Digital Government

GSA joins White House’s fraud prevention task force

The agency said it will support the unit’s efforts by identifying waste, fraud and abuse across government contracting programs.

Exclusive Digital Government

The White House is ordering agencies to place its new app on all employees’ government phones

The newly created, often overtly political app places the Trump administration into unprecedented and “dangerous” territory, IT experts say.

Digital Government

DOGE is about making government services easier to access, its head says

In a rare public speaking appearance in which DOGE was discussed, its acting administrator Amy Gleason painted a different vision of its work than that pursued during the government-slashing efforts last year.

Digital Government

Senators ask watchdog to probe IRS Free File program

The IRS is relying on the Free File partnership with tax prep companies to offer most Americans a free way to file online after cancelling Direct File, a government-run alternative.

Digital Government

Advocates pledge action to restore digital equity grants

One year after President Donald Trump rescinded the funds, various groups and lawmakers have kicked off a month of action to push for their restoration.

Digital Government

White House withholds $1.3B in Medicaid payments to California amid broader fraud crackdown

Vice President JD Vance said the administration will audit states’ Medicaid Fraud Control Units and threatened to “turn off” federal funding for the watchdogs if their fraud prevention efforts are found to be deficient.

Digital Government

A NOAA-backed tool shows the hidden value of healthier shorelines

The SHORE-BET calculator helps communities estimate the long-term value of marsh restoration and living shorelines, putting numbers behind storm protection, habitat gains and other benefits that are often easy to see up close but harder to measure broadly.

Digital Government

The State Department looks to build on the success of online passport renewal

The agency’s second attempt at moving the passport renewal process online has enabled millions to navigate the process in a fraction of the time it used to take.

Digital Government

House votes to make IRS publish call metrics online

The bill would require the tax agency to release detailed, real time and monthly call metrics. The House also passed a technology proposal meant to move the IRS off paper.

Digital Government

Congress tries again on national preemptive data privacy law

House Republican leaders unveiled two new bills last week in the latest federal attempt to regulate data privacy, preempting states’ existing laws.

Digital Government

Treasury missed security controls in giving DOGE system access, GAO finds

The finding is among the first oversight reports Congress’ watchdog has released about the controversial cost-cutting team.

Exclusive Digital Government

GSA taps Greg Hogan as head of government’s identity proofing service, Login.gov

Hogan previously worked at the Office of Personnel Management, an early DOGE stronghold, and more recently in the White House’s National Design Studio.

Digital Government

Agencies doled out $186B in improper payments last year, GAO says

That fiscal year 2025 improper payment number is up by $24 billion from the previous fiscal year, even as the Trump administration says that it’s tamping down on fraud.

Digital Government

NIST is giving fingerprint examiners better tools for a messy job

A newly annotated fingerprint dataset combined with open-source software could help forensic examiners work more consistently, train more effectively and sort through evidence faster.

Digital Government

IRS lacks transparent plans to leverage tech in the face of staffing cuts, GAO and employees say

Agency leaders are “shoving AI at us,” one IRS employee said, despite the fact that “they don’t have the right tools for us yet.”

Digital Government

Sessions introduces bill to set up a new Treasury fraud watchdog

The proposal from the co-chair of the House DOGE Caucus comes after President Donald Trump fired nearly 20 agency inspectors general last year.

Exclusive Digital Government

VA has touted appointment wait time reductions, but new data shows a more mixed reality

A comparative analysis of select wait-time data for new patients at more than 100 medical centers indicates the department has made progress in some areas, but not all.

Digital Government

Appeals court removes limits on DOGE access to SSA data despite ‘alarming’ revelations

The Friday decision follows a January court filing in which the government conceded that DOGE associates may have improperly accessed sensitive data at the agency.

Digital Government

Treasury is creating a database with pandemic aid recipients’ sensitive information

Critics say the scope established in the agency’s systems of record notice “is an astonishing and dramatic departure from prior Treasury practice.”

Digital Government

Social Security delays launch of new nationwide caseload system

The agency is postponing the rollout of new, national systems the same month they were set to be deployed. It was still working out specifics for how it would move claims processing to a national setup.