Draft Budget Bills Would Slash Trump Administration’s Tech-Funding Requests

The Information Technology Oversight and Reform (ITOR) account, which funds the U.S. DOGE Service and the White House Office of the Chief Information Officer, was among the casualties. The administration asked for $19.6 million in its proposed budget, but the appropriation committees earmarked less than half that amount.

The White House sought $10 million specifically for a software modernization project led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), for instance, and $35 million for federal agency reimbursements to the U.S. DOGE Service for the work it provides.

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The draft bills allocate $8 million for the entire ITOR account without specifying how the administration wants to split up the funds, per NextGov.

The reduced funding could represent a vote of no confidence in DOGE by the appropriators. The Elon Musk-led office was given free reign in the first six months of the new administration to slash programs, fire government workers and even shutter entire departments. But overall government spending actually rose last year and Musk has since left his DOGE post.

The draft appropriations also do not include explicit reauthorization of the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) within the General Services Administration that provided agencies up-front cash to jump start tech modernization projects. The original authorization expired on December 12th. Reauthorization bills were introduced in both the House and Senate last year, but neither passed.

“Without reauthorization, TMF cannot make new investments, which is how the program generates returns on Congressional appropriations,” a GSA spokesperson told NextGov. “GSA remains engaged with Congress on that path forward.”

Congress has not consistently put money into the revolving fund since establishing it in 2017. In its proposed budget, the administration had sought authority to take unobligated balances from other agencies as a way to “[alleviate] the budget on the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee.” But such explicit authorization language is not included in the congressional bill.

“[T]hese were tough negotiations under extremely challenging circumstances,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), vice-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee said in a statement. But, she added, “there is no doubt in my mind that this bipartisan compromise is a significantly better outcome than another yearlong continuing resolution that provides President Trump with slush funds and more power.”

One White House proposal that survived the appropriators’ axe was the Federal Citizen Services Fund, meant to help with governmentwide digital transformation. The committees earmarked $70 million for the fund, matching the administration’s request. The draft appropriations bill also authorizes the fund to take up to $29 million in reimbursements from other agencies, bringing the total funding amount to $150 million.