A Federal workforce shake-up and probable changes to existing Federal policies for the government’s approach to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are two of the major government policy issues that loom large for early action by the incoming Trump administration.
On the morning after former – and incoming – President Donald Trump’s election victory on Nov. 5, Federal technology experts were mostly in processing – rather than prognosticating – mode as they surveyed the new landscape and looked to changes that will begin to come in January.
Here is a sense – no names, no quotes, no hints – of what some of them are thinking on the day after Election Day.
Federal Workforce
Given the prior Trump administration’s late-term drive to restructure the top layers of Federal agency workforces through a since-cancelled executive order that would have created a new “Schedule F” category for Federal employees deemed to be in policy-making decisions, experts believe the new administration will quickly resume work on a similar effort in early 2025.
New administrations routinely get to make about 4,000 new appointments – some requiring Senate approval and others not – to staff the upper echelons of agencies and carry out the administration’s aims in running them.
The first Trump administration’s executive order would have placed an estimated 50,000 Federal employees in the new Schedule F classification, making it much easier to remove them from their positions – which now have civil service rule protections – and replace them with people more apt to carry out the administration’s aims.
The executive order was issued late in the first Trump administration, and ultimately was not put into action. The order was cancelled by President Joe Biden shortly after he took office in 2021.
Since then, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a final rule in April 2024 confirming protections for career civil servants – and making it more difficult for a future administration to reapproach a Schedule F-type arrangement.
In 2023, Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., introduced the Saving the Civil Service Act, which aims to prevent the wholesale reclassifications of Federal employees without the consent of lawmakers. Sen. Kaine led the reintroduction of an anti-Schedule F companion bill in the Senate, but neither bill has gained much traction in Congress since then.
Last year, Trump pledged to reissue an order implementing the Schedule F classification “on day one” of his next administration.
AI Policy
While AI tech is already creeping into Federal technology applications via third-party platforms already in wide use, the government’s top-level AI adoption policies are in large measure being guided by the Biden administration’s AI executive order issued in October 2023.
Since then, government agencies have completed more than 100 taskings under the order, developed an extensive range of AI use cases, and the administration has created the AI Safety Institute within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to, in the words of NIST, advance “the science, practice, and adoption of AI safety across the spectrum of risks, including those to national security, public safety, and individual rights.”
In June, however, the Republican Party’s 2024 campaign platform vowed to scrap the Biden administration order entirely, stating in part that the order “hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology.”
Federal tech experts see the incoming Trump administration as ultimately apt to pick and choose among the existing order’s policies, but also to shift its stance toward a more muscular and perhaps less cautious adoption of AI tech by the government, and especially in the context of bolstering national security.
With that expected policy adjustment in mind, they also see the possibility of greater openings in the administration for private sector AI developers and contractors who can bring in different AI applications for government use under future policy that may deviate from some of the “safety first” aspects of current policy.
While Congress is chock full of AI-related legislation, they also note that the incoming administration need not wait around for lawmakers to act because it can create new AI policy via executive orders.
For the Record
While Federal tech experts remained in quiet mode today, several tech trade groups issued statements welcoming the chance to work with the incoming administration on a variety of issues.
Jason Oxman, president and CEO at the Information Technology Industry Council, said, “When I joined ITI during the first Trump administration, I felt incredible optimism at the important role of the tech industry in advancing Trump administration priorities. I feel even more optimism and excitement today.”
“As the global advocate for the technology sector, ITI and our members know the importance of continued American leadership on the world stage,” he said, adding, “technology is central to that leadership.”
“The incoming administration can maintain the United States’ lead in the global AI race, create a globally competitive tax system, and advance key U.S. trade, economic, and national security objectives,” Oxman said. “We look forward to working with incoming Trump-Vance administration and their transition team to bring tech’s priorities and voice to the table.”
“The Alliance for Digital Innovation believes that modernizing our digital infrastructure, enhancing our nation’s cybersecurity, and creating a path for government use of commercial cloud solutions are bipartisan issues,” said Ross Nodurft, executive director at the Alliance for Digital Innovation.
“We have worked closely with the Trump administration and the Biden administration and members of both parties in Congress to advance these objectives,” he said. “We stand ready to provide our expertise and ideas for policy solutions to any administration and Congressional leadership.”
Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), said, “in this consequential election, voters have made it clear that the economy is their top priority. One of the United States’ biggest challenges is reversing its loss of techno-economic power to China, making the restoration of U.S. leadership in advanced industries essential for the next president.”
“Given the central role of digital innovation in the U.S. economy, it is incumbent upon President-elect Trump’s administration to develop an economic agenda that accelerates digital transformation across public and private sectors, maximizing growth and productivity,” he said.
“To achieve this, the administration should focus on creating a pro-innovation regulatory environment that supports AI adoption, collaborating with Congress to pass a light-touch regulatory framework for consumer data protection, and enacting legislation that preempts state efforts to create a patchwork of digital policies that hamper interstate commerce, such as on digital taxation, content regulation, and children’s online safety,” Castro said.
National Active and Retired Federal Employees President William Shackelford, said, “As we look forward to the new Congress and administration, we urge the president and lawmakers from both parties to embrace a shared respect for democracy, find common ground, and work together, in partnership with, and respectful of, the federal workforce, to best serve the American people.”
On the issue of civil service protections, he said, “Every administration should – and will – bring along its own cadre of political appointees to set and direct the policy of the duly elected president. But NARFE will stand firmly against any efforts to eliminate or erode the merit-based civil service, including a reimplementation of Schedule F.”
“The merit-based civil service protects the honor of the federal government to work on behalf of the American people,” he continued. “It favors professionalism, provides continuity through changing administrations, and ensures public servants’ primary allegiance is to the Constitution and laws of the United States rather than the individual temporarily holding the office of President. NARFE will lead the fight to preserve it – but will need the support and voice of federal workers and concerned citizens across the country to succeed.”
