The Wrap: DOGE Finds a Fight; GSA’s 18F Deleted?; Evans Returns to DHS

Welcome to The Wrap for Tuesday, February 4!

From the newsroom at MeriTalk, it’s the quickest read in Federal tech news. Here’s what you need to know today:

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DOGE Finds a Fight

While the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has wormed its way into Federal agency systems seemingly with little resistance in recent days, it looks like the group’s access to Treasury Department payment systems and data is amounting to the final straw for top Capitol Hill Democrats and labor unions repping Federal employees. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.-N.Y.,?vowed on Monday to work with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on “legislation to stop unlawful meddling” in the Treasury Department’s payment systems. “To give DOGE a choke hold on Treasury payments is outlandishly dangerous,” the senator said, adding, “it’s like letting a tiger into a petting zoo and hoping for the best.” While the prospects for a successful legislative fight are iffy because Republicans control both chambers of Congress, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and the Service Employees International Union took what may be the faster route to resistance by filing a complaint?in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia claiming that Federal laws protect sensitive personal and financial information from improper disclosure and misuse, including by “barring disclosure to individuals who lack a lawful and legitimate need for it.” DOGE chief Elon Musk and his associates were granted access to Treasury’s payment systems the same weekend they?announced?they would shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development and?locked?career civil servants out of the Office of Personnel Management computer systems. Please do click through for all the details.

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GSA’s 18F Deleted?

While the truth of the matter remains murky, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk is making claims on his social media account that he had “deleted” the General Services Administration’s 18F technology group.?18F was created in 2014 to help Federal agencies improve their digital services, and was involved in helping the IRS launch its Direct File program, which has drawn the ire of some Republicans in Congress and companies in the tax prep and filing business. In a post made yesterday to his social platform X, Musk?reposted?a tweet that called 18F part of the “far left government” that helped to build the IRS program, with the repost claiming that the tax program “puts the government in charge of preparing peoples tax returns for them.”?In his repost, Musk added that the 18F “group has been deleted.”?While the 18F X account has been deleted, its website is still up and the Direct File program is still available, including?recent expansions?enabling the citizens of 12 more states to file tax returns electronically.?Last week, Musk dubbed GSA ’s Technology Transformation Service (TTS) group – which oversees 18F and is now headed by a former Tesla software engineer – a “far-left agency,” and added his own “deleted” comment. GSA did not offer a response to our inquiries today.

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Evans Returns to DHS

Long-time Federal government IT and cybersecurity leader Karen Evans?has returned to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as a senior advisor in the agency’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) component, DHS confirmed to MeriTalk. Evans previously served as CIO at DHS during the first Trump administration. She also was assistant secretary for cybersecurity, energy security, and emergency response at the Department of Energy. Most recently, Evans worked as managing director at the Cyber Readiness Institute. Evans’ first stint in Federal work was during the George W. Bush administration when she was administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) – the equivalent of the current Federal CIO title at OMB.

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Bobby Jr. Gets the Nod

The Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13 along party lines today to advance the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) , sending the nomination to the full Senate for further consideration. A key “yes” vote came from Sen. (and physician) Bill Cassidy, R-La., who reprimanded Kennedy at his nomination hearing for undermining confidence in vaccines. The senator said today in a social media post that he cast his vote today after a “very intense conversations with Bobby and the White House over the weekend.” At last week’s confirmation hearing, Kennedy pledged that he would expand the use of AI tech and telemedicine in rural hospitals if confirmed to head the agency.

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Once again, let’s “call IT a day,” but we'll bring you more tomorrow. Until then please check the MeriTalk breaking news website throughout the day for the latest on government IT people, process, and policy. And finally, please hit the news tip jar [with leads, breaking news, or simply your two cents] at [email protected].