Federal Government

ED laid off nearly half of its employees this week. Sources say the cuts have dismantled the Office of Educational Technology, which produced the National Education Technology Plan, among other resources.

Plankey briefly served the first Trump administration as a National Security Council director, and is a former deputy CIO to the U.S. Navy. His experience aligns with the agency’s mission to protect critical infrastructure.

The Golden State continues to advance policies and fund programs to position itself as a leader in advancing clean transportation. New York incentivizes the shift to electric vehicles and their infrastructure.

An executive order from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro follows actions from a number of states seeking to inform and attract former government employees to join their ranks. The moves come after many thousands of federal layoffs.

In the absence of comprehensive federal legislation on artificial intelligence, states have taken policymaking into their own hands, leading to a varied legislative landscape. Doing so, however, can clarify the rules of the road.

About 70 staffers at the federal digital consulting office within Technology Transformation Services were reportedly dismissed over the weekend. Its work has included the site login.gov, a single logon to popular federal sites.

A massive federal program meant to expand broadband access to underserved areas across the country is falling behind schedule, state broadband officials and experts say.

Labor unions successfully argued that the U.S. Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management violated the Privacy Act of 1974 by giving DOGE access to citizens’ personal information.

Advancing broadband deployment and equity means expanding the technology to institutions like correctional facilities, panelists said at the recent Expanding Digital Opportunity: Charting a Path Toward Full Inclusion conference.

Bad actors known collectively by that name are staging attacks on targets in more than 70 countries, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the FBI said. The latter advises regular system backups.

Cybersecurity has been in recent national headlines, with experts claiming DOGE is giving unvetted access to sensitive data. But do these partisan attacks harm the entire cyber industry and government trust?

A Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit has created a platform where government workers and others can share how federal contract terminations, staff cuts and data issues impact their work without using personal information.

The state’s House of Representatives advanced legislation this week that would create a task force dedicated to reviewing state programs and identifying areas in which officials could improve efficiency.

While attention is on federal government staff who are leaving, my focus is on those who remain. I’d like to offer personal experiences and lessons learned from government cuts and reorgs during my time with Michigan IT.

The lack of a federal budget has put several STEM programs on ice, reducing the number of hands-on experiences with technology available to students from low-income schools.

Caught in data turbulence, local and state government must adapt to changes in federal transparency — or face data bias. A new landscape raises questions about the future of open data and evidence-based policymaking.

The Federal Highway Administration has announced plans to issue new guidance around the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program. For now, the move halts aspects of the initiative.

Plus, Elon Musk has made a cryptic statement about the future of GSA’s 18F team and the Direct File program, Maryland has established a statewide digital infrastructure group, and more.