Policy
House passes two-tiered stopgap bill days before shutdown
The novel approach to avert a funding lapse now heads to the Senate.
Artificial Intelligence
CISA releases roadmap to guide its AI efforts
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released plans to pursue five lines of effort in support of the administration’s AI objectives.
Digital Government
Labor Department calls on states to reevaluate unemployment benefit accessibility
Access to unemployment has been declining and differs drastically across demographic groups. The Labor Department is urging states and territories to do something about it in new guidance.
Artificial Intelligence
Pentagon initiative shows AI helps leaders decide in a ‘data-driven way,’ official says
The deputy chief of the Pentagon’s AI office said the adoption of new tools and technologies is helping the department’s combatant commanders “access information and make better decisions.”
Digital Government
Customer satisfaction with government jumps again
Citizen satisfaction increased almost 3% in 2023, according to the latest data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
People
House punts effort to impeach Biden cabinet secretary
Some Republicans joined Democrats to postpone the exceedingly rare effort.
Digital Government
White House spectrum strategy leans into sharing, tech standards
The Biden administration is targeting 2,786 MHz of spectrum to study for possible sharing or reallocation to commercial users.
Emerging Tech
House proposal prohibits agencies’ use of blockchain tech tied to China
The bipartisan bill would limit the government’s ability to acquire or enter into contracts with firms that use “covered distributed ledger technology and blockchain equipment or services.”
Ideas
Driving innovation from the middle
COMMENTARY | NASA's Jennifer Elkins is an example of how senior civil servants can affect change in large organizations.
Digital Government
Labor Department to use TMF to build a retirement ‘lost and found’
The registry will enable people to search for private employment retirement, group health and other welfare benefit plans that still owe them benefits.
People
VA attributes record-breaking year to massive increases in hiring
The department will now focus on retaining those employees through various incentives and process improvements, officials say.
Artificial Intelligence
What are agencies doing with AI? A bipartisan Senate duo wants to know.
Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, sent letters to three federal agencies probing into their use of artificial intelligence systems.
Cybersecurity
AI can help agencies enhance their cyber defense, study finds
General Dynamics Information Technology’s recent survey of 200 federal officials involved in cyber decisions found that AI tools could help address human-caused vulnerabilities.
Digital Government
House GOP pulls funding bill covering IRS, GSA, OMB and more
The leadership team around new House Speaker Mike Johnson removed the bill — which would have defunded GSA’s digital services team, 18F — from floor consideration because of an intra-party policy dispute.
Breaking News
People
IRS taps new CIO
The current acting CIO of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Rajiv Uppal, has been selected to take the top tech post post at the IRS — the latest in a series of leadership changes in the CIO shop at the tax agency in recent months.
Cybersecurity
NIST releases revised cyber requirements for controlled unclassified information
The proposed revisions will ideally serve as a “balanced, strong starting point” for agencies and contractors that deal with sensitive information, a NIST official said.
Artificial Intelligence
ACLU warns of free-speech risks in FEC oversight of AI-generated election ads
The civil liberties group expressed concern over a possible Federal Election Commission rulemaking that would call out content generated by artificial intelligence in the agency’s regulations on fraudulent misrepresentation.
Acquisition
Biden wants better deals from contractors
A new administration push is underway to leverage procurement data and purchasing power to generate savings.
Digital Government
OMB previews tech accessibility guidance
Federal Chief Information Officer Clare Martorana said coming guidance will focus both on external- and internal-facing government tech.
Cybersecurity