As 2025 comes to a close, MeriTalk is looking back on a consequential year for federal IT marked by leadership changes, sweeping policy shifts, and workforce disruption.
From cloud security and procurement modernization to workforce realignment and congressional losses, federal technology leaders navigated a year of rapid change with long-term implications for missions, budgets, and operations.
Here’s a look – in no particular order – at the top 10 federal IT moments of 2025:
Teleworking feds come back to the office
President Donald Trump wasted no time sending federal employees back to the office. On his first day on the job, President Trump signed an executive order ending remote work for federal employees and ordering them to return to the office “on a full-time basis.” The move ended the era of telework in the federal government, which served as an important tool for feds at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
FedRAMP 20x launches
In March, the General Services Administration (GSA) launched its Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) 20x initiative, a revamp of the 14-year old cloud security program. The revamp is focused on automation to accelerate the approval of secure cloud services. FedRAMP 20x has been busy over the past year – it wrapped up its Phase One pilot and has already launched its Phase Two pilot. We’ll continue to cover all of the FedRAMP changes in 2026.
OneGov takes shape
GSA also unveiled its OneGov initiative, which aims to streamline federal IT acquisitions through standardized terms and pricing. The effort has allowed federal agencies to score big discounts from tech companies, including Oracle, Elastic, Google, Adobe, Salesforce, DocuSign, OpenAI, Box, Anthropic, Microsoft, ServiceNow, Meta, xAI, Perplexity, and more.
TMF authority lapses
The Technology Modernization Fund’s (TMF) authorization expired on Dec. 12, when Congress failed to reauthorize it before its sunset date. As a result, GSA can continue to oversee its existing investments, but it will not be able to make any new TMF awards. The TMF – which is run by GSA – was created in 2017 under the Modernizing Government Technology Act to provide federal civilian agencies with funding to undertake tech modernization projects.
OMB issues PMA
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published the Trump administration’s President’s Management Agenda in December. The PMA lays out plans to shrink the federal government and leverage technology to deliver faster services. The practice of new administrations issuing PMAs dates to 2001. The documents describe strategies to make the federal government more effective and efficient and set overarching management goals. The latest PMA sets three priorities: shrink the government and eliminate waste; ensure accountability for Americans; and deliver results, buy American.
ATC modernization accelerates
A deadly midair collision in January near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport intensified scrutiny of aging Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) infrastructure. In May, President Trump and Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled their plan to build a brand-new U.S. air traffic control (ATC) system. In December, the FAA told Congress that it planned to expedite ATC modernization, aiming to complete a major overhaul by late 2028.
DOD unveils SWFT
The Department of Defense (DOD) – which the Trump administration rebranded to the Department of War – did a lot this year, but its Software Fast Track (SWFT) initiative stood out. The initiative aims to accelerate the delivery of secure software to the DOD. It streamlines the DOD’s Authority to Operate process for software and provides military services and defense agencies with greater assurance that applications meet security requirements.
US Tech Force debuts
In December, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced the US Tech Force, a new effort to hire early-career technologists who will serve two-year employment terms across the federal government. OPM plans to recruit roughly 1,000 technologists for the initial cohort. Annual salaries are expected to range from $150,000 to $200,000, depending on experience level and agency placement. OPM Director Scott Kupor said the program aims to help ensure the federal government has skilled tech talent and bring the next generation of leaders into government.
Federal tech workforce shrinks
Prior to the US Tech Force announcement, other efforts to bring tech workers into the government were shuttered. Earlier this year, GSA shuttered its 18F digital consulting office, and President Trump transformed the U.S. Digital Service – which was designed to bring tech experts into the government – into the U.S. DOGE Service. While it’s unclear how many technologists have left the federal government under the Trump administration, Kupor published a blog post on Nov. 21 that said roughly 317,000 employees left their agency jobs. The government shutdown also didn’t help. Technology experts told MeriTalk that the historic government shutdown could impact the federal IT workforce long term, as many employees may choose to leave government service for a private sector job that offers reliable and higher pay.
Remembering Gerry Connolly
This year, federal IT lost a major champion in Congress: Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. In May, the nine-term congressman died at age 75 following a bout with esophageal cancer. Connolly’s leadership on federal technology and workforce issues was unmatched during his time in Congress representing the 11th district of Virginia. He was an original cosponsor of the Modernizing Government Technology Act, which created the TMF. Connolly was also a prime mover behind the semi-annual FITARA Scorecard that debuted in 2015 to grade the 24 largest federal agencies on their progress across a range of IT-related categories. Since his death, the FITARA Scorecard hasn’t been issued – Connolly issued the last scorecard in September 2024. However, his successor, Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., said he is eager to carry on Conolly’s work on the scorecard – perhaps in a broader, new iteration.
Happy holidays from MeriTalk! We wish you a cyber-safe and secure holiday season and can’t wait to see what 2026 brings.