The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

The Treasury Department is officially suspending Direct File, a free online tax filing platform the IRS launched last year. The department said it’s exploring alternatives. That includes strengthening its partnership with tax preparation companies through its Free File program. Direct File expanded to 25 states during this year’s filing season and saw higher favorability scores. But Treasury said the program cost too much and didn’t see enough usage to keep scaling it up. For more on what happens next, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman spoke with the CEO of Code for America, Amanda Renteria.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The future at the Federal Emergency Management Agency remains murky after the Trump administration recently delayed a long-anticipated report from the FEMA Review Council. The uncertainty around the council’s recommendations cap a year of flux at FEMA. Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday joins me with more details.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The bipartisan package that ended the shutdown includes measures to upgrade legislative operations, from a Data Map for AI readiness to Case Compass for smarter constituent service. Danielle Stewart of POPVOX Foundation explains how these changes tackle Congress’s “pacing problem” and what comes next.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Anthropic says Chinese hackers used its Claude chatbot to automate a cyberespionage campaign against tech firms, financial institutions and government agencies, marking what could be the first large-scale AI-driven attack. Joining me to explain what this means for defenders and what’s next for nation-state tactics is the former department head of AI security at MITRE and co-founder of AI security consulting firm, Fire Mountain Labs, Dr. Josh Harguess.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Court of Federal Claims ruled that the VA violated the Trade Agreements Act by awarding a drug contract to a non-compliant supplier, rejecting the agency’s argument that high cost justified bypassing the law. The decision underscores that TAA imposes an outright sourcing prohibition and not a price preference. Here to explain what this means for federal procurement is Partner at Haynes Boone, Dan Ramish.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.