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The Daily Scoop Podcast

Episode: Congress tees up spending package to extend TMF authorization through September
Date: January 21, 2026
Host: Billy Mitchell

Overview

This episode centers on essential federal technology and management news. The primary focus is Congress's move to extend the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) authorization through September 2026 as part of a broader spending package, and the ramifications of a recent Department of Justice (DOJ) court filing concerning data handling violations by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) within the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Congressional Action on the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF)

A newly proposed congressional spending bill includes the extension of the TMF’s authorization, which had lapsed in December 2025 (00:37).
- The bill would reactivate nearly $200 million in previously frozen TMF funds.
- This move is part of over $1 trillion allocated to federal agencies in the fiscal 2026 spending bills.
The TMF, established in 2017, supports federal agencies’ technology modernization projects with initial funding, to be repaid from project-generated savings (01:10).
- “The TMF model was intended to be a self-replenishing working capital fund that provides initial funding to agencies for modernization projects. These projects are intended to save government money, and after a specific period the agency is expected to repay those funds.” (02:07, Billy Mitchell)
- At expiration, $200 million remained locked due to the lack of Congressional action.
Lawmakers had failed to reauthorize TMF through standalone bills or inclusion in earlier legislative packages.
- Notably, Rep. Nancy Mace has repeatedly introduced reauthorization bills that stalled in the Senate.
- Industry voices and trade groups had criticized the expiration, viewing it as a result of procedural delays rather than opposition to TMF itself.
- Observers predicted reauthorization would eventually be included in an appropriations bill rather than receive separate consideration. (01:50)

2. Potential Mishandling of Social Security Data by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

DOJ alleges DOGE, embedded at SSA, mishandled sensitive Social Security data—potentially violating a court order (03:05).
- “DOGE likely violated an order on Social Security data, according to a court filing.” (00:17, Billy Mitchell)
Background:
- Labor unions, including the AFL-CIO, filed suit in February 2025 to restrict DOGE’s access to SSA data.
- In March 2025, a court imposed a temporary restraining order limiting DOGE’s data access.
- Despite declarations that DOGE personnel completed privacy and ethics training, a DOJ filing (Jan 2026) found evidence of data operations and potential violations.
Key details of the violation (03:32):
- DOJ reports DOGE transferred data via a third-party Cloudflare server that was not authorized for SSA data storage.
- SSA officials were unaware of this third-party use and cannot confirm the data’s disposition.
- Multiple instances found of DOGE accessing personally identifiable information (PII), including:
  - SSA workforce records
  - Data visualization tools integrating with multiple sources
  - Shared workspaces used for fraud and analytic reviews
- “Because it is a third party entity, the agency can't determine what data was shared or whether it still exists on the server.” (03:45, Billy Mitchell)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On TMF’s importance and Congressional delays:
- “Some pinned the blame on procedural hurdles in Congress, including the 43 day long government shutdown that pushed various non funding priorities toward the end of the year.”
  — Billy Mitchell, (01:36)
On the mechanics and value of TMF:
- “The TMF model was intended to be a self-replenishing working capital fund that provides initial funding to agencies for modernization projects.”
  — Billy Mitchell, (02:07)
On the surprise discovery of SSA data mishandling:
- “SSA officials did not know DOGE representatives had used Cloudflare in that manner...adding that because it is a third party entity, the agency can't determine what data was shared or whether it still exists on the server.”
  — Billy Mitchell, (03:45)

Important Timestamps

00:37 – Congress proposes TMF reauthorization in new spending bill.
02:07 – Explanation of TMF's structure and the freeze on $200M in funds.
03:05 – DOJ filing alleges SSA data violations by DOGE.
03:45 – Details on unauthorized data sharing via Cloudflare and PII access.
04:55 – (End of content; outro begins.)

Conclusion

This episode provides a concise overview of how congressional appropriators aim to reauthorize the $200M Technology Modernization Fund via a broad spending bill—reviving stalled IT modernization efforts across agencies—and reveals fresh legal and security concerns at SSA, where external actors may have breached data protocols and court orders during a period of contentious oversight. The episode highlights ongoing challenges in federal IT modernization and data stewardship within government agencies.

For more details and ongoing coverage, listeners are directed to fedscoop.com.

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Transcript2 lines

[00:00]
A
Today on the Daily Scoop podcast from the Scoop News Group, Congress tees up a spending package that would extend TMF authorization through September, and the DOGE likely violated an order on Social Security data, according to a court filing. It's Wednesday, January 21, 2026. Welcome to the Daily Scoop Podcast, where you'll hear the latest news and trends facing government leaders. I'm the host of the Daily Scoop Podcast, Billy Mitchell. Thanks so much for joining me. And now let's dive into the day's top headlines. A new congressional spending bill could offer a lifeline to reauthorize the technology modernization Fund, which expired last month and froze nearly $200 million in unused funds. Congressional appropriators released the final slew of fiscal 2026 spending bills Tuesday, allocating more than $1 trillion to federal agencies and extending various laws or programs. Among the extensions is the reauthorization of the TMF through fiscal year 2026, or September 30th of this year. It comes just over a month after authorization of the Innovation funding vehicle expired Dec. 12. The TMF was created in 2017 to fund technology projects across the government, but the bill that made it also set an expiration date that only Congress can extend. Lawmakers failed to move forward with standalone legislation to reauthorize the fund last month, and efforts to include it in larger legislative packages also fell flat. Trade groups and IT industry experts were disappointed at the time, telling FedScoop in previous interviews that the expiration was not representative of the issues. Typical bipartisan support. Some pinned the blame on procedural hurdles in Congress, including the 43 day long government shutdown that pushed various non funding priorities toward the end of the year. Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, introduced bills in the last three Congresses to reauthorize TMF beyond 20, but they did not make it out of the Senate, where they have at times faced pushback from congressional appropriators. Industry insiders predicted last month that reauthorization would be attached to an appropriations bill. Given the hurdles in the Senate, reauthorization does not require additional funds, just a vote from Congress. The TMF model was intended to be a self replenishing working capital fund that provides initial funding to agencies for modernization projects. These projects are intended to save government money, and after a specific period the agency is expected to repay those funds. At its expiration last month, the $200 million remaining in the fund was frozen. Since the fund's inception, TMF has invested more than $1 billion into 70 different projects across 34 federal agencies. Now moving on to other news, members of the so called Department of Government Efficiency embedded in the Social Security Administration potentially expose personally identifiable information via a third party SE observer, the Department of Justice said in a court filing that also revealed coordination between DOGE and an advocacy group seeking evidence of voter fraud. A lawsuit filed last February by the afl, CIO and other labor groups against the SSA sought to cut off Doge's access to sensitive data housed in agency systems. In March, the U.S. district Court for the District of Maryland issued a temporary restraining order to limit that access. But after an SSA records review of the agency's former DOGE team for audit and litigation purposes, the DOJ said in a filing dated last Friday that communications, use of data and other actions were found to be potentially outside of SSA policy and or non compliant with the court's order. One of those instances involved Doge's sharing of data via a third party Cloudflare server, which is not approved for storing SSA data or when used in that manner outside of SSA's security protocols, according to the DOJ. Prior to its records review, SSA officials did not know that DOGE representatives had used Cloudflare in that manner, the filing states, adding that because it is a third party entity, the agency can't determine what data was shared or whether it still exists on the server. Declarations to the court last March from SSA officials said that all DOGE associates had undergone required privacy and ethics training and that the agency has it safeguards to ensure no private or commercial servers have been integrated with SSA systems. The DOJ also disclosed in its filing multiple instances of DOGE associates accessing systems containing pii, including a system that houses SSA employee records for workforce initiatives, a data visualization tool that could connect with other data sources, and a shared workspace where DOGE members could transmit data for fraud and analytics reviews, among others. For more news at the intersection of the federal government and technology, make sure to visit fedscoop.com.
[04:55]
B
Thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of the Daily Scoop Podcast, available on all podcast platforms. If you've already rated the podcast on your platform of choice, thanks so much. High ratings and good reviews of the show help more people to find it. The Daily Scoop Podcast is a production of the Scoop News Group in Washington, dc. Adam Butler and Carlin Fisher help put the show together and the entire Scoop News Group team contributes. We'll be back tomorrow with more top headlines. Until then, I'm your host. As always, Billy Mitchell, thanks so much for listening.