“Come work on literally the world’s most complex and difficult problems,” urged Scott Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), as the Trump administration launched the U.S. Tech Force the rapid response hiring initiative to replace the unprecedented workforce losses suffered by the federal technology workforce. This comes against the background of a year in which more than 300,000 people left the public service workforce, including key technology units disassembled by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk.
This Tech Force has an urgent mission: to bring in the first group of about 1,000 technologists from software engineers to data scientists to AI researchers to engineering managers who will spend two-year rotations inside agencies from DoD to the IRS, said Kupor. They’ll be paid between $130,000 to $200,000, reflecting the administration’s commitment to match private pay in this global race for AI talent. Kupor also emphasized that this initiative will focus on young professionals, remedying an astonishing gap that sees only about 7% of federal employees below age 30, while 22% of private employees fit into that age range.
One of the major characteristics of the scheme is that it uses public-private exchange models. Over 20 major tech firms, such as Meta, Palantir, Oracle, Microsoft, Adobe, Amazon, and Musk’s xAI, have committed to allowing some of their staff to take leave of absence to serve full-time in the federal government. Such individuals, however, will not be asked to leave their stock holdings, which has raised some concern regarding possible conflicts of interest. As Democracy Forward’s Rob Shriver explained, “My first question with any programs like this are, ‘What are the rules that are in place to guard against conflicts of interest?’” Shriver’s instincts seem well-founded, given DOGE’s track record of disregarding regular methods of accessing data, which is now caught up in a series of lawsuits alleging a violation of the Privacy Act of 1974.
The Tech Force will function as a hiring pool that will allow agencies to choose candidates from the pre-screened pool of applicants. The hiring process will be administered by OPM. The recruitment process follows the structure already in place in other modernization projects, like the US Digital Corps. Kupor described the new project as something that is “bigger than the USDS,” where technologists will work in agencies on the defined goals of the leadership.
In terms of the scope of the program from the point of view of engineering and modernization, the scope is significant. This is because the projects on the table include the integration of cutting-edge AI into defense systems such as autonomous drones and defense platforms, the modernization of the infrastructure at the Internal Revenue Service through the development of the Trump Accounts online system, and improving intelligence analysis at the Department of State through the enhancement of intelligence workflows.
However, this technical and operational environment is made complex by the fact that DOGE has a history. Earlier this year, DOGE used AI in such areas as monitoring the work force and integrating data from multiple agencies, using tools such as CamoGPT, which searched the Army’s files for DEIA, and GSAI, which automated administrative procedures following mass layoffs. The group’s ability to access sensitive data from the IRS, Social Security Administration, and Education Department, or collaborate with firms such as Palantir, has raised concerns from civil liberties groups and legislators about potential cybersecurity and privacy dangers.
Within this context, having a Tech Force that leans on private expertise could be a double-edged sword. While bringing in engineers with a track record in developing AI on a large scale could be beneficial in modernizing outdated government technology, a situation where divestment is not needed and where data is aggressively collected, as in DOGE’s case, could pose risks concerning good governance. Kupor has claimed that “we’ve run down all the various conflict issues” and that he finds no obstacle in hiring; this assertion is disputed by consumer watchdogs.
Structurally, another goal of the program is to facilitate two-way career flow. The program will encourage its members to go back to the private industry with updated skills from their public service term, and the program will conclude with a job fair represented by all partner companies. This is similar to trends in public and private exchange models of the workforce in high tech industries; engaging in short-term projects in the governmental projects has a catalytic career effect in all two industries.
Agencies: The addition of young tech talent could mitigate the negative effects of the withdrawal of talent and the dissolution of agencies like 18F and the Defense Digital Service to address the operations drag created by the mass exodus of talent in the past. Nevertheless, because of the complicated dynamic of using AI and the supervision of politics involved in this matter, success in the Tech Force will depend upon its capacity to reconcile speed and compliance in its efforts to “win the global AI race” and avoid following suit in its predecessor’s destabilizing tendencies.
