We need not to tell you where the attention of the government tech media (or any other media sector for that matter) was focused this week. The week started with speculation about where things were headed and has ended with…more speculation about where things are headed. Here’s our roundup of the trending news in Government Tech Media:
Implications of the Election Results
Beginning the day after the election, we saw the first wave of articles about what to expect from a second Trump Administration:
- David DiMolfetta of Nextgov/FCW published an article examining whether Trump’s promise to cut federal budgets will endanger federal cybersecurity efforts. In a deeper dive by reporters Eric Katz and Sean Michael Newhouse, the publication also took an agency-by-agency look at potential changes the administration will bring.
- In an opinion piece, Washington Technology’s Nick Wakeman offered the view that cybersecurity and AI programs will probably continue under the new administration but also acknowledged that there’s still a lot we don’t know about Trump’s plans. Wakeman also provided a roundup of the opportunities and challenges industry experts see coming with a second Trump term.
- At Federal News Network, veteran government tech editor/reporter Tom Temin warned federal workers to brace for a slew of new executive orders when Trump comes to town. Along those lines, Federal News Network reporter Drew Friedman wrote that some federal employee groups and unions congratulated Trump while others expressed concerns. Jory Heckman reported on the “arsenal” Trump may use to fire federal workers. On a more positive note, Heckman also shared news this week that federal agencies have hired about 30,000 IT experts in recent years and are still recruiting.
- On the same topic, Caroline Nihill contributed a piece to FedScoop in which Office of Personnel Management officials suggested that Trump’s plans to remove some protections for federal employees would have hurt the efforts to recruit tech experts.
- At MeriTalk, John Curran reported on the expected workforce impacts of the new administration and an expectation that some AI guidelines issued by the Biden Administration may be rescinded.
Implications for Defense Tech
Reporters and editors at Defense technology publications were focused on the election results as well and what they’ll mean for Defense Department tech programs:
- Patrick Tucker, science & technology editor at Defense One, interviewed former Trump Administration defense official Christopher Miller on what the new administration might mean for DOD innovation and other priorities.
- According to a report from Valerie Insinna at Breaking Defense, DOD industry observers see both uncertainty and opportunity with the new administration. Insinna also published an overview of how Defense advocates in Congress fared in the election.
- Anastasia Obis, the DOD reporter at Federal News Network, reported on a statement from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that the Pentagon is committed to a “calm, orderly” transition to the Trump Administration.
- For a broader look at the potential impacts on the overall Defense budget, Noah Robertson of Defense News spoke to experts who said a DOD budget increase will be likely but not assured.
A Safe Election!
Regardless of politics, perhaps we can feel somewhat relieved that our election systems once again largely proved safe and secure despite attempts by adversaries to create issues.
- On election day, Cait Conley of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) told reporters that the agency was not tracking any “national-level significant incidents impacting the security of our election infrastructure,” according to a report from DiMolfetta at Nextgov/FCW.
- This success was the result of collaboration between CISA and critical infrastructure providers, as noted in a MeriTalk article by Cate Burgan. Burgan also reported in a second article that election threats from Russia were most prevalent.
- Illustrating that last point, Eric B. Johnson reported in CyberScoop that threats from Russian email domains falsely warned of bombs at U.S. polling sites. DiMolfetta also wrote about those threats for Nextgov/FCW as well as on reports of the overall security of this week’s election.
One additional note: We saw the unfortunate news this week that Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, a federal IT mainstay whom Curran described in MeriTalk as “one of the leading voices in Congress on technology modernization legislation and civil service workforce advancements,” will be undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer. We wish the congressman rapid success with his treatment and recovery.
More on what’s trending in government tech media next week. As always, you can subscribe to receive these updates in your inbox by filling out the brief form below with your name and email address.