• The secretive National Reconnaissance Office has announced a new top official. William Adkins was appointed principal deputy director of the NRO on Monday. Adkins previously served as professional staff on the House Appropriations Committee. He’s also a veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency and had been detailed to the NRO to manage technology development projects in the late 1990’s.
  (NRO announces principal deputy director - Social media platform X)
• Congress breathes new life into the Technology Modernization Fund. House and Senate appropriators agreed to give funding to the Technology Modernization Fund for the first time in four years. Lawmakers on the Financial Services and General Government appropriations subcommittee allocated $5 million for 2026 in the bipartisan deal struck over the weekend. Congress had zeroed out any new funding for the TMF since 2023. Two other centralized IT funds also received support from Capitol Hill. The Federal Citizen Services Fund is slated to receive $70 million and the IT Oversight and Reform Fund is getting $8 million.
  (Congress to give TMF $5M FOR 2026 - House Appropriations Committee)
• The Pentagon has rolled out a new artificial intelligence strategy that seeks to transform the department into an “AI-First warfighting force.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the department will invest heavily in AI compute infrastructure, from data centers to systems at the tactical edge. The strategy directs the chief digital and artificial intelligence office to enforce the Pentagon’s “Data Decrees” to make all DoD data interoperable, visible and trustworthy. Military departments and defense agencies will be required to establish and maintain federated data catalogs that expose data assets and system interfaces across all classification levels. Hegseth also directed the department to use special hiring authorities and talent programs to bring in AI talent.
  (New AI strategy aims to make DoD an ‘AI-first’ warfighting force - Department of Defense)
• A new bill will require the Pentagon to assess whether its current efforts to recruit, train and retain cyber talent are working. The Department of Defense Comprehensive Cyber Workforce Strategy Act of 2025 tasks the Pentagon with developing a new cyber workforce strategy. The lawmakers want the Pentagon to assess remaining gaps in implementing the DoD’s 2023–2027 Cyber Workforce Strategy, and identify which elements of the current strategy should be continued or dropped. Congress is also requesting detailed workforce data, including the size of the cyber workforce, vacancy rates, specific work roles and other data related to personnel system metrics. The Pentagon faces a shortage of approximately 25,000 cyber professionals.
  (Senate bill will require DoD to review cyber workforce gaps - Federal News Network)
• The state and local cloud security program known as GovRamp has new leadership. Tony Sauerhoff, the chief artificial intelligence and innovation officer for Texas, is the new president of the GovRAMP Board of Directors. He replaces JR Sloan, the Arizona CIO, who served in that role since 2021. Sauerhoff also served as Texas' chief information security officer and previously worked for the Marine Corps and Air Force. In addition to Sauerhoff’s appointment, GovRAMP announced its 2026 board and committee leadership.
  (GovRAMP names Texas chief AI officer as its new president - GovRAMP)
• Lawmakers look to put more money behind plans to offload unused federal office space. House and Senate appropriators want to give the General Services Administration more than $1 billion to carry out new construction and repair the federal buildings it already owns. Lawmakers said they’re concerned about a multi-billion-dollar maintenance backlog for these buildings. GSA will likely need much more funding to keep its buildings from falling into disrepair. The new GSA administrator said the agency is looking at a $24 billion maintenance backlog, and said that is likely an undercount.
  (Shrinking federal office space, more agencies spared from major cuts: What to expect from latest spending bills - Federal News Network)
• The latest spending package for fiscal 2026 directs the General Services Administration to improve public-facing service delivery. Lawmakers want GSA to make federal websites more accessible to people with disabilities. The spending package also calls on GSA to help agencies improve their public-facing benefits and services through AI tools. But the spending deal doesn’t put any new funding behind this goal.
  (Shrinking federal office space, more agencies spared from major cuts: What to expect from latest spending bills - Federal News Network)
• The Department of Homeland Security is flush with funding for new drone technologies. Now DHS is establishing an office to lead those purchases. DHS’ new Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems will oversee strategic investments expected to total in the billions of dollars in the coming years. This week, the office plans to finalize a $115 million counter-drone award to help secure America250 and FIFA World Cup events. And late last year, DHS began accepting proposals from the counter-drone industry for a $1.5 billion contract vehicle.
  (DHS launches new office to advance drone and counter-drone technologies - Department of Homeland Security)

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