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Policy

Tech bills of the week: Transparency in agency AI use; Creating a CISA AI task force; and more

Although Congress is in recess, lawmakers in the House and Senate still rolled out proposals over the past week looking to promote clarity around the use of — and potential harms posed by — AI tools.

Acquisition

GSA removes 244 Chinese products from procurement list

The agency is seeking to fulfill ‘truthful advertising’ and fraud-busting executive orders signed by President Donald Trump.

Artificial Intelligence

White House unveils billions in investments for Genesis Mission

Eleven leading tech firms pledged to provide $2.4 billion in compute credits to help drive scientific research and technological innovation through the use of artificial intelligence and other emerging capabilities.

Sponsor Content

Critical Minerals, Industrial Capacity, and National Security

America’s critical minerals challenge is bigger than mining. Discover what’s at stake for national security, technology, and economic power.

Emerging Tech

Energy debuts new Genesis Mission, quantum computing initiatives

The department announced $159 million in new phase II Genesis Mission project awards, $96 million for early-career researchers and a new graduate fellowship program, along with an effort to advance the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers.

Exclusive Cybersecurity

Watchdog to examine summertime hack of DHS information network, other incidents

The Government Accountability Office is expected to flag that DHS delayed in notifying Congress of the incidents, according to a person familiar with the review.

Digital Government

GSA seeks to boost understanding of FedRAMP 20x overhaul

The cloud security program is looking to educate both agencies and private companies on the ways the revamped program differs from previous requirements.

Cybersecurity

FBI seizes websites supporting Chinese contractor’s hacking operations

U.S. agencies targeted tools used to find security weaknesses and break into networks, warning of threats to critical infrastructure.

People

White House targets tech giants with H-1B visa suspension

Vice President J.D. Vance calls Microsoft the "biggest abuser" as the administration freezes new and pending H-1B and PERM applications for eight companies.

Digital Government

VA rolls out CLEAR login option and in-person identity verification pilot

The new offering will allow participating veterans to use facial recognition to access their VA.gov accounts.

Sponsor Content
Adobe

The platform federal agencies trust: How Adobe Connect expands security for mission readiness and workforce transformation

Federal missions demand higher security. Discover how Adobe Connect’s FedRAMP High authorization enables secure, mission-critical collaboration.

Digital Government

CMS pitches new contractor operating model for ‘detect and prevent’ fraud strategy

The proposal builds on the Trump administration’s multi-faceted effort to curtail fraud, waste and abuse in federal health programs.

Acquisition

Census Bureau partially sketches out timeline for $2.5B in digital transformation pacts

Two pacts for the Census Bureau Transformation & Application Modernization effort are nearly ready to go as the agency keeps working on the other pair.

Cybersecurity

Recent Taiwan simulation highlights US cyberdefense gaps against China, experts warn

Organizers of a cyber conflict exercise say Washington needs to prepare for attacks that both disrupt civilian services and pressure Taipei without triggering outright military conflict.

Artificial Intelligence

Experts hope new AI czar’s leadership can move the needle on regulation

“Maybe [the AI czar] can work with Congress to help come up with some governance, some laws” covering AI, one former Trump official told Nextgov/FCW.

Cybersecurity

The monsters of Cybersecurity Awareness Month are getting stronger

Familiar threats like phishing and ransomware have not gone away, but NIST’s 2026 Cybersecurity Awareness Month activities are increasingly confronting newer risks involving AI agents, secure software development and digital identity.

Digital Government

GSA faces recurrent issues with geospatial data handling, watchdog finds

The agency’s chief information officer agreed with all five recommendations made by the watchdog.

Cybersecurity

FBI removes Accenture contractor after missed security patch led to breach

The bureau’s cyber chief blamed a contractor’s failure to apply an available fix for an intrusion that may have exposed sensitive employee information.

Modernization

TMF invests $83.4M in 4 AI-enabled projects

One project will replace a legacy payroll system serving roughly a third of the federal workforce with an AI-enabled cloud platform.

Artificial Intelligence

HHS unveils efforts to speed up clinical trials with AI

The department announced a broader multi-agency effort to support U.S. clinical trial infrastructure this past summer.

Cybersecurity

Pentagon personnel breach — undetected for months — renews cyber standard scrutiny

Unauthorized users accessed sensitive records for roughly nine months before discovery, exposing another government personnel data fiasco as the FBI confronts its own breach incident.