This Week in Government Tech Media – July 18, 2025

By Brad Bass /

Cybersecurity continued to command attention from the government tech media this week, with articles appearing across an array of publications warning of the potential negative effects of looming budget cuts. Elsewhere, we saw the spotlight shine on the General Services Administration (GSA) and its moves to reshape federal procurement. See below for our roundup of coverage on both topics:

Cyber Warnings

It wasn’t just federal civilian-focused publications reporting on the potentially negative effects of cuts to funding and personnel at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other agencies. These issues were covered by security trade publications, state and local government tech media and defense-focused reporters. Here’s a sampling of those:

  • In her weekly newsletter Axios Future of Cybersecurity, Sam Sabin wrote that states and private companies lack the capacity to fill the gaps in critical infrastructure protection left by cuts to the budget of CISA, according to several experts interviewed. Similarly, cybersecurity experts quoted in an article by Chris Riotta in GovInfoSecurity warned that funding cuts by the Trump administration will negatively impact information sharing efforts needed to protect critical infrastructure.
  • From the state/local government media space, Steve Towns noted in Government Technology that state government leaders expressed concern this week that CISA’s State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, which has provided millions of dollars for state and local cyber defenses, is unlikely to be renewed. Writing for StateScoop, Colin Wood relayed the silver lining that final year funding from the program would probably not be revoked.
  • Also at Government Technology, Zack Quaintance reported that state governments are scrambling to react to the expected termination of the CISA-supported Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center to coordinate and strengthen cybersecurity for state and local agencies. 
  • In other news related to looming cuts at CISA, congressional lawmakers continued their push for information on budget and staff cuts at the agency they believe could cripple its ability to help safeguard election infrastructure, covered by Lisbeth Perez in MeriTalk.
  • And in more bad news for CISA this week, former White House national security adviser Mike Waltz implicated the agency in the widely criticized sharing of sensitive military information over the Signal app earlier this year, according to coverage of the hearing by Derek B. Johnson in CyberScoop.
  • David DiMolfetta reported in Nextgov/FCW that personnel cuts to the State Department’s principal cyber diplomacy bureau could harm “the nation’s ability to position its technology priorities on the world stage.” Riotta also covered the story, noting that experts said it would weaken the department’s ability to coordinate with global partners as cyberthreats against the U.S. intensify.
  • Moving to the defense side of government, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee passed a bill this week demanding that the Pentagon develop a new strategy to “reestablish a credible deterrence against cyberattacks targeting American critical infrastructure,” as quoted in an article by Lauren C. Williams in Defense One.
  • Also widely reported this week, the Chinese hacker group Salt Typhoon “extensively compromised a U.S. state’s Army National Guard network,” an incident that means “all U.S. forces must now assume their networks are compromised and will be degraded,” according to a former service member quoted by DiMolfetta in Nextgov/FCW. In MeriTalk, John Curran wrote that the National Guard Bureau and the Department of Homeland Security were working to mitigate the attacks.

GSA Grabbing Headlines

We saw extensive coverage of actions by GSA this week, including multiple pieces covering a speech by the acting GSA administrator:

  • Speaking at an industry conference this week, Acting GSA Administrator Stephen Ehikian told attendees that the agency is moving into a “build back” phase after taking steps to cancel contracts and downsize federal operations, as reported by Edward Graham in Nextgov/FCW.
  • Ross Wilkers of Washington Technology also attended the event, reporting on Ehikian’s comments comparing the agency’s efforts to take on substantially all of the government’s purchasing of common goods and services to the way retail giants operate.
  • Covering the same event for FedScoop, Miranda Nazzaro focused on Ehikian’s comments around the adoption of the agency’s internal chatbot GSAi, which he said is used by about half of GSA employees every day.
  • Grace Dille of MeriTalk covered the speech from yet another angle: She reported on Ehikian’s promotion of GSA’s OneGov strategy which has recently unveiled pricing deals with Oracle, Elastic, Google, Adobe, Salesforce and – just this week – Uber.
  • Interviewed by Francis Rose for the Fed Gov Today program, former GSA official Alan Thomas called the OneGov strategy one of the most significant shifts in federal procurement strategy that could reshape the entire government.
  • Frank Konkel reported on the Uber deal for Nextgov/FCW, noting that it was the latest in a series of contracts leveraging the buying power of the federal government to drive down costs. Curran had the news for MeriTalk, quoting the agency’s statement that the deal “offers compelling pricing to the federal government and helps further modernize government travel.”
  • In other GSA news, the agency is softening its adversarial tone when dealing with consulting services contractors, but still remains vague as to its ultimate goals for reshaping those relationships, according to an analysis by Jason Miller for Federal News Network.

Events Next Week

Continuing with a new feature to this newsletter as of last week, here’s our latest list of events we think might be worth your attention in the coming week. Below, you’ll see links to each event along with information about the sponsoring organization and venue:

Gov & Beyond Panel Episode!

Last, but certainly not least, mark your calendars for a special Gov & Beyond episode featuring editors and reporters from GovExec and Scoop News Group! In this discussion, the panelists share how they’ve been covering all of the activities surrounding the new presidential administration. Tune in on July 24! 

That’s all for this week. Come back next week for a new roundup of trending news in the government technology media. As always, I invite you to subscribe to this newsletter on LinkedIn or via the form below.

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