This Week in Government Tech Media – January 9, 2026

By Brad Bass /

Happy New Year, and welcome to my first news roundup for 2026! The government tech media has hit the ground running. In this week’s edition, I’ve noted some of my favorite articles in which reporters took a look ahead at the trends they expect to take hold in the coming year. And yes, there was a new White House executive order (EO) this week, this one taking aim at defense contractors:

Expectations for 2026

Several publications ran articles over the past couple of weeks looking back at the notable trends in 2025 and what they expect to happen relative to those topics in 2026. Here is a roundup of those:

  • In Nextgov/FCW, David DiMolfetta surveyed a group of cybersecurity experts for their predictions for 2026 and found they expect significant innovations in AI-driven cyber tools and a closer convergence between cybersecurity and geopolitics. His colleague Alexandra Kelley interviewed a group of industry experts who said agentic AI tools are slated to dominate the federal market in the coming year.
  • In a somewhat different take, Jason Miller of Federal News Network queried a panel of experts and several said that other topics may eclipse AI in the coming year, including the Defense Department’s push for “speed to capability,” resilient innovation and workforce transformation. Also in Federal News Network, Justin Doubleday reported five cybersecurity trends to watch in 2026, such as the emergence of the new national cyber strategy and AI and the reauthorization of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA 2015).
  • Grace Dille of MeriTalk looked at what the coming year might bring with regard to congressional action on issues like the Technology Modernization Fund, the CISA 2015 and the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. Lisbeth Perez gave readers a roundup of notable executive orders (EOs) from the past year that shaped federal technology policy on AI, digital finance, cybersecurity and drones.
  • Looking at the year ahead for defense contractors, Lauren C. Williams noted in Defense One that they can expect a turbulent 2026 due to rising Pentagon demands and continued Congressional dysfunction.
  • The staff at Breaking Defense also delivered a series of “2026 Preview” articles. In one, Sydney J. Freedberg asked experts whether they expect the AI bubble to burst in 2026 and how that might affect the military. In another article, Mark Pomerleau predicted progress for the Army’s Next Generation Command and Control effort in 2026.
  • Julia Edinger of state/local government publication Government Technology found that state government leaders expect to increase AI adoption in 2026, but questions remain about their ability to enact safeguards in the wake of a White House order restricting state regulation of AI.
  • In a year-end retrospective article, Washington Technology Editor Nick Wakeman wrote that the biggest government contracting story of 2025 revolved around the controversial Department of Government Efficiency – “and it’s not close.” And for the sixth straight year, Ross Wilkers published his annual analysis of the past year’s trends and how they might play out in the coming year.

EO Jabs at Defense Contractors

Coverage of this week’s EO spanned across government tech publications, Defense trades and business media. Below, find a roundup of various takes on the order from several of those publications:

  • Miller broke the news in Federal News Network that the EO would cap defense industry executive compensation at $5 million and prohibit companies from stock buybacks and paying out dividends to shareholders.
  • The EO calls for future contracts to be written so that the Pentagon can enforce the mandates, Valerie Insinna reported in Breaking Defense. Insinna published a separate piece on statements by a leading Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee who said the EO’s restrictions may need to be written by Congress into law in order to withstand legal challenges.
  • Matt Seldon noted in Homeland Security Today that the order credited contractors for producing high-quality defense systems but stated that production has not kept pace with military needs.
  • Perez quoted the EO in MeriTalk as stating that defense contractors should be “held to the highest standards intended to ensure the advancement of core national interests, including with respect to the timeliness and quality of the defense items that they deliver.”
  • Williams reported in Defense One that the White House would keep restrictions on buybacks and dividends in place until companies invest more to develop new technologies and increase production.
  • Covering the EO in the Washington Business Journal, Drew Hansen wrote that “the news sent shares down sharply at many of Greater Washington’s largest companies.”
  • A social media post by the President singled out Raytheon, noting that he would cut the company’s government contracts if it does not accelerate weapons production and act to rein in stock buybacks, according to an article by Tanya Noury in Defense News.

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Those are just some of the articles on trending news published this week. Come back next week to see what happens next. Subscribe to this newsletter on LinkedIn or via the form below, and tell a friend!