Technology
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Technology
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Mystery OPM server draws scrutiny
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House Oversight Democrats are calling for answers about the installation of a “server of unknown nature and origin” at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that assisted the agency in sending buyout offers to federal employees.
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© Kenny Holston, The New York Times via Associated Press pool
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The letter from House Oversight Democrats asks for a list of employees that installed the equipment, the authority under which they were hired and whether they faced background investigations — a nod to a Reddit post saying employees outside OPM installed the server.
The installation of the server appears to have been a stepping stone in OPM’s work to assemble a list of federal employee emails ahead of offering the “Fork in the Road” buyout package to nearly all employees — a brainchild of Elon Musk.
But in doing so, OPM may have violated laws dictating how the agency must plan for using databases with personally identifiable information.
“At best, the Trump Administration’s actions at OPM to date demonstrate gross negligence, severe incompetence, and a chaotic disregard for the security of our government data and the countless services it enables our agencies to provide to the public,” the letter stated.
"At worst, we fear that Trump Administration officials know full well that their actions threaten to break our government and put our citizens at risk of foreign adversaries like China and Russia gaining access to our sensitive data.”
The letter also seeks details about how OPM was able to assemble a list of employees — something that appears to be done from cobbling together existing email lists and datasets. Email metadata reviewed by The Hill show multiple email subdomains and servers affiliated with the process.
Most messages to staff are handled through each agency, and the government did not previously have the capability to send such far-reaching emails.
Meanwhile, two OPM employees are asking a court to block the agency from using computer systems and emails connected with its buyout offers to federal employees.
Read more from The Hill's Rebecca Beitsch.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:
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China said Tuesday it is investigating Google for potential antitrust violations after the Trump administration levied new tariffs on Beijing. The Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation announced in a press release that it is probing the tech giant over suspicions it violated the country’s anti-monopoly laws. The investigation is the latest apparent retaliation to President Trump’s 10 percent tariffs …
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Billionaire Bill Gates said in an interview early Tuesday that Elon Musk “wouldn’t be telling” employees at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) not to come to work if he “really knew” what it does. “I give billions of dollars to the same thing that USAID does. I go out in the field and study these things. I hire scientists,” Gates said on NBC’s “Today” show. “And so, you …
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Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Tuesday he will introduce legislation to empower parents to sue leading social media companies over alleged harms to children and teens. “Social media platforms don’t change because they don’t have any incentive, which is a very polite way of saying, there’s no hammer on these people. They do whatever they want to do because they know nobody can effectively hold them accountable,” …
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Bicameral crypto working group takes shape
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Welcome to Crypto Corner, a new feature in The Hill's Technology newsletter focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
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Top Republican lawmakers are launching a bicameral cryptocurrency working group, with an eye toward passing stablecoin and market structure legislation.
The working group will consist of members of the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees as well as the House Financial Services and Agriculture panels. It aims to "build consensus around a regulatory framework."
A key point of contention between the crypto industry and the Biden administration over the past four years has been the lack of regulatory clarity for digital assets.
The central question: When are digital assets considered securities or commodities and, as a result, which agency has regulatory authority over them?
"I've talked to many founders over the past few years, and they've told me repeatedly that the number one thing they need from Washington is regulatory clarity," said White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks, who joined lawmakers at Tuesday's press conference.
"They just want to know what the rules of the road are so they can abide by them," he added.
Plus: Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) is kicking off the push to pass new crypto legislation, introducing a bill to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
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News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
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Google has removed language from its website promising not to build artificial intelligence for weapons or surveillance (TechCrunch)
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Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI over its shifting corporate structure may go to trial (Reuters)
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
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Ocasio-Cortez: Musk ‘one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met’
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed tech billionaire and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk as “one of the most unintelligent billionaires” she has ever met. In a live video on her Instagram, Ocasio-Cortez weighed in on Musk’s influence over the federal government as DOGE examines and infiltrates various agencies, including the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International …
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(NEXSTAR) — Food delivery service Grubhub says a “security incident” allowed “unauthorized access” to the contact information for an unknown number of customers and drivers. The breach involved a third-party service provider, the company said Monday, explaining that an investigation was recently launched after “unusual activity” was detected. The third-party contractor was reportedly providing …
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Two key stories on The Hill right now:
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Congress has placed a hold on a $1 billion arms sale package for Israel that was readied alongside President Trump welcoming Israeli Prime Minister … Read more
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Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) has called for deporting Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a U.S. citizen, back to her country of birth, Somalia. “America … Read more
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Opinion related to tech submitted to The Hill:
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!
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Save story
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Two federal workers, citing reports that Elon Musk’s associates are operating an illegally connected email server at OPM, seek a restraining order.
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