Technology Modernization Fund reauthorization not included in NDAA

Lawmakers opted not to include a reauthorization package for the Technology Modernization Fund in the final negotiated text for the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act that was released Sunday night. 

This means the fund’s future is unclear with just four days to go until its authorization expires, as TMF backers were gunning for the NDAA as a way to get its reauthorization to the finish line.

Without reauthorization, nearly $160 million in funding for government technology will effectively be frozen, as GSA will be able to oversee existing investments but not make any new ones.

The revolving fund, set up in 2017, is meant to help government agencies pay for yearslong modernization projects that don’t fit well within the annual appropriations cycle.

This week, for example, the National Nuclear Security Administration received over $28 million to build artificial intelligence models for nuclear security and to modernize its emergency response systems used for wildfire alerts and in radiological or nuclear emergencies. 

Political leadership at the Office of Management and Budget and at the General Services Administration, which houses the fund, have been making their support for the fund known to lawmakers, and the House Oversight and Reform Committee had asked for the TMF reauthorization to be included in the defense bill.

"The Committee plans to advance a reauthorization bill at a scheduled markup in the new year," a spokesperson for the panel said in a statement.

Another possibility is “authorization by appropriations,” if lawmakers add money to the TMF or include explicit authorization language in a funding bill.

Still, appropriators have often decided not to put more money into the TMF since Congress created it eight years ago, apart from a $1 billion plus-up in the American Rescue Plan Act, which later was reduced by $100 million.

The administration pitched a new funding model for TMF in the most recent budget request, asking lawmakers to let GSA take money from other agencies and put it into the fund, instead of asking appropriators for more money.

A GSA spokesperson told Nextgov/FCW that "the TMF has saved 378 million work hours for Americans and delivered billions in cost savings. Without reauthorization, the administration's priorities around shared services and AI adoption will falter, cybersecurity improvements will stall, and we risk losing critical modernization momentum."

"We're actively working with Congress to secure the authorization this program needs," they added.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include a statement from GSA.