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Chris Kraft Named Secret Service CIO
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Chris Kraft. The U.S. Secret Service acting CIO has assumed the role on a permanent basis.

Chris Kraft, most recently acting chief information officer at the U.S. Secret Service, has assumed the CIO role on a permanent basis.

Secret Service Director Sean Curran announced Kraft’s appointment on Dec. 19.

In this capacity, Kraft will manage a workforce of 400 personnel as he oversees cybersecurity, software and IT operations for the agency.

In September, Kraft was tapped to serve as acting CIO of the Secret Service.

What Did Kraft Do as Acting CIO of Secret Service?

As acting CIO, he implemented efforts to improve service delivery, streamline operations and align technology with mission-critical priorities, including advancing the adoption of artificial intelligence in support of protective operations.

Who Is Cris Kraft?

Before joining the Secret Service, Kraft was acting chief technology officer and deputy CTO for AI and emerging technology at the Department of Homeland Security.

He previously served as assistant administrator for financial systems and program manager for financial systems modernization at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The George Mason University graduate served as a program manager at the Department of the Interior and assistant director of financial systems at the Department of Justice, according to his LinkedIn profile.

His industry career included time as senior director of business process and systems at K12; vice president of corporate solutions at SiriusXM; and senior consultant at BearingPoint.

Kraft holds a juris doctorate from the George Washington University Law School.

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War Department Aims to Advance SRM Production With DPA Title III Investments
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Michael Duffey. The Pentagon's top acquisition official commented on DPA Title III investments in SRM production.

The Department of War has made $32.7 million in Defense Production Act, or DPA, Title III investments in Systima Technologies and R.E. Darling Co., or REDAR, to expand the production of solid rocket motor, or SRM, components.

“The surge in demand for propellant-based weaponry, coupled with a narrow supplier base, has created a bottleneck in SRM production,” Michael Duffey, under secretary of war for acquisition and sustainment, said in a statement published Tuesday.

War Department Aims to Advance SRM Production With DPA Title III Investments

Duffey will deliver the opening keynote speech at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 29. Gain exclusive insights from Duffey and other experts and discover strategies that will strengthen national security at this must-attend event. Reserve your seat today!

“With these strategic investments, we are fortifying our national security by expanding critical nodes of the SRM supply chain to accelerate munitions manufacturing,” he added.

The DPA Title III investments were made in September but DOW delayed the announcement due to the government shutdown.

How Will DPA Title III Funds Expand SRM Production Capacity?

DOW is investing $27.7 million in REDAR to modernize and expand SRM internal insulation production to boost industry capacity and promote competition across the SRM market.

An additional $5 million investment in Systima, part of Karman Space & Defense, will establish a dedicated SRM nozzle production line and optimize complex nozzle manufacturing.

What Is DPA Title III?

DPA Title III is one of two investment programs within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy. It targets investments that create, maintain, restore or expand domestic industrial base capabilities that are critical to the Pentagon and U.S. warfighters.

The program’s focus areas are sustaining critical production; commercializing research and development investments; and scaling emerging technologies.

In mid-September, DOW awarded $39.6 million in DPA Title III funds to three companies to help strengthen the domestic SRM supply chain.

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US Navy to Build ‘Trump-Class’ Battleships for Golden Fleet Initiative
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The official seal of the U.S. Navy. The Navy expects to have up to 25 Trump-class warships, a new class of battleship.

President Donald Trump has unveiled plans to build a new class of battleships that will be equipped with advanced deep-strike weapons and deliver enhanced firepower to the U.S. Navy. 

Named after the president, the Trump-class ships will be thrice the size of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and will operate alongside a Carrier Strike Group to provide traditional integrated air and missile defense capabilities or lead a Surface Action Group for surface and anti-submarine warfare missions, the Navy said on Dec. 22.

“They’ll be the fastest, the biggest, and by far, 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Trump stated in a report from Breaking Defense.

The Trump-class ships are part of Golden Fleet, a military initiative to revitalize the domestic maritime industrial base.

How Powerful Will USS Defiant Be?

During a presentation at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, the president, alongside Navy Secretary John Phelan and War Secretary and 2025 Wash100 awardee Pete Hegseth, introduced USS Defiant, the first Trump-class battleship. 

“The future Trump-class battleship – the USS Defiant – will be the largest, deadliest and most versatile and best-looking warship anywhere on the world’s oceans,” Phelan stated. 

Renderings of USS Defiant revealed that the ship will have SPY-6 radar arrays, Block III Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program systems, missile launchers and gun systems, Naval News reported.

When Will Trump-Class Battleships Sail?

The Department of War revealed that the Trump-class battleships are still in the design phase, with USS Defiant projected to begin construction in the early 2030s. 

The U.S. Navy will first build two new battleships, but plans are in place to expand the service’s Trump-class fleet to up to 25 ships.

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NIST’s CAISI Seeks Partners to Advance AI Action Plan Priorities
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Artificial intelligence. CAISI is inviting AI experts to express interest in supporting federal AI efforts.

The Center for AI Standards and Innovation at the National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking artificial intelligence experts interested in working at CAISI as it expands work tied to the White House’s AI Action Plan.

NIST said Dec. 19 that CAISI will engage a broad range of AI experts through federal hiring, guest researcher arrangements and nonprofit collaborations. CAISI is scaling its operations to deliver on seventeen specific taskings under the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan. CAISI, operating as a startup, is the federal government’s primary industry-facing hub for testing and evaluating frontier AI models.

NIST’s CAISI Seeks Partners to Advance AI Action Plan Priorities

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How Does CAISI Work With Industry and Federal Partners?

CAISI works with AI companies on a voluntary basis to evaluate high-capability models prior to deployment. The center also collaborates with federal partners, including the intelligence community.

It is seeking experts to drive several initiatives that will define the future of AI safety and competition. Key project areas may include:

  • AI security and red-teaming: Testing AI systems for vulnerabilities like “jailbreaks” and “prompt injections.” This involves both manual and automated “red-teaming” to build stronger security guidelines.
  • Standards and guidelines: Creating voluntary resources for government and industry to ensure AI systems are robust and secure, and that evaluations are reproducible.
  • National security risk evaluations: Measuring AI capabilities in sensitive fields:
    • Cyber: Assessing AI’s ability to find and exploit vulnerabilities.
    • Biology and chemistry: Evaluating risks related to biomolecular design and chemical modeling.
  • Global AI landscape monitoring: Producing reports on the evolution of U.S. and foreign AI capabilities, including the detection of foreign political bias in models.
  • Advanced measurement science: Improving how AI performance is evaluated. This includes vetting benchmarks for accuracy and exploring “LLM-as-judge” scoring methods.

What Skills and Expertise Is CAISI Looking For?

Operating with offices in downtown San Francisco and Washington, D.C., CAISI is specifically looking for software engineers, AI research engineers and AI research scientists; cyber experts, biosecurity experts, computational and structural biologists; and researchers specializing in the measurement and validation of AI systems within operational environments.

Interested individuals may express their interest in working with CAISI through Google Forms.

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Defense Health Agency Seeking Industry Feedback on MHS GENESIS EHR Draft Contract Strategy
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Defense Health Agency's logo. DHA issued its draft contract strategy for the MHS GENESIS program

The Defense Health Agency has issued the draft contract strategy for its planned deployment of the Military Health Systems, or MHS, Genesis electronic health record, also known as EHR, platform.

Defense Health Agency Seeking Industry Feedback on MHS GENESIS EHR Draft Contract Strategy

The modernization of federal EHR services is one of the main topics that government and industry experts will discuss at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Healthcare Summit on Feb. 12. DHA leaders Jesus Caban and Rear Adm. Tracy Farrill will participate in panel discussions on cloud, artificial intelligence and observability in health services. Do not miss your chance to gather insights directly from top healthcare decision makers. Get your tickets today.

What Does DHA Want to Know?

The draft Health Care Delivery Solutions Electronic Health Record Follow-On, published on SAM.gov on Dec. 22, outlines a proposed structure separating program management office, product and service support.

Program management office support covers technical integration, design reviews, capability delivery roadmap maintenance, enterprise architecture and cybersecurity.

Meanwhile, product support focuses on management of software access and licensing, maintenance and updates, security and compliance, and infrastructure and platform services.

Services support includes end user experience, help desk and deployment.

The agency specifically is asking for industry feedback on help desk performance, training needs, testing responsibilities and data analytics roles. The agency also wants to know if the cloud transition can be completed in 2027 if contracts are awarded in or around July 2027.

Responses are due Jan. 9.

The draft contract strategy was developed using feedback from a previously issued request for information and an industry day held on Nov. 5.

What Is MHS GENESIS?

MHS GENESIS serves as the single health record for service members, veterans and their loved ones. It is the Military Health System’s modernized EHR, providing access to health information and allowing users to exchange messages with their care team or request prescription refills.

The platform integrates commercial off-the-shelf EHR components from Oracle Health, Henry Schein, Converge, Artera and other providers.

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FCC Adds Foreign-Made Drones, Components to Covered List on National Security Grounds
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FCC logo. The FCC has added foreign-produced drones and UAS components to its Covered List.

The Federal Communications Commission has updated its Covered List to include foreign-produced unmanned aircraft systems and critical UAS components. Announced by the FCC on Dec. 22, the decision restricts new equipment authorizations for such products.

Why Did the FCC Expand the Covered List?

The update follows a national security determination by an executive branch interagency body, which found that foreign-produced UAS and UAS critical components pose unacceptable risks to U.S. national security and the safety of U.S. persons.

Concerns include unauthorized surveillance, sensitive data exfiltration, supply chain vulnerabilities and the potential for disruption or exploitation of drone systems operating over U.S. territory. The determination also noted heightened risk as the U.S. prepares to host major mass-gathering events, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

Besides drones and UAS components produced abroad, the update also incorporates communications and surveillance equipment identified under Section 1709 of the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act, including those from Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies and Autel Robotics.

How Does the FCC Covered List Expansion Affect Drone Use and Sales?

The FCC emphasized that the update does not prohibit the use, sale or importation of drone models that were previously authorized through the equipment authorization process. The restrictions apply only to new device models, preventing them from entering the U.S. market unless the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security grants a national security exception.

The action implements direction from national security agencies under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act and aligns with executive orders focused on restoring U.S. airspace sovereignty and strengthening the domestic drone industrial base.

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CISA, NIST Release Draft Report on Identity Token Cyberthreats for Public Comment
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CISA logo. CISA and NIST published a draft of a new interagency report on cyberthreats targeting identity tokens.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have published an initial draft of an interagency report that aims to address cyberthreats targeting identity tokens and assertions.

CISA said Monday that the draft report, titled “Protecting Tokens and Assertions from Forgery, Theft and Misuse,” is open for public comments through Jan. 30.

The report adheres to the cybersecurity directive issued by the White House in June. This EO—focused on sustaining national cyber defenses—updates and amends previous guidelines found in Executive Orders 13694 and 14144.

CISA, NIST Release Draft Report on Identity Token Cyberthreats for Public Comment

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Why Are Cybercriminals Targeting Identity Tokens?

CISA warns that cybercriminals are compromising identity tokens and assertions—through theft, modification or forgery—to infiltrate protected resources.  The agency added that recent cyber incidents impacting cloud service providers involved some form of identity tokens and assertions misuse.

For instance, during the SolarWinds compromise in 2020, malicious actors forged Security Assertion Markup Language to bypass multi-factor authentication and access protected resources.

In another attack, foreign actors forged tokens and assertions to hack into email systems that multiple federal agencies used.

The report provides the cloud service providers and agencies with architectural considerations and recommended enhancements to safeguard identity tokens and assertions.

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War Department to Provide xAI for Government Capabilities via GenAI.mil
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Department of War logo. DOW signed a new agreement with xAI.

The Department of War will add xAI for Government to GenAI.mil, its bespoke platform that brings generative artificial intelligence capabilities to all civilians, contractors and military personnel under DOW. 

The department said Monday that it entered into an agreement with xAI for the company’s suite of frontier‑grade capabilities, which are based on the Grok family of models. DOW expects initial deployment in early 2026.

War Department to Provide xAI for Government Capabilities via GenAI.mil

The Potomac Officers Club will host a panel on artificial intelligence at the 2026 Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 29. Leaders from across the Pentagon and industry are gathering at the event to discuss the key technologies revolutionizing defense operations and warfighting and to forge new partnerships that advance national security goals. Click here to secure your spot in this highly anticipated GovCon event.

What Does xAI for Government Offer to the Pentagon?

The agreement enables Pentagon personnel to use xAI for Government at Impact Level 5 environments, where handling controlled unclassified information, or CUI, is part of daily workflows.

Launched in July, xAI for Government also provides federal, state and local government agencies with access to agentic tools, application programming interfaces and real-time global insights generated from the social media site X.

xAI for Government will be the second frontier AI that the DOW integrated into GenAI.mil, following the integration of Google’s Gemini for Government into the platform in early December.

Is Grok Available to Government Agencies?

The integration of xAI for Government into GenAI.mil comes a few months after xAI signed a OneGov deal with the General Services Administration to make Grok 4 and Grok 4 Fast AI models available for $0.42 for government use.

According to Elon Musk, CEO of xAI and a 2025 Wash100 Award winner, the company’s frontier AI models will drive innovation and mission efficiency across the U.S. government. 

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HHS Proposes HTI-5 Rule to Cut Health IT Burden, Advance AI-Enabled Interoperability
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HHS logo. HHS released the HTI-5 proposed rule.

The Department of Health and Human Services has released a proposed rule aimed at streamlining federal health IT certification requirements, strengthening patient protections against information blocking and laying new groundwork for artificial intelligence-enabled data exchange across the healthcare system.

HHS said Monday that the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: ASTP/ONC Deregulatory Actions to Unleash Prosperity proposed rule, known as HTI-5, advances the administration’s deregulation and AI leadership agenda.

The proposal was released through the assistant secretary for technology policy and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

HHS Proposes HTI-5 Rule to Cut Health IT Burden, Advance AI-Enabled Interoperability

Federal healthcare agencies are navigating large-scale modernization efforts while balancing interoperability, cybersecurity and patient outcomes. The 2025 Healthcare Summit on Feb.12, 2026, brings together government and industry leaders to examine how health IT, data platforms and digital services are being modernized across civilian and defense health systems. Register now!

How Would HTI-5 Change the Health IT Certification Program?

HTI-5 proposes a significant reset of the ONC Health IT Certification Program by removing more than half of the existing certification criteria and revising others to eliminate duplication and reduce compliance burden for developers.

HHS projects that these reforms will save health IT developers over 1.4 million compliance hours in the first year alone. This reduction in administrative burden is expected to generate $1.53 billion in total economic savings, including $650 million in direct cost reductions for stakeholders over the next five years.

The revised certification framework would prioritize standards-based application programming interfaces, with a specific focus on Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources.

What Updates Are Proposed for Information Blocking Rules?

The rule also proposes targeted revisions to information blocking definitions, exceptions and conditions. HHS said the updates are intended to address stakeholder concerns about potential misuse of existing provisions while reinforcing patient access to electronic health information.

According to the department, the changes would ultimately strengthen enforcement by clarifying regulatory expectations and reducing ambiguity around permitted data exchange practices.

The proposed rule is published in the Federal Register and open for public comment for 60 days. 

The proposal aligns with recent HHS efforts to accelerate AI adoption across clinical care, including a request for information seeking public input on how regulatory, reimbursement and research levers can better support AI use.

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NIST Invests $20M to Establish AI Centers for Manufacturing, Critical Infrastructure Security
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Artificial intelligence. NIST partners with MITRE to establish new AI centers.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is investing $20 million to establish two new artificial intelligence centers focused on U.S. manufacturing productivity and the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure through an expanded collaboration with MITRE.

NIST said Monday that the initiative creates the AI Economic Security Center for U.S. Manufacturing Productivity and the AI Economic Security Center to Secure U.S. Critical Infrastructure from Cyberthreats. MITRE will operate both centers in partnership with NIST, industry and academic institutions.

NIST Invests $20M to Establish AI Centers for Manufacturing, Critical Infrastructure Security

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How Will the New AI Centers Be Used?

The manufacturing-focused center will concentrate on applying AI to improve efficiency, quality and competitiveness across U.S. industrial sectors. The critical infrastructure center will address cybersecurity challenges, including AI-enabled cyber risks, by enabling real-time threat detection, predictive analytics and automated response capabilities.

NIST said the effort is intended to accelerate the transition of AI technologies from research into deployable, real-world systems while reducing reliance on insecure or adversarial AI tools.

“Our goal is to remove barriers to American AI innovation and accelerate the application of our AI technologies around the world,” said Craig Burkhardt, acting under secretary of commerce for standards and technology and acting NIST director.

The partnership builds on MITRE’s role of operating federally funded research and development centers, including the National Cybersecurity FFRDC. The centers will leverage MITRE’s AI Lab, Federal AI Sandbox and tools such as ATT&CK, ATLAS and CALDERA.

“Our partnership with NIST will produce transformational research to accelerate U.S. development and adoption of reliable, secure, and trustworthy AI,” said Mark Peters, president and CEO of MITRE and a 2025 Wash100 Award recipient. “These centers will help move trusted AI where it matters most to deliver the greatest impact for the nation.”

The initiative aligns with America’s AI Action Plan, particularly efforts to accelerate AI innovation and build domestic AI infrastructure.

NIST plans to award up to $70 million over five years to establish an AI-focused Manufacturing USA institute, further expanding federal support for AI-enabled industrial resilience.

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