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1 week ago | 
meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
A group of Senate Democrats is pressing the Trump administration for information on pending Federal agency layoffs and warning of possible “catastrophic” consequences from what they called the administration’s “strategic hollowing out” of the government workforce. In a letter sent April 10 and addressed to the heads of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Sens.
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1 week ago | 
cdn.meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as of late last year lacked the controls needed to comprehensively track its information systems and software assets, according to a watchdog report that uncovered nearly $6 million in potentially unaccounted-for software licenses.
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1 week ago | 
meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
Lawmakers and expert witnesses brainstormed applications for artificial intelligence to streamline overall government efficiency in a House-Senate Joint Economic Committee hearing on April 9, highlighting aims to harness the technology in the fight against fraud and waste in government programs. “We need to keep working together across the aisle to save taxpayer dollars by reducing waste, fraud and abuse,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., in her opening statement at the hearing.
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1 week ago | 
meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
As the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) prepares to make cuts to its workforce, the agency needs to brief Congress on those decisions and their impact, according to a top House Democrat on security issues. In a letter to CISA Acting Director Bridget Bean sent April 10, Rep.
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1 week ago | 
meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
As unmanned systems become increasingly vital to future warfare, lawmakers on April 9 called for a fundamental shift in how the U.S. military buys and builds its platforms – urging faster, more flexible acquisition strategies to better integrate manned and unmanned assets across the U.S. Navy. Speaking during a panel discussion at the Sea Air and Space conference in National Harbor, Md., Rep.
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1 week ago | 
meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that directs Federal agencies to identify regions where coal-fired power infrastructure is available to support the needs of new artificial intelligence data centers.
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1 week ago | 
cdn.meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced three quantum tech-related bills on April 9 which she says will bolster development, manufacturing, and defense applications of quantum technology. All three pieces of legislation have bipartisan backing, including a different Democratic senator on each bill. Introduction of the legislation follows priorities Sen. Blackburn had outlined earlier this year regarding increased investment in quantum science.
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2 weeks ago | 
meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
The Federal government’s central human resources agency said Wednesday it will deploy artificial intelligence tech to help clean up Federal employee records within its personnel record system. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said in a memo published April 9 that beginning this year, it will use AI to analyze and verify the accuracy of data on Federal workers contained within the electronic Official Personnel Folder system (eOPF).
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2 weeks ago | 
meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
A Federal appeals court gave the Trump administration the green light today to fire thousands of Federal probationary workers by overturning a lower court’s order that had required them to be reinstated. Today’s decision came a day later after a similar order from the Supreme Court lifted a lower court order on Tuesday that had reinstated thousands of fired probationary workers at six Federal agencies.
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2 weeks ago | 
meritalk.com | Weslan Hansen
Senate Democrats are demanding answers from President Donald Trump after he fired top officials at the National Security Agency (NSA) last week, warning that the administration’s actions “severely compromise our ability to keep Americans safe.”In an April 7 letter to Trump signed by 24 senators, lawmakers warned the president against further moves that could disable the ability of NSA and U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) to defend against threats to the United States.
