The Daily Scoop Podcast

Dozens of Democrats wrote a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on Wednesday demanding information on the Department of Government Efficiency’s unauthorized use of artificial intelligence systems. The letter, which was led by Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., Mike Levin, D-Calif., and Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M. and signed by 45 other lawmakers, expressed concerns about privacy and security risks associated with the group’s use of federal data in unapproved AI systems, as well as potential conflicts of interest involving Elon Musk, who leads an AI firm called xAI. Specifically, the lawmakers flagged reports of DOGE affiliates inputting data into unapproved AI systems and the risk that sensitive federal data could be used to train future commercial models. Douglas Matty assumed the role of the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and AI Officer on Monday, according to an internal unclassified email viewed by DefenseScoop. The principal deputy who has been temporarily leading the AI hub ahead of the Trump administration’s selection for the new chief, Margie Palmieri, sent the announcement to several senior officials Friday morning. In the email, she indicated that more communications on the team’s path ahead would soon follow, once Matty takes the reins. Matty previously founded the Army AI Integration Center under Army Futures Command, which he led between 2020 and 2022. Palmieri wrote: “We are excited to get appointed leadership at the helm of CDAO so early in the administration. The prioritization on filling the top Al and data related leadership position in DoD will enable the Department to better accelerate and scale the adoption of data, analytics, and Al in line with the Secretary’s priorities.” The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The General Services Administration is not happy with the top-10 consulting firms it asked back in February to self-identify contracts that could be terminated to save the federal government money, going as far as to call their efforts under the initiative “insulting.” Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, wrote in a letter to those 10 firms, viewed by FedScoop, that GSA and its contracting partners are “unanimously unimpressed” with the cost savings those contractors identified in the so-called “scorecards” they submitted after the agency called for the termination of government contracts with those top consultants. As a result, the agency is calling on those firms to submit a second “waste review” by 5 p.m. ET on Friday with their proposals demonstrating how they can “lean into developing taxpayer friendly pricing” with “dramatic price reductions.” “In good faith, and with high expectation, we offered firms the opportunity to join us in reducing wasteful spending and do their part in addressing the twin issues of the federal debt and deficit,” Gruenbaum wrote. “The efforts to propose meaningful cost savings were wholly insufficient, to the point of being insulting.” The Labor Department’s new chief information officer is looking to reduce staff in the Office of the CIO by about 30%, according to a source within the agency. Hundreds of people currently work in Labor’s CIO office, but leadership is hoping many workers will voluntarily leave the team. Thomas Shedd, who was appointed to Labor’s CIO role last month, is optimistic that the goal will be achieved through the federal government’s deferred resignation programs and reduction-in-force efforts, the source said. Going forward, Labor’s Office of the CIO plans to focus on systems used to disburse benefits, as well as programs required by law that need business systems and software to work, according to documents viewed by FedScoop. There will also be an emphasis on efficiency and consolidating systems while providing value, the documents said. The department told employees that they’re not “tracking” staff, despite media reports, and that the agency is only interested in measuring results. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The Trump administration has decided to terminate the IRS’s Direct File program, according to a source familiar with the situation, putting an end to the free electronic filing system that congressional Republicans and the tax preparation industry have had in their crosshairs since its creation. Work on Direct File began during Joe Biden’s presidency, bringing together some of the administration’s top technical and product minds and tapping into funds from the Inflation Reduction Act. Providing all U.S. taxpayers with a free filing tool would have put the country in line with most developed nations. But despite what the IRS considered to be a successful launch last year, Direct File’s future was murky after President Donald Trump’s election and the administration’s welcoming of Elon Musk’s DOGE into the government tech world. The pending elimination of the free filing tool was celebrated Wednesday by the makers of TurboTax. Derrick Plummer, an Intuit spokesman, called Direct File “a solution in search of a problem, a drain on critical IRS resources and a waste of taxpayer dollars.” Consumer advocate groups panned the Trump administration’s decision. Susan Harley, managing director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, said in a statement that scrapping Direct File “is almost literally taking money out of our pockets.” Dean Ball, a policy scholar with a focus on the intersection of history, political theory, policy and technology, is joining the Trump administration as a senior policy advisor on artificial intelligence and emerging technology, he announced Tuesday on the social media platform X. Ball said in his post of joining the Office of Science and Technology Policy: “It is a thrill and honor to serve my country in this role and work alongside the tremendous team [OSTP Director Michael Kratsios] has built.” He comes to OSTP from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where he has served as a research fellow for the past year. Ball is also the author of an AI-focused blog called Hyperdimensional, in which he has defended the AI Safety Institute and commented on the Trump administration’s terminations of probationary employees, saying the move had unintended consequences. Ball also wrote recently that he is interested in AI being built at the same time that the Trump administration and Republicans “seek to advance theories of a ‘unitary executive’ — the notion that the president exercises the powers granted to him by the Constitution and Congress absolutely.” The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The Internal Revenue Service’s chief information officer is leaving the tax agency this month, the latest in an increasingly long line of veteran IT leaders exiting the government amid President Donald Trump’s gutting of the federal workforce. Rajiv Uppal told IT staffers in a Monday email, obtained by FedScoop, that he had “decided to depart” the tax agency, and that his last day will be April 28. Kaschit Pandya, the agency’s chief technology officer, will take over as acting CIO “while leadership finalizes long-term plans for the role,” Uppal wrote. President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders Tuesday to revamp the federal procurement and contracting processes, part of the administration’s sweeping takedown of government regulations. The procurement order takes aim at the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which the White House says has evolved “into an excessive and overcomplicated regulatory framework and resulting in an onerous bureaucracy.” To “create the most agile, effective, and efficient procurement system possible,” Trump’s EO calls for the removal of “undue barriers” and “unnecessary regulations” in procurement. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The CODY bot, a tool used to streamline procurement processes at the General Services Administration, is now ready for use across the federal landscape after three years of buildout. CODY aggregates prerequisite data into a checklist, according to GSA officials familiar with the tool, enabling staffers to see if a vendor has met all representation requirements — ensuring there is no active federal debt against a vendor, and no exclusionary or responsibility cautions to trigger notifications. The agency primarily tracks how many hours the bot saves in a year rather than the costs saved, according to one of the officials. GSA Administrator Stephen Ehikian posted on X that the bot’s completion resulted in the cancellation of a $423,000 contract. “President Trump’s GSA is at the forefront of leveraging technology for government to produce tools that boost productivity and our employee’s potential,” Ehikian said in a statement to FedScoop. A pair of House Democrats are sounding the alarm about the U.S. Secret Service’s use of counter-drone technology, which recently triggered air traffic control system alerts at the Washington National Airport. Democratic Reps. Rick Larsen of Washington and Bennie Thompson of Mississippi are demanding more information about the use of the technology and raising concerns about whether the Department of Homeland Security component is following proper procedures. In a Monday letter sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the lawmakers pointed to alerts produced by the Traffic Collision Avoidance System last month. These alerts made erroneous recommendations to several commercial and Coast Guard aircraft, Larsen and Thompson say. And according to analysis conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration, the alerts were produced by Secret Service anti-drone technology at a nearby Defense Department location. The confusion comes after the deadly crash between a commercial airline and an Army helicopter at DCA airport earlier this year, which resulted in dozens of deaths. While DHS has launched an investigation, the Democratic congressmen say the counter-drone technology deployed by the DOD was operating outside existing notifications — and that the Secret Service did not share required notifications with the FAA. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Information Technology says it’s reviewing the loss of three physical servers, a public records request shows. According to a document produced by CBP’s Cybersecurity Directorate, about 200 government devices have been stolen or gone missing in recent years. Of these devices, 140 were cell phones, and just under 40 were laptops. No items were reported to be lost abroad, according to the document. That federal employees would have lost phones and tablets isn’t surprising. FedScoop has reported on lost electronics at the U.S. Agency for International Development and NASA, and agencies often review inventories of employee devices. Still, the loss of government-furnished equipment can raise concerns about the security of sensitive data. Some federal employees have even been caught stealing government IT equipment in order to sell it. The loss of three servers is somewhat unusual. The agency did not answer a series of questions about the lost servers, including what data they might have held or whether the losses were ever reported to law enforcement. In response to FedScoop questions, an agency spokesperson said, “CBP is currently reviewing this issue.” The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency must brief Congress on proposed deep cuts to agency personnel, a top Democrat said in a letter to its acting director. California Rep. Eric Swalwell, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, wrote in the letter to acting Director Bridget Bean on Thursday that CISA is obligated to notify Congress of its plans. CISA reportedly plans to cut agency staff by nearly 40%, or 1,300 people. Swallwell wrote in his letter that “upending an agency that plays such an important role in defending the homeland while keeping Congress in the dark is wholly unacceptable,” adding that CISA hasn’t provided the subcommittee any justification for the cuts or explained how it will execute its congressionally mandated mission with a fraction of the workforce and resources. CISA had already cut 130 probationary staffers, a move blocked in court before being overturned in an appeal. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memo Thursday ordering the termination of several IT services contracts and directing the Pentagon’s chief information officer to draw up plans for in-sourcing, among other measures. The aim is to “cut wasteful spending” and “support the continued rationalization” of the Defense Department’s IT enterprise, Hegseth wrote. The move comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to implement Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiatives across federal agencies. Hegseth’s new memo to senior Pentagon leadership ordered the termination of contracts affecting a variety of DOD components, including a Defense Health Agency contract for consulting services; an Air Force contract to re-sell third party enterprise cloud IT services; a Navy contract for business process consulting services; and a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract for IT helpdesk services. In a video released on social media touting these DOGE-related efforts, Hegseth estimated that those contract terminations would save the Pentagon approximately $1.8 billion, $1.4 billion, $500 million and $500 million, respectively. Another round of General Services Administration workforce cuts is hitting Technology Transformation Services, specifically within its Integrated Award Environment (IAE), Solutions, and Office of Regulatory and Oversight Systems (OROS) programs, sources confirmed to FedScoop. Under TTS, the Solutions platforms and services, front office, public experience and accelerators teams were all affected by the reductions, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. However, programs that are safe from the current — and widespread — reductions in force include FedRAMP, Login.gov and Cloud.gov, sources said. Additionally, TTS consulting, fellowships and front office are untouched as well. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The Internal Revenue Service’s acting commissioner is set to leave the tax agency, according to a source familiar with the situation, a move that comes after the Treasury Department signed an agreement to share taxpayers’ information with the Department of Homeland Security. Melanie Krause, who joined the IRS in October 2021 as the agency’s chief data and analytics officer, is taking the federal government’s deferred resignation offer and was not pushed to resign, according to the source. A Government Accountability Office and Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General alum, Krause was elevated to acting commissioner from chief operating officer in late February, taking over for Doug O’Donnell, who retired after manning the interim post following Danny Werfel’s January departure. Krause decided to resign after Treasury officials struck a deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the accessing of taxpayer information. Krause was largely excluded from those conversations, per the Washington Post. A Treasury spokesperson said in a statement to FedScoop that she will continue to serve as acting commissioner “until at least May 15th.” President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that could lead to the cancellation of major defense acquisition programs, boost the procurement of commercial technologies and shake up the workforce. The directive states that “after years of misplaced priorities and poor management, our defense acquisition system does not provide the speed and flexibility our Armed Forces need to have decisive advantages in the future. In order to strengthen our military edge, America must deliver state‐of‐the‐art capabilities at speed and scale through a comprehensive overhaul of this system.” The EO on “Modernizing Defense Acquisition and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base,” directs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon leadership to complete a comprehensive review of all major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs) within 90 days. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

Just days into his latest run as president, Donald Trump fired 17 inspectors general acoss the federal government. The move not only set off alarms in the government oversight and accountability community, but it also set an early precedent for how the Trump administration would deal with any entities he saw as threatening to his agenda as president. Diana Shaw has spent much of her career in the shoes of federal inspectors general, having served as acting IG of the State Department and a variety of roles in DHS’s Office of the IG, before retiring from government in 2024. So she knows as good as anyone, through her continued connections and deep experience, how IGs in the Trump administration are navigating the current dynamic, what’s at play as they maneuver around the work of the DOGE and how things wil continue to unfold. Now a partner at DC law firm Wiley Rein LLP, Shaw joins the Daily Scoop to discuss all that as well as her thoughts on one of the biggest IG cases: the Pentagon’s probe into the secretary of defense’s use of commercial messaging applications like Signal to conduct official business. The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency team is examining the Navy’s software enterprise, the service’s chief information officer said Tuesday. The review comes as the administration is undertaking a broad look at the Defense Department’s and other federal agencies’ contracts and workforce in search of what it considers wasteful spending and opportunities for savings. After accessing data at the Department of Homeland Security, including systems operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency now appears to be behind a new effort to shrink the agency’s staff. On Monday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem sent a message to employees encouraging them to leave the agency, according to an email viewed by FedScoop. The message explained details of deferred resignation, voluntary early retirement, and voluntary separation incentive payment programs. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is taking its final steps toward shuttering, sending a memo last Thursday to bureau heads focused on recruiting workers on administrative leave to assist with final steps required to decommission the agency. The memo states that the “default position” is that all staff are reporting to work — except those who have been requested and approved to go on administrative leave — and that USAID employees may be asked to work beyond their typical subject areas and to help with other projects. Those based in a bureau or independent office are supposed to have a space allotment, though managers are instructed to minimize the need for people to be shifted in and out of work. Teams that do not have an onsite presence will need to return to the office for “closeout procedures,” the email adds. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to White House officials Monday expressing serious concerns about the recent installation of Starlink internet service in the executive branch complex. The letter, which was signed by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Shontel Brown, D-Ohio and shared exclusively with FedScoop, comes amid reports that Starlink — provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX — is now integrated into the White House property’s IT systems. The members of Congress are also flagging the use of the internet service at the General Services Administration. A physical Starlink terminal connects to the low-Earth orbit satellite constellation that provides the internet service. But the White House has gone further than simply purchasing that equipment — the service has now been connected and routed into an administration data center. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.