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People
Social Security is directing employees who normally process benefits to answer phones instead
After shedding thousands of employees, SSA is reassigning workers amid fears the moves will cause backlogs to grow.
People
Agencies lost around 20,000 tech workers last year — and now the Trump admin is hiring
All six departments and agencies that lost the most IT talent currently have open job listings for such roles.
People
Inside the federal CIO’s culture-first approach
Gregory Barbaccia told Nextgov/FCW that his priorities for the coming year are aimed at making change at scale in government IT.
Digital Government
US withdraws from the Open Government Partnership — which it helped create
“Anyone who has followed developments over the last year will not be surprised by this decision of the U.S. government,” the CEO of the multilateral global initiative said in a statement.
Digital Government
Federal CIO says he’s zeroed in on government service delivery
That effort has new accountability levers and top-down support that can be helpful in driving change, CX leaders from the Office of Management and Budget said Friday.
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.
Digital Government
Senators demand details on DOGE’s data access following revelations of improperly shared SSA data
While Sens. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are asking for more information from SSA, Democrats in the lower chamber want to compel the agency to hand it over using a “resolution of inquiry.”
Digital Government
Agriculture’s failure to force SNAP card upgrades is causing $555M in lost benefits, watchdog says
The Trump administration’s imperative to combat fraud has largely focused on recipients scamming the system, rather than becoming victims of fraudsters themselves.
Digital Government
DOGE officials face Hatch Act referrals for work with org aiming to ‘overturn election results’
DOGE employees also shared Social Security data using the third-party server Cloudflare, and according to new court documents, SSA still doesn’t know what data was shared and if its still on Cloudflare.
Modernization
Funding bill extends TMF and cyber measures through September
The authorization for the Technology Modernization Fund had lapsed in December, leaving its leadership unable to make new investments.
People
Trump’s Tech Force hiring effort extends application deadline
Ethical questions remain about how managers from the approximately 30 industry partners involved in the program will work for the government without triggering conflicts of interest.
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Digital Government
Bill to improve government’s anti-fraud checks heads to Trump’s desk
House lawmakers passed a bipartisan proposal on Monday to give the Treasury Department’s Do Not Pay system permanent access to death records at the Social Security Administration.
Policy
Trump administration gets less tech funding than requested in new bicameral bills
The fund that supports the U.S. DOGE Service would receive less than half of what was requested, and the bills do not include explicit reauthorization for the Technology Modernization Fund.
People
GSA’s procurement chief is attending negotiations for Ukraine and Gaza
Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum most recently attended a “coalition of the willing” in Paris to discuss Ukrainian security.
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
US DOGE Service is hiring following mass workforce losses across the government
The group housing Trump’s controversial cost-cutting program is one of several tech teams that are recruiting.
People
Report: Federal statistical system needs help to meet its ‘basic mission’ in the face of upheaval
Statistical agencies have lost scores of staff under the Trump administration, threatening their ability to meet their mission, according to a new report from the American Statistical Association.
Digital Government
SSA phone wait times longer than publicly reported metrics, per OIG report
The agency’s “average speed of answer” metric masks longer call wait times, according to data in a recent OIG report.
Digital Government
Agriculture focuses on SNAP fraud, while experts worry EBT theft will go unabated
“The most damaging form of fraud in SNAP is fraud where the low-income recipients are the victims, not the perpetrators,” a senior analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities argues.
People
GSA backs off planned layoffs within its technology team after court order
The Technology Transformation Services has lost 67% of its staff since Jan. 25.
