Breaking News
Defense
Trump directs government to ‘immediately cease’ using Anthropic technology
Ban follows AI firm’s refusal to enable mass surveillance, autonomous weapons.
Digital Government
These former government tech leaders are prepping day-one plans for a future administration
Mikey Dickerson, the first head of the U.S. Digital Service, is a senior advisor for the effort, called the Tech Viaduct.
Ideas
Memo to JD Vance: Fighting the war on waste
COMMENTARY | The White House's proposed war on fraud, waste and abuse is neither new nor an assured outcome for any presidential administration, but history offers some lessons that can help get started.
Policy
White House ‘war on fraud’ to begin with freezing Medicaid payments to Minnesota
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the move “retribution.”
Policy
White House seeks clean extension on controversial spying law
Despite Donald Trump’s previous misgivings, his administration is signaling confidence in the statute with its current stance.
Artificial Intelligence
Trump unveils Big Tech pledge to offset rising data center energy costs
President Donald Trump’s national address touched on the rising energy costs incurred by increasing AI use, in addition to reinforcing his administration’s imperative to tackle fraud in government programs.
Digital Government
House Democrats say TrumpRx portal exaggerates prescription discounts
Despite the White House’s claim that the platform offers the world’s lowest prices on prescriptions, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a report saying “for nearly half of the drugs listed on TrumpRx, that is either misleading or completely false.”
Digital Government
New White House design team aims for ‘delightful’ websites — changing design ethos in the process
Trump’s chief design officer says that his work shouldn’t be controversial, but his team’s track record has raised questions about who their websites are for, who they leave out and whether the White House can garner trust based on sleek design alone.
People
Top NSC cyber official returns to academia
For the last year, JD Work was a high-ranking official working on cyber policy within the White House National Security Council.
Artificial Intelligence
Republican governor asserts states’ right to legislate AI
Utah Governor Spencer Cox acknowledged the logic to the Trump administration’s plan for U.S. AI dominance, but not at the expense of state laws ensuring safety.
Cybersecurity
US cyber responses will be ‘linked to adversary actions’ and involve industry coordination, official says
That dynamic will be outlined in a national cyber strategy, which will be released “soon,” said ONCD’s Alexandra Seymour.
Policy
White House will hold meeting to discuss renewal of controversial spying power
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is set to expire this spring unless renewed by lawmakers.
Digital Government
Trump’s nutrition website directs users to Elon Musk’s Grok
The inclusion of Elon Musk’s chatbot in the government website follows backlash over the chatbot creating millions of sexualized images of women and children.
Exclusive
Emerging Tech
Draft quantum order tasks many agencies with reinvigorating the tech’s development
The order outlines a widespread effort to plan for increased quantum innovation, private sector cooperation and international partnership in pursuit of a quantum computer for scientific applications and discovery.
Policy
As Trump administration cries ‘fraud,’ experts worry it does more harm than good
“It’s dismaying,” one longtime anti-fraud expert told Nextgov/FCW of how the administration is using fraud as rationale but firing the watchdogs that are tasked with finding it.
Artificial Intelligence
Trump policies are helping ensure the US leads in global AI revolution, White House economic advisers argue
A new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers highlights several metrics that could forecast AI’s impact on the economy, and advocates for President Donald Trump’s AI policy stances as important to American success.
People
Trump officials consider skipping premier cyber conference after Biden-era cyber leader named CEO
Jen Easterly, who led the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under Biden, was named CEO of RSAC Conference Thursday.
People
Trump renominates Plankey to lead CISA
The cyberdefense agency has been without a permanent director for the past year.
People
White House creates new assistant attorney general focused on fraud
The vice president told reporters the new position will also be involved in addressing “the people who are defrauding the United States by inciting violence against our law enforcement officers” after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
People