Digital Government
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Direct File is 'beloved by its users,' internal IRS report says
The IRS is reportedly ending the Direct File, but a report obtained via the Freedom of Information Act says that 94% of users rated their experience as “excellent” or “above average.”
USDA wants to modernize farmer services, even as staffing cuts could hurt the effort
The department plans to digitize farmer-facing applications that are still on paper.
VA now has ‘100% visibility’ into its software license inventory, official says
Jeff VanBemmel, director of end user operations at VA’s Office of Information and Technology, told lawmakers that the department’s total inventory of software licenses includes 4,433 commercial off-the-shelf products and another 224 software-as-a-service offerings.
GSA, Salesforce agree to major Slack discounts for government
The General Service Administration announced another cost-savings offering through its OneGov effort.
Legislative watchdog rebuffs DOGE efforts to install on-site team
“DOGE’s attempted intrusion into an independent, nonpartisan legislative branch agency is a direct assault on our nation’s sacred separation of powers,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee.
SSA changes phone fraud policies after finding very little fraud
The change follows reporting by Nextgov/FCW about the policy and its contributions to a slowdown in retirement claims processing.
Exclusive
DOGE went looking for phone fraud at SSA — and found almost none
Since SSA installed new anti-fraud checks on claims made over the phone, only two claims out of over 110,000 were found to likely be fraudulent, according to internal documents obtained by Nextgov/FCW.
Republicans want Treasury to study free tax filing options — again
The reconciliation text being considered by the House Ways and Means Committee includes $15 million for the IRS to study how to give Americans free ways to file their taxes that would replace both the Free File and Direct File programs.
Federal retirement applications to go fully electronic next month
DOGE has touted the announcement as a win, but development and testing for the new Online Retirement Application began under the previous administration, per past budget requests.
Senate Dems press HHS over cuts to suicide lifeline’s LGBTQ+ youth program
A leaked HHS FY26 budget proposal includes a measure to defund the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services pilot program.
Here are the tech takeaways from Trump’s budget proposal
The White House has suggested sweeping reductions to many civilian agencies, though it promises to maintain investments in emerging technologies.
Transportation consolidates IT personnel and decision-making
Two memos document a new organizational structure that establishes the CIO as the point person for all IT activity across the agency’s various subcomponents.
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