Labor under a new bill from a bipartisan pair of senators. The AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act from Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., calls on agencies and major companies to deliver quarterly reports to DOL on the impact AI has on their workforces, detailing job cuts and displacements. Hawley said in a press release“Artificial intelligence is already replacing American workers, and experts project AI could drive unemployment up to 10-20% in the next five years. The American people need to have an accurate understanding of how AI is affecting our workforce, so we can ensure that AI works for the people, not the other way around.” The bill would also require agencies and companies to report hirings that can be “substantially” credited to AI, as well as the number of individuals they are retraining because of AI. There’s also a callout to keep track of open positions an agency or company decided not to fill because of automation.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Calls for government action grow louder amid recent cloud outages

A federal agency that supplies budget and economic information to Congress has suffered a cybersecurity incident, reportedly at the hands of a suspected foreign party. A spokesperson for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) acknowledged the incident Thursday after The Washington Post reported that the office was hacked, with the attackers potentially accessing communications between lawmakers and researchers at the agency. CBO spokeswoman Caitlin Emma said: “The Congressional Budget Office has identified the security incident, has taken immediate action to contain it, and has implemented additional monitoring and new security controls to further protect the agency’s systems going forward.”  Congress established the office in 1974 to serve as a nonpartisan research organization for the legislative branch. Republicans took aim at the CBO this year when it assessed that a GOP tax and spending policy bill would add trillions to the national debt, prompting conservatives to criticize its conclusions. It’s not unprecedented for unauthorized parties to obtain access to sensitive information from congressional offices. Hackers who broke into the Library of Congress last year were able to read email correspondence with offices on Capitol Hill. And a breach of a health insurance marketplace two years ago exposed the data of House staffers. 

The Trump administration’s ongoing decimation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has rendered the agency’s overall information security program ineffective, a federal watchdog revealed Monday. In an audit of CFPB’s cybersecurity program, the Federal Reserve’s Office of Inspector General found that the agency is no longer keeping up with its authorizations to operate many systems, and is “using risk acceptance memorandums without a documented analysis of cybersecurity risks.” As a result of those floundering protocols, the Fed OIG said the CFPB’s overall information security program has declined to level-2 maturity (defined) in fiscal 2025, down from level-4 (managed and measurable), and overall is not effective. Backsliding on these security measures can be at least partially attributed to a loss of contractor support for continuous security monitoring and testing, per the audit, as well as the mass exodus under the Trump administration of CFPB staff. 

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.
If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The Congressional Budget Office hit by a security incident

Senate Democrats are ratcheting up pressure on the White House over artificial intelligence data centers and the surging utility costs that have accompanied their nationwide buildout. In a letter sent Monday to Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, five senators blasted the Trump administration for the “sweetheart deals” it has made with Big Tech companies on data centers, and its “reckless abandonment” of consumers as their electricity bills soar. The letter, which was led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., states: “​​Since his second inauguration, President Trump has cozied up to Meta, Google, Oracle, OpenAI, and other Big Tech companies, fast-tracking and pushing for the buildout of power-hungry data centers across the country.” According to the letter — which was also signed by Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont — national power consumption from data centers could jump from 5% to 12% within three years, and even the White House noted in its AI Action Plan that “technological advancements of AI are increasing pressures on the grid.” At the same time, the second Trump administration has seemingly traded in the all-of-the-above approach to energy sources pursued during the president’s first term for a decidedly anti-renewables bent that the senators said has “supercharged this cost-of-living crisis by making it harder to increase and diversify sources of household electricity sources.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ push to modernize decades-old systems faced a technical issue earlier this year, delaying education benefits payments for tens of thousands of students at the start of the school year. A group of veterans’ service organizations, including the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), highlighted the issue this week, telling reporters that the technical glitch occurred in August, when the VA began converting benefits claims from its legacy system to a new processing system for Chapter 35 Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance. The VA launched its initiative to modernize the GI Bill process in 2022, and the Digital GI Bill platform was set to be fully operational by April 2024 but faced its own delays last year. A part of the multi-billion-dollar initiative involves overhauling multiple legacy systems, including those related to the education benefits process. Ashlynne Haycock-Lohmann, the director of government and legislative affairs at TAPS, told FedScoop in an interview that the veterans’ service community welcomes the changes to decades-old systems, but the timing around the school year could present risks.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Senate Democrats blast White House over ‘sweetheart’ AI data center deals

The Army is initiating massive organizational reforms for how it buys new weapons and capabilities in an effort to drastically shorten procurement timelines and promote innovation, according to top service officials. Announced Friday, the Army’s acquisition portfolio overhaul will consolidate the service’s program executive offices (PEOs) responsible for buying new weapons into six new offices called “portfolio acquisition executives” (PAEs). The plan also creates a new office dedicated to rapidly injecting and scaling emerging technologies into Army formations. The transformation comes after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced his intent to revamp acquisition processes across the entire Pentagon on Nov. 7, as well as an April directive from Hegseth that called on the Army to consolidate many aspects of the service — including its procurement organizations. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told reporters Wednesday ahead of the announcement that the new structure aims to mimic best practices from private industry, creating a new system that accepts risk and streamlines capability delivery.

The Defense Department’s civilian employees whose pay was impacted by the record-setting government shutdown and lapse in appropriations that ended this week are expecting to receive their missed paychecks retroactively. However, questions are swirling about the Pentagon’s plans as it reopened Thursday — including the timeline for that out-of-cycle backpay process, whether it will arrive in the form of lump sum payments, and more. According to a new policy memorandum from the White House Office of Personnel Management issued Wednesday after President Donald Trump signed legislation to fund the government: “Federal employees who did not receive pay because of the lapse in appropriations that began on October 1, 2025, must receive retroactive pay at the employee’s standard rate of pay for the lapse period as soon as possible after the lapse ends,” pursuant to the U.S. Code. That guidance applies explicitly to the department’s personnel affected by the lapse who were either furloughed or performed excepted work activities. Service members and some DOD civilians designated “essential” reported to work during the shutdown — but only military officials were paid. More than 1 million federal employees reportedly missed one partial and two full paychecks during this shutdown, which caused serious financial strain for public servants across the nation. Several reports surfaced this week regarding when the Pentagon might begin processing paychecks and how soon they could start to arrive. The DOD did not appear to publicly release final, comprehensive guidance with details on its workforce repayment schedule and plans.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The Army introduces a sweeping reform of its acquisition structure

storically tumultuous year for federal employees didn’t dim the public’s pre-shutdown view of government services, according to a new survey that largely credited tech adoption for the positive perceptions. The 2025 American Customer Satisfaction Index Federal Government Study, released Tuesday, found citizen satisfaction with federal government services at a 19-year high with a score of 70.4 on a 0-to-100 scale, a 1% jump from 2024. The survey of 6,914 randomly chosen respondents was conducted before the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, but ACSI’s director of research emeritus emphasized that the results still “reflect real momentum in improving how citizens experience federal services.” Forrest Morgeson, an associate professor of marketing at Michigan State in addition to his role at ACSI, said that the introduction of AI is making a large impact, and such advancement “signal a future where government services can be more responsive and accessible to all.” Many of the highest-ranking federal agencies in customer satisfaction were lauded for their implementation of technologies, including USDA, the State Department and the Small Business Administration. 

The National Institutes of Health didn’t ensure that the entity housing personal health information of over 1 million people — including biosamples — implemented proper cybersecurity protocols, according to an internal watchdog. In a report publicly released Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General made five recommendations for the security of the All of Us program — a database of diverse health information from 1 million participants that’s meant to aid research — after finding weaknesses. According to the report, while the award recipient operating the program’s Data and Research Center implemented some cybersecurity measures, NIH failed to ensure other controls were addressed.  The report found that NIH didn’t ensure that the awardee, which wasn’t identified, appropriately limited access to the program’s data and didn’t communicate national security concerns related to maintaining genomic data — or data relating to DNA. It also failed to ensure that weaknesses in security and privacy were fixed within a timeline outlined in federal requirements. The audit was initially conducted by the inspector general due to the threats that cyberattacks and the potential exposure of sensitive information can pose to the agency’s programs. The watchdog’s objective was to scrutinize the access, security and privacy controls of the program. 

Also in this episode: HPE Networking Chief AI Officer Bob Friday joins SNG host Wyatt Kash in a sponsored podcast discussion on how agencies can leverage cloud and AI to build more automated, secure and mission-ready networks. This segment was sponsored by HPE.

The CIA looks to commercial technologies to fuel innovation

Perplexity AI, an AI-powered search engine, is ramping up its push for government use, inking a new deal with the General Services Administration to offer its product for just 25 cents per agency. GSA announced the deal with Perplexity on Wednesday, emphasizing that the product will be offered directly through the agency’s Multiple Award Schedule rather than through a government reseller, a first-of-its-kind agreement. The move aligns with GSA’s OneGov initiative, which aims to work directly with technology vendors to cut prices and streamline contracting. Under the deal, Perplexity’s Enterprise Pro for Government will be available on GSA’s MAS for a quarter to agencies over an 18-month term. In doing so, Perplexity also received prioritized authorization under FedRAMP, the government’s primary security review program that approves cloud-based technologies for federal use. Perplexity is only the second company to do so, joining OpenAI, which received prioritized authorization in September. According to GSA, Perplexity’s Enterprise platform was also streamlined through the FedRAMP 20x pilot, which is focused on simplifying the cloud services approval process and reducing the timeline from months to weeks. Perplexity’s platform uses large language models from other companies, such as Anthropic’s Claude or OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to conduct real-time internet searches and generate summaries for users. GSA noted Perplexity’s platform has optional connections to common agency systems like Microsoft’s OneDrive, Outlook or SharePoint.

The Department of Health and Human Services is exploring how artificial intelligence can support caregivers with the launch of a new $2 million prize competition for AI caregiver tools. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the “Caregiver Artificial Intelligence Prize Competition” at an event Tuesday for National Family Caregivers Month, stating the agency is calling on engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs to use AI to “make caregiving smarter, simpler and more humane.” Kennedy said: “Many caregivers work around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, taking care of their loved ones with lifelong disabilities, dementia or chronic illness. Too many lose their income, their job, their aspirations and ambitions for themselves and even their own health in the process.” The HHS’s Administration for Community Living (ACL) emphasized that the direct care workforce is facing increased shortages, leaving family caregivers to fill the void. According to an AARP report published in July, nearly 1 in 4 adults provided ongoing care for an adult or child with a complex medical condition or disability. These caregivers spend, on average, about $7,200 a year in out-of-pocket caregiving expenses, the report found. The competition will seek tools that benefit the professional care workforce or personal caregivers. Developers could be awarded up to $2 million for the products.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Perplexity becomes second AI platform cleared for FedRAMP prioritization

President Donald Trump appears to be eyeing an executive order that would target individual state efforts to rein in artificial intelligence and initiate several actions aimed at preempting those laws. A draft order viewed by FedScoop includes plans to establish an AI litigation task force to challenge state AI statutes, restrict funding for states with AI laws that the administration views as “onerous,” and launch efforts to preempt state laws via the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and legislation. In response to a FedScoop inquiry about the six-page draft order, which was also marked “deliberative” and “predecisional,” a White House official said that until announced officially, “discussion about potential executive orders is speculation.” The document comes as long-discussed desires by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to preempt state AI laws and clear the field for AI companies appear to be coming to a head. Republican lawmakers are again planning to include a state AI law moratorium in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, and Trump, in a Tuesday social media post, voiced clear support for a federal standard to be included in the NDAA or another bill.

The Defense Department’s CTO has revised its list of critical technology areas — reducing the number of research-and-development priorities by more than half. The Pentagon announced on Monday that the 14 critical technology areas established during the Biden administration will be trimmed to just six categories. In a video shared on LinkedIn, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael emphasized that the shortened list will steer the department’s efforts to efficiently deliver the emerging capabilities that warfighters need. Michael said Monday in a statement: “When I stepped into this role, our office had identified 14 critical technology areas. While each of these areas holds value, such a broad list dilutes focus and fails to highlight the most urgent needs of the warfighter. 14 priorities, in truth, means no priorities at all.” The focus areas in the updated catalog include applied artificial intelligence (AAI); biomanufacturing; contested logistics technologies (LOG); quantum and battlefield information dominance (Q-BID); scaled directed energy (SCADE); and scaled hypersonics (SHY). Since its creation, the Pentagon’s outline of critical technology areas has included the most pressing challenges and capabilities needed for modern warfare. The list serves as a guide for where the department should focus its investment, research and development efforts.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The Trump admin is readying an executive order on state AI law preemption

The Defense Department’s Blue UAS program maintains an ever-expanding index of commercial drones that are meant to be devoid of components from adversary nations including China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, and endorsed for speedier purchasing by U.S. military buyers. This list of compliant options is growing rapidly in late 2025 as the government moves to incentivize the adoption of more affordable U.S.-made drone products for modern military operations, and simultaneously reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign supply chains. Blue UAS also marks a key feature of the second Trump administration’s plan for “unleashing American drone dominance.” However, multiple sources told DefenseScoop this month that the majority of the unmanned aerial systems cleared through this effort have motors that are sourced in China. One former senior defense official who was granted anonymity to speak freely said: “It’s a big enough problem that we should do something. If you don’t have motors, you can’t fly a drone.” They added: “And I think if you had to pick the top three [Chinese components that are currently in Blue UAS-approved platforms], it would be the motors, the batteries and the electric speed controllers — if you want to call them, like, ‘dumb’ parts.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is asking the Trump administration to detail any plans it has to subsidize AI companies, alleging that OpenAI might be positioning itself for such relief, despite denials by its leadership. Warren’s Tuesday letter comes as the ChatGPT owner has faced questions in recent weeks about the health of its finances and whether it’s becoming so enmeshed in the U.S. economy that the federal government should or would prevent its failure — in other words, whether it’s become “too big to fail.” The speculation was enough to elicit a response from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who earlier this month pushed back on the theories in a social media post and said the company should not be bailed out in the event of failure. Yet, Warren is still seeking information about any potential plans by the government to “prop up” the company, arguing OpenAI’s decisions paint a different picture. Warrend wrote: “While Mr. Altman has claimed that the company is not looking for a ‘bail out,’ OpenAI’s actions suggest that it may be pursuing a deliberate strategy to entangle itself with the federal government and the broader economy so the government has no choice but to step in with public funds. We have seen this before: take on enough debt, make enough risky bets, and then demand a taxpayer bailout when those bets go south so the economy does not crash.” The letter was addressed to White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, and asks for assurances that the administration will not bail out OpenAI or any of its competitors should they fail.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Pentagon’s growing list of ‘made in America’ drones has a loophole for certain parts made in China

The Department of Heath and Human Services has been leaning into the use of artificial intelligence to drive better health outcomes for the American public, highlighted by the rollout of ChatGPT across the agency early this fall. In particular, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been a leader in generative AI adoption since 2023. And Travis Hoppe, CDC’s chief AI officer, believes AI innovation can continue to move the needle on public health operations. Hoppe joined me recently onstage at FedTalks to share the latest on CDC’s AI journey, how the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan is guiding the agency’s implementation and what’s next.

The National Nuclear Security Administration is looking for information on potential AI uses for its mission, following an executive order to establish an integrated AI platform that will fuel scientific discovery. In a request for information posted to SAM.gov on Monday, the Department of Energy subcomponent that oversees the nation’s nuclear stockpile said it’s exploring the use of the budding technology, and specifically requested information about its use in classified environments, best practices for data curation, and how to approach developing and enhancing AI models, among other things. The request comes just a week after the Trump administration launched the “Genesis Mission,” aimed at scientific discovery through AI. That effort will not only create an AI platform for such discovery, but it will also depend on the country’s existing research and development infrastructure, including DOE and its national labs. To further the Genesis program, NNSA said it’s proactively exploring the use of AI for its “critical operations to accelerate nuclear weapons development timelines, ensuring our deterrent remains responsive, effective, and state-of-the-art against evolving global threats.”

Software company SAP inked a new agreement with the General Services Administration to offer federal agencies access to its services at significantly discounted rates, deepening its longstanding partnership with the federal government. The GSA announced the OneGov deal Tuesday, stating that the agreement offers up to 80 percent discounts on SAP’s database, cloud, and analytics services. The agency estimated this will lead to $165 million in savings for federal agencies. Specifically, agencies will be able to access products related to SAP’s database and data management services with an 80 percent discount. SAP’s cloud services, including SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Analytics Cloud and HR Payroll, will be offered at a 35 percent discount, GSA said.

Also in this episode: Databricks VP of Public Sector Todd Schroeder joins SNG host Wyatt Kash in a sponsored podcast discussion on why agencies are prioritizing the use of AI that works across existing data environments, saving time and infrastructure costs. This segment was sponsored by Databricks.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

How the CDC is using AI to revolutionize public health

A bill that would overhaul how the federal government purchases software has found itself in a familiar place: moving forward in the House while awaiting Senate consideration with just a few weeks left in the congressional calendar. The Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets (SAMOSA) Act advanced out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday, teeing it up for a vote in the full chamber. The SAMOSA Act, which would direct federal agencies to assess their software licensing practices and streamline future IT buying decisions to avoid duplicative purchases, was reintroduced in the House in September following the Senate’s move to do the same in July. The bill passed the House a year ago but stalled out in the upper chamber, despite backing from a host of software and IT trade groups, including the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the Alliance for Digital Innovation, NetChoice, OpenPolicy and the Software Information Industry Association. Congress has been trying to move forward with the SAMOSA Act since at least 2022. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., noted during Tuesday’s markup that the current iteration of the SAMOSA Act is “identical” to what passed the chamber last year.

In other news: The Small Business Administration may soon be forced to confront the flawed rollout of an online certification platform it launched late in the Biden administration.The House on Monday passed a bill that would require the SBA to implement nearly a dozen recommendations made in a Government Accountability Office report about the agency’s Unified Certification Platform for small business contracting assistance. The lawmakers behind the SBA IT Modernization Reporting Act — Reps. Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., and Brian Jack, R-Ga. — believe the legislation will help the agency avoid various pitfalls that plagued the UCP, helping it better develop and manage digital projects going forward. The UCP project was launched in 2023 with the goal of easing small businesses’ interactions with the SBA’s contract assistance programs. But deployment of the platform was delayed and applications for certification were paused in August 2024. The UCP went live two months later, but according to the GAO, work to migrate data and secure the system was incomplete. House Small Business Committee Chair Roger Williams said before Monday’s vote that the “failed … portal rollout resulted in delays, errors and cybersecurity risks, shutting out small businesses from the vital government contracting opportunities.”

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Agency software-buying bill advances in the House

The Trump administration is aiming to release its six-part national cybersecurity strategy in January, according to multiple sources familiar with the document. The document, which is a mere five pages long, will possibly be followed by an executive order to implement the new strategy. The administration has been soliciting feedback in recent days, which one source considered more of a “messaging” document than anything, with more important work to follow. According to sources familiar with the strategy, the six “pillars” focus on cyber offense and deterrence; aligning regulations to make them more uniform; bolstering the cyber workforce; federal procurement; critical infrastructure protection; and emerging technologies. An opening section of the draft offers a Trumpian call for a more muscular approach to cyberspace. Despite its short length — the Biden administration’s cybersecurity strategy was 35 pages long — it touches on a significant number of topics. Those subjects include cybercrime, China, artificial intelligence, post-quantum cryptography and more. A source told CyberScoop the administration appeared genuinely interested in soliciting feedback on the strategy to incorporate or change. The release date of the strategy is fluid. While the administration is targeting January, its publication might follow the broader national security strategy.

In other news: Anthropic’s Claude for Government is now available across the Department of Health and Human Services, according to an internal announcement obtained by FedScoop. The launch was announced in an email to staff Wednesday from HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, and comes two months after the department made ChatGPT available to all of its workers. O’Neill encouraged workers to use either ChatGPT or Claude for their queries or “ask both and compare the responses.” He said in his email: “HHS users can work confidently and securely, with minimal restrictions on the types of information entered, while maintaining full compliance with federal cybersecurity and privacy standards. With this release, we are ensuring that all divisions, programs, and employees have access to two secure cutting-edge AI capabilities.”    The email doesn’t mention specific contracting details of how HHS is providing access to the tool, but ChatGPT at least was provided through the company’s nearly free OneGov deal with the General Services Administration. Anthropic similarly has such a deal with GSA to offer its services to government customers for a nominal fee of $1.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Peraton has emerged as the winner to overhaul the air traffic control system, securing a contract to oversee the multi-billion dollar project with the Federal Aviation Administration. In an announcement Thursday night, the FAA said the Virginia-based technology firm will be the integrator for the project. Initial funding includes a $12.8 billion infusion from Congress as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill earlier this year, but the agency is eyeing billions more to complete the project. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said an additional $20 billion will be needed to finish the modernization effort. Bedford said in a statement included in the release: “This is a long-term investment in the future of air travel, and we’re committed to getting it right.”. According to the agency, Peraton had capabilities that matched the needs of the project, including “integrating complex tech platforms and successful collaboration with federal government agencies.” The project is planned to take just three years. The FAA’s search for an integrator for the modernization effort began earlier this year and came amid concerns over its aging air traffic control systems. The issues with the existing infrastructure range from IT outages that cause travel delays to the continued use of antiquated technology, such as floppy disks. In a public appearance in September, Bedford said the current system is “failing every day.”

The Education Department informed numerous Office of Civil Rights employees Friday that they are expected to return to work later this month while they await a court ruling on reduction-in-force orders that sidelined them nearly eight months ago. Multiple workers in Education’s OCR told FedScoop they received notices from the agency late Friday afternoon. Those notices stated that they are expected to return in person to their assigned-duty location on either Dec. 15 or 29. The notice, according to four copies obtained by FedScoop, said the following: “While RIF notices are tolled during litigation, it is important to refocus OCR’s work and utilize all OCR staff to prioritize OCR’s existing complaint caseload.” The notice stated: “In order for OCR to pursue its mission with all available resources, all those individuals currently being compensated by the Department need to meet their employee performance expectations and contribute to the enforcement of existing civil rights complaints.” The agency told workers this will boost enforcement activities in a way that “serves and benefits parents, students, and families.” Workers have until Monday to inform the agency if they do not plan on returning to their positions.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Peraton wins deal to oversee multi-billion-dollar FAA air traffic control modernization

As 2025 and the first year of the second Trump administration come to a close, Federal CIO Greg Barbaccia sat down with FedScoop reporter Madison Alder for a wide-ranging interview on the state of federal IT, including critical initiatives like FedRAMP modernization, AI adoption, federal tech talent, the consolidation of federal tech and contracting, what’s ahead in 2026, and much more.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

A special interview with Federal CIO Greg Barbaccia

The Trump administration outlined management plans for implementing its priorities Monday in a brief agenda focused on downsizing the government, leveraging federal buying power, and implementing technology solutions. At just two pages, the President’s Management Agenda framework and memo from Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought is shorter than past versions. Nonetheless, the plan largely reflects the existing focuses of the administration. For example, the government will continue to “eliminate woke, weaponization, and waste,” specifically calling to “end discrimination” and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. It will also maintain cuts to the federal workforce. The president’s first year has already been characterized by his significant shrinking of the federal workforce and cuts to programs related to DEI. Continuing plans for technology use and contracting were mentioned in the agenda. Per the document, the government plans to “consolidate and standardize systems,” reduce the number of federal websites, “eliminate data silos” in government, and replace “wasteful processes” with AI. 

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration is moving forward on several modernization and AI projects with help from the Technology Modernization Fund. The more than $28 million investment will go toward three main initiatives: implementing machine learning to track fire boundaries and enable data sharing between systems for NNSA’s FireGuard program; migrating its Turbo FRMAC radiological assessment tool to a cloud-based platform; and improving AI infrastructure to mitigate nuclear-security threats and enhance its cybersecurity posture.  NNSA CIO James Wolff said in a LinkedIn post Tuesday, days before the funding vehicle is set to expire: “TMF has given us the chance to accelerate mission critical work while also improving the technology infrastructure for the Genesis Mission.” NNSA was quick to mobilize after a Trump administration executive order last month launched a national AI effort dubbed the Genesis Mission, which put the DOE at the helm of the majority of the efforts. 

What Trump’s management agenda says about tech

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to limit states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence and pave the way for a “minimally burdensome” national policy framework for the emerging technology. The move caps a monthslong saga among policymakers in Washington over how to regulate the rapidly evolving technology at the federal level, as states take matters into their own hands in the absence of any nationwide standards. The order is a significant win for several major AI developers that argue that a patchwork of state AI regulations hampers innovation and competitiveness on the global stage. Its provisions have the potential to impact the hundreds of state laws.

The Office of Management and Budget released long-awaited guidance Thursday that outlined how federal agencies are expected to ensure that artificial intelligence models are “unbiased” when procured and deployed by the government. The memo from OMB Director Russell Vought addresses some questions that arose after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last July to prevent “woke AI” in the federal government. The order, signed alongside the release of the White House AI Action Plan, stated the federal government has an obligation not to procure models “that sacrificed truthfulness and accuracy to ideological agendas.” The order did not provide details on how agencies should evaluate models and directed OMB to issue guidance. The seven-page memo fulfills this directive by outlining how agencies must approach contractual requirements for new partnerships, modify existing contracts, and update their procurement policies.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Trump signs executive order curbing state regulation of AI

The Trump administration launched a new governmentwide hiring program Monday aimed at filling technology hiring gaps in federal agencies with workers who will serve in two-year stints. That program, dubbed the U.S. Tech Force, is being spearheaded by the Office of Personnel Management and has buy-in from private-sector tech companies that will serve as partners in the hiring initiative.The first cohort of recruits will be roughly 1,000 individuals who will range from early-career data scientists and engineers to engineering managers from the private sector. According to a release from OPM, their mission will be to accelerate AI adoption in government and fulfill a priority of the Trump administration. On a call with reporters Monday, OPM Director Scott Kupor said the goal of the program isn’t to get workers to commit to “a 40-year career in federal government.” While that’s welcome, he said, the aim is to “get the benefit of really smart people working on some of the world’s most complex and difficult problems” and provide them with an opportunity, if they so choose, to then go work in the private sector. More than two dozen technology companies have already agreed to Tech Force partnerships, including Amazon Web Services, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Anduril, Nvidia, Oracle, Adobe and ServiceNow. Those companies have not made firm agreements to hire program alumni but can do so in line with their needs, Kupor said. The commitment that OPM has made to those partners, he said, is “to do a great job of recruiting fantastic people.”

The White House and Office of Personnel Management shared more details last Wednesday about the effort to transition federal government HR platforms to a single system, outlining a timeline and expectations. In a memo to agency leaders, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and OPM Director Scott Kupor said the transition portion of the administration’s “Federal HR 2.0” project will take place over the next two years, with some agencies coming online earlier than others. Agencies must also stop current projects related to their current systems unless they have an exception. Kupor said in an emailed statement with the memo: “For too long, taxpayers have footed the bill for duplicative HR systems that no modern organization would tolerate. Today’s announcement is a major win for efficiency, accountability, and good government.” The memo is the latest action in the Trump administration’s push to centralize HR systems as a way of saving money. Per the document, the government currently has more than 100 “core human capital management” systems, and the administration expects that consolidating those systems — as well as HR services — will save billions.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

OPM launches Tech Force to recruit technologists to government

The House on Monday passed a bill that would revamp how agencies purchase software, putting the legislation in the same place it was a year ago: waiting for the Senate to follow suit as the clock ticks down on the congressional calendar. The Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets (SAMOSA) Act would require agencies to examine their software licensing practices, with the aim of streamlining IT buying practices to avoid duplicative purchases. The bill is identical to legislation that passed the House last December but did not move forward in the Senate. The House bill, co-sponsored by Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, Pat Fallon, R-Texas, and April McClain Delaney, D-Md., would press agencies to better manage their software without limiting procurement options. They would be required to submit IT assessments to the Office of Management and Budget, the General Services Administration and Congress, so better oversight could be conducted. On the House floor Monday, Brown credited her three co-sponsors as well as former Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who died of cancer in May after taking the lead on this bill in addition to his myriad other government IT efforts. Brown, ranking member of the House Oversight Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation subcommittee, said the SAMOSA Act is a “straightforward good government bill that has strong bipartisan support from members of the Oversight Committee.”

A new bill from Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., would establish a national network of cloud laboratories led by the National Science Foundation and supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, with the goal of enhancing collaboration between institutions while improving research efficiency with AI. If passed, NSF will select up to six programmable cloud laboratories from a range of applicants, including academic institutions and private-sector research groups. NIST would be tasked with setting standards and reporting to Congress about the feasibility for expansion. The bill, introduced last week, aligns with provisions laid out by the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan and aims to codify existing NSF proposals, according to the sponsors. NSF earmarked $100 million for a similar AI-powered cloud network in August as it looked to expand access to emerging technologies. Researchers in the co-sponsors’ home states have developed methods to ease automated discoveries, which will serve as a blueprint for the national effort. NSF will judge applicants on the level of existing data integration and automated capability infrastructure and capacity to support multi-user cloud workflows, among other criteria. In addition to bipartisan backing, the legislation garnered support from officials at Carnegie Mellon University, the Accelerate Science Now coalition and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon.

If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

House passes agency software-buying bill, waits on Senate again

Douglas Matty is exiting his role as the Pentagon’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer and moving on to focus on the Trump administration’s “Golden Dome for America” missile defense initiative, DefenseScoop has learned.     Principal Deputy CDAO Andrew Mapes will lead the department’s AI hub in an acting capacity until a new CDAO is hired. Ahead of reaching full operational capacity in 2022, the AI-accelerating office merged and integrated multiple technology-focused predecessor organizations at the Pentagon, including the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), Defense Digital Service (DDS), Office of the Chief Data Officer, and the Maven and Advana programs. The DOD’s vision and priorities for the CDAO have been reconfigured several times since its inception. And while AI is a major priority for the U.S. government under President Donald Trump, the Pentagon’s CDAO office has seen an exodus of senior leaders and other technical employees this year. Matty’s departure also comes as the office is hustling to execute on a range of DOD-wide efforts to speed up the delivery and fielding of data analytics, automation, computer vision, machine learning and other next-generation AI capabilities for military and civilian personnel. Last week, Pentagon leaders unveiled a new purpose-built platform — GenAI.mil — to provide commercial options directly to most of its workforce on their desktops.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has tapped ID.me to verify the identities of beneficiaries on Medicare.gov, according to a Tuesday announcement from the identity-proofing company.  ID.me will be available as an option for identity verification and sign-in on Medicare.gov starting in early 2026, per the release. The deal adds to the growing number of federal programs opting to use the digital identity service that leverages facial recognition technology and has been the subject of some controversy in the past. Already, ID.me is used at 21 federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs, per the release. Opting in means an ID.me user could sign in with the same credentials at any of the other federal, state or private-sector entities that use the service, the company said in a statement to FedScoop.


Pentagon AI chief departing to work on Golden Dome effort

A podcast covering the latest news & trends facing top government leaders on topics such as technology, management & workforce. Hosted by Billy Mitchell on FedScoop and released Monday-Friday.

The Daily Scoop Podcast

Popular tracks