POLITICO Tech — "What’s behind Trump’s new Tech Force"
Date: December 18, 2025
Host: Stephen Overly
Guest: Scott Cooper, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), former tech investor at Andreessen Horowitz
Episode Overview
This episode dives into the launch of the U.S. Tech Force initiative under the Trump administration, spearheaded by Scott Cooper. The discussion covers what the program is, its goals for bringing more tech talent—particularly early-career professionals—into the federal government, and broader efforts to modernize government with technology. The conversation also touches on recruitment challenges, lessons from Silicon Valley, the role of industry partners, worries about regulatory capture, and the future of AI in public service.
Key Discussion Points
1. The Purpose of U.S. Tech Force
- Addressing Two Major Challenges
- Skills Gap: The need for modern tech capabilities (AI, data science, software development) in government.
"Thing number one is just making sure we augment our skills with modern software development. You know, AI specialists, data scientists, product managers... " (Scott Cooper, 02:01)
- Early Career Recruitment: Only 7% of federal workers are early career, versus over 20% in the private sector.
"... by a factor of three to one, we're not doing a great job of kind of replenishing the pipeline of early career people..." (SC, 02:22)
- Skills Gap: The need for modern tech capabilities (AI, data science, software development) in government.
2. Structure and Experience in the Program
- Two-Year Fellowship, 1,000 Hires
- Fellows are matched to various federal agencies according to skills and agency needs.
- Cohort-based approach with speaker series and career development.
"...what I want people to feel like is they're part of a class." (SC, 07:16)
- Career Mobility:
- Not a binary public/private choice; encourages movement between sectors.
"What I want to try to do is dispel this myth that at 22 or 25 years old, you have to... go on one of two forks." (SC, 07:53)
- Not a binary public/private choice; encourages movement between sectors.
3. Recruitment Barriers and Pay Reform
- Pay Disparity Exists but Not the Only Issue
- Early-career pay gap is smaller, and reforms aim to reward based on performance, not seniority or degrees.
"...if you're 22 years old, but you are really performing at the level of a GS15... you shouldn't be prohibited from doing that just because you don't meet a tenure requirement." (SC, 04:50)
- Broader Culture Reform
- Shift toward a high performance culture, not just job security.
"Our goal is to eliminate those things. And I think if we do that, then it's a type of environment that not just early career people, but kind of people who want to be in a high performance culture, I think will be attracted to." (SC, 06:43)
4. Differentiation from Past Government Tech Initiatives
- What’s New?
- Cohort Model: Stronger sense of class and community.
- Private Sector Partnership: Direct involvement in recruitment, training, and career support.
- Agency-Driven: Agencies identify priorities, OPM accelerates.
"...we just went out to the agencies and we said, you know, what your priorities are. Tell us what your hiring needs are for those priorities, and we're going to facilitate that." (SC, 08:04)
5. Government Restructuring and Modernization
- Net Tech Talent Losses vs. Gains
- Large government attrition was mainly voluntary; some IT/tech positions lost, but focus now on efficiency and the right skills.
"...the very, very significant majority of people who left the government left because... they weren't prepared to sign up for the types of things obviously that this administration was focused on." (SC, 09:24)
- Tech-Driven Transformation
- Push to consolidate redundant systems (e.g., 119 HR IT platforms), save money, and modernize.
- Aim to automate and create efficiencies using bespoke applications and AI.
"Our goal is to have a single HR IT system... that'll save billions of dollars." (SC, 11:11)
6. AI and Workforce Anxiety
- AI as Job Creator, Not (Necessarily) Destroyer
- Historically, tech change nets more jobs in the long run, though the pace of change is faster and more unnerving.
"...in every major cycle, we've always actually had greater job growth as a result of changes in technology." (SC, 13:45)
- Adapting to Change
- Emphasis on ongoing learning and adaptation for federal workers.
"I think we do a disservice... to say, put your head in the sand, assume technology is not going to kind of be relevant and don't learn these new things." (SC, 14:22)
7. Private Sector’s Role in Tech Force
- Engineer Rotations and Training
- Industry partners provide experienced managers, certifications, and job market connections.
"...they're going to help us with certifications and training... for example, if you want to be a databricks certified engineer, then you will basically get free access to their training and certification." (SC, 16:12)
- Speaker Series and Job Fairs
- CEOs (Meta, OpenAI, etc.) pledged annual engagement.
- Final job fair includes both public and private opportunities.
8. Regulatory Capture and Revolving Door Concerns
- Scott Cooper's View
- Sees value in cross-pollination over risk, with strong ethics rules in place.
"I don't [worry], to be completely honest... we have a very robust set of rules and laws... I'm quite confident if somebody's going to take advantage of the system, we will root out that problem." (SC, 17:03)
9. Creating Institutional Knowledge With High Turnover
- Attractiveness Over Entitlement
- Government must earn long-term employees through meaningful, impactful work.
"If we can't demonstrate that, then quite frankly, we don't deserve to have great people come and stay..." (SC, 18:33)
- Encourages Boomerang Careers
- Open to people moving in and out of public service as circumstances change.
10. Is AI a Bubble?
- Not a Bubble, Per Cooper
- Compares to dot-com era; believes fundamentals are now in place.
- Some failures and hype, but expects big winners and lasting industry transformation.
"I'm very firmly in the not a bubble camp and let me tell you why..." (SC, 19:38) "...coming out of that will be a very small number of companies. My guess is it'll be 3% of the companies that get started will ultimately generate 90% of the returns for the entire industry." (SC, 21:07)
11. Government's Role: Fast Follower, Not a VC
- Procurement, Not Investment
- Government should buy mature, proven products, not speculate.
- Should focus on deploying existing tools and building up internal know-how.
"...the government should be in the business of only procuring products that are obviously relevant to their business." (SC, 22:06) "...the government should be in the business of where appropriate, can we bring in talent that understands how to use open source technology and other things like that... that's, I think the role of government." (SC, 22:27)
Memorable Quotes & Timestamps
-
"We need to make sure we augment our skills with modern software development. ... Certainly we can expand as we reshape the focus of government."
— Scott Cooper (02:05) -
"Comp is an issue, but I think it’s not the prominent issue... the vast majority of people, I think come to a job because they feel like they can learn, they work for somebody who cares about them, they can actually develop their career, they can be recognized."
— Scott Cooper (05:08) -
"What I want to try to do is dispel this myth that at 22 or 25 years old, you have to either be a career civil service person or ... a career private sector person."
— Scott Cooper (07:54) -
"All of us have the charter from the President is look at things we’re doing where decentralization has not led to better results... Our goal is to have a single HR IT system... that'll save billions of dollars."
— Scott Cooper (11:14) -
"In every major cycle, we've always actually had greater job growth as a result of changes in technology... What’s unnerving for people this time... is the pace at which changes are happening."
— Scott Cooper (13:43) -
"I don't [worry about regulatory capture], to be completely honest... We have a very robust set of rules and laws... I'm quite confident if somebody's going to take advantage of the system, we will root out that problem."
— Scott Cooper (17:02) -
"I'm very firmly in the not a bubble camp and let me tell you why... The fundamental unit economics of the business didn't exist [in the dot-com era]... What I think exists today in AI is the unit economics are very clear."
— Scott Cooper (19:38)
Important Segments & Timestamps
- Introduction to U.S. Tech Force & its mission
(01:56-03:07) - Barriers and pay reform efforts
(04:35-06:53) - How this initiative differs from past programs
(06:53-08:45) - Reconciling past tech layoffs with new hiring
(08:45-10:58) - Modernization, automation, and HR system consolidation goals
(11:19-12:21) - AI, jobs anxieties, and adaptation
(13:31-15:16) - Industry partnership details
(15:16-16:47) - Regulatory capture and revolving door
(16:47-17:53) - Building institutional knowledge with rotating talent
(17:53-19:13) - Is AI a bubble?
(19:13-21:43) - Risk, innovation, and the role of government in tech
(21:43-23:17)
Summary & Takeaways
Scott Cooper provided a transparent look at the Trump administration's push to make government more tech-savvy and attractive to new technical talent. The U.S. Tech Force aims to modernize public service, bridge the skills gap, and encourage career movement between sectors, with robust buy-in from industry partners. The conversation balanced optimism about technology's transformative potential—including AI—with realism around the unique responsibilities and pace of government. Cooper stressed that lasting change requires government to become a compelling place to work, not just a fallback, and that modernization hinges on learning from industry without taking on its speculative risks.
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