The Daily Scoop Podcast

The Trump administration launched a new governmentwide hiring program Monday aimed at filling technology hiring gaps in federal agencies with workers who will serve in two-year stints. That program, dubbed the U.S. Tech Force, is being spearheaded by the Office of Personnel Management and has buy-in from private-sector tech companies that will serve as partners in the hiring initiative. The first...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to limit states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence and pave the way for a “minimally burdensome” national policy framework for the emerging technology. The move caps a monthslong saga among policymakers in Washington over how to regulate the rapidly evolving technology at the federal level, as states take matters into their own ha...

The Trump administration outlined management plans for implementing its priorities Monday in a brief agenda focused on downsizing the government, leveraging federal buying power, and implementing technology solutions. At just two pages, the President’s Management Agenda framework and memo from Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought is shorter than past versions. Nonetheless, the p...

As 2025 and the first year of the second Trump administration come to a close, Federal CIO Greg Barbaccia sat down with FedScoop reporter Madison Alder for a wide-ranging interview on the state of federal IT, including critical initiatives like FedRAMP modernization, AI adoption, federal tech talent, the consolidation of federal tech and contracting, what’s ahead in 2026, and much more. The Daily...

Peraton has emerged as the winner to overhaul the air traffic control system, securing a contract to oversee the multi-billion dollar project with the Federal Aviation Administration. In an announcement Thursday night, the FAA said the Virginia-based technology firm will be the integrator for the project. Initial funding includes a $12.8 billion infusion from Congress as part of the One Big Beauti...

The Trump administration is aiming to release its six-part national cybersecurity strategy in January, according to multiple sources familiar with the document. The document, which is a mere five pages long, will possibly be followed by an executive order to implement the new strategy. The administration has been soliciting feedback in recent days, which one source considered more of a “messaging”...

A bill that would overhaul how the federal government purchases software has found itself in a familiar place: moving forward in the House while awaiting Senate consideration with just a few weeks left in the congressional calendar. The Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets (SAMOSA) Act advanced out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday, teein...

The Department of Heath and Human Services has been leaning into the use of artificial intelligence to drive better health outcomes for the American public, highlighted by the rollout of ChatGPT across the agency early this fall. In particular, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been a leader in generative AI adoption since 2023. And Travis Hoppe, CDC’s chief AI officer, believes A...

The Defense Department’s Blue UAS program maintains an ever-expanding index of commercial drones that are meant to be devoid of components from adversary nations including China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, and endorsed for speedier purchasing by U.S. military buyers. This list of compliant options is growing rapidly in late 2025 as the government moves to incentivize the adoption of more afford...

President Donald Trump appears to be eyeing an executive order that would target individual state efforts to rein in artificial intelligence and initiate several actions aimed at preempting those laws. A draft order viewed by FedScoop includes plans to establish an AI litigation task force to challenge state AI statutes, restrict funding for states with AI laws that the administration views as “on...

Perplexity AI, an AI-powered search engine, is ramping up its push for government use, inking a new deal with the General Services Administration to offer its product for just 25 cents per agency. GSA announced the deal with Perplexity on Wednesday, emphasizing that the product will be offered directly through the agency’s Multiple Award Schedule rather than through a government reseller, a first-...

storically tumultuous year for federal employees didn’t dim the public’s pre-shutdown view of government services, according to a new survey that largely credited tech adoption for the positive perceptions. The 2025 American Customer Satisfaction Index Federal Government Study, released Tuesday, found citizen satisfaction with federal government services at a 19-year high with a score of 70.4 on a...

U.S. officials are moving to deputize state and local law enforcement partners for counter-drone activities ahead of the 2026 World Cup in an attempt to address a gap in legal authorities. While certain federal officials have been given the authority to counter unmanned aircraft that pose a credible threat to specified locations, that same authority has not yet been extended by Congress to state a...

The Army is initiating massive organizational reforms for how it buys new weapons and capabilities in an effort to drastically shorten procurement timelines and promote innovation, according to top service officials. Announced Friday, the Army’s acquisition portfolio overhaul will consolidate the service’s program executive offices (PEOs) responsible for buying new weapons into six new offices cal...

After 43 days, the longest federal government shutdown in history has ended. President Donald Trump signed the legislative spending package into law late Wednesday night after the House passed it 222-209. While the reopening of the government is certainly a step in a positive direction, it comes with lingering questions. First and foremost on that list is whether much of the government will be rig...

Senate Democrats are ratcheting up pressure on the White House over artificial intelligence data centers and the surging utility costs that have accompanied their nationwide buildout. In a letter sent Monday to Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, five senators blasted the Trump administration for the “sweetheart deals” it has mad...

U.S. service members transitioning out of the military will now be able to access ChatGPT Plus for a year under a new offer from OpenAI that’s aimed at helping them with their job hunt. The new offer, announced Monday ahead of Veterans Day, is available to service members who are within 12 months of separation or retirement, and any veteran within their first year of leaving service. Katrina Mulli...

A federal agency that supplies budget and economic information to Congress has suffered a cybersecurity incident, reportedly at the hands of a suspected foreign party. A spokesperson for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) acknowledged the incident Thursday after The Washington Post reported that the office was hacked, with the attackers potentially accessing communications between lawmakers and...

When a pair of high-profile internet outages took down large chunks of the internet last month, the events briefly brought hundreds of organizations to a near-halt and prevented millions of users from accessing core services for everyday business needs. From Starbucks to crypto exchanges to the messaging app Signal, the outages rippled across nearly every sector, shining a spotlight onto the count...

As the Office of Personnel Management makes progress toward a long-pursued goal to move the government’s paper-based retirement system into the 21st century, its director said a “fully automated” process is about six months away. OPM Director Scott Kupor said in an interview with FedScoop: “That’s not going to happen overnight.” But, Kupor said he believes the agency can get there within six month...

The Department of Homeland Security’s non-federal government partners in communities across the U.S. can now apply for funding grants for certain counter-drone capabilities to address national security and safety threats posed by the illegal and nefarious use of unmanned aircraft systems. Officials wrote in a notice published online last week: “The funding enables state, local, tribal, and territo...

Nearly two months after calling on the Office of Management and Budget to bar use of xAI’s Grok chatbot in government, a coalition of advocacy groups is pressing its case further after the General Services Administration struck a deal with Elon Musk’s AI company to deploy Grok across the federal government. In a letter sent Wednesday to OMB Director Russell Vought, the advocacy groups reiterated t...

The Army’s top acquisition official told DefenseScoop that he expects to see further growth in resources for the service’s FUZE initiative. FUZE, which was announced last month by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, combines elements of multiple technology innovation programs — including the xTech, Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR), ManTech, and Technol...

Edward Forst told lawmakers Thursday that he wasn’t privy to the decision-making behind the General Services Administration’s deal with xAI’s Grok — but if confirmed to lead the agency, he signaled openness to examining the process that led to the procurement of the generative AI chatbot known for having an antisemitic meltdown. During a Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee he...

An open letter released Wednesday has called for a ban on the development of artificial intelligence systems considered to be “superintelligent” until there is broad scientific consensus that such technologies can be created both safely and in a manner the public supports. The statement, issued by the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, has been signed by more than 700 individuals, including Nobel...