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Today on the Daily Scoop Podcast from the Scoop News Group. OMB wants more information and data about government IT purchases, and lawmakers want the FTC to take on Black Box AI foundation models. It's Friday, April 3, 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, as always, let's dive into the day's top headlines. The Office of Management and Budget is asking federal IT leaders to provide more information about what they buy and collect more data about those purchases from the private sector. A memo issued on Tuesday mandates that certain agency chief information officers both provide OMB with monthly updates on contracts that they or their subordinates approve, as well as require vendors to provide details about pricing and agency use of those services. Federal CIO Greg Barbaccia said in a video about the Memo posted to LinkedIn that it's time to put all the cards on the table. At the end of the day, this is about using taxpayers dollars responsibly, buying smarter and making sure the government is actually getting value from the technology it depends on. The Trump administration has already made moves to consolidate IT contracting under the General Services Administration and, more broad, broadly, collect and share better data about federal acquisitions. The new memo appears to bring specific actions to achieve those policies directly to CIOs. The policy, which was signed by OMB Director Russell Vogt, points to a statutory requirement that CIOs and chief financial Officers act agencies, a cohort of roughly two dozen larger government departments and entities, must sign off on IT contracts and agreements. That requirement is the premise for the first new task for CIOs. Starting in May, CIOs within those CFO act agencies other than the Department of Defense will have to provide OMB with all IT contracts and agreements that they personally approved, as well as any approvals from a delegate of the CIO on contracts and agreements that directly enable or facilitate interaction between the public and the federal government through digital services. The second section, on acquisition data, meanwhile, applies to all agencies, excluding national security systems. Under that requirement, agencies must request information about their own utilization rates and prices paid for IT products and services, and include provisions on future contracts to require disclosure of that information to the government, including other agencies. Now moving on to other news, one of the House's top voices on artificial intelligence wants to put an independent federal agency in charge of ensuring the data and algorithms behind foundational models are made public. Representative Don Beyer Democrat of Virginia and co chair of the Congressional AI Caucus, is part of a bipartisan trio behind a bill introduced last week that would require the Federal Trade Commission to establish requirements for foundation model transparency. The bill, co sponsored by Representatives Mike Lawlor, Republican of New York, and Sarah Jacobs, Democrat of California, calls on the FTC to work with the Commerce Secretary, the Office of Science and Technology policy director, and the head of the National Institute of Standards and Technology on those requirements. The federal leaders would also seek input from standards bodies, academics, tech experts, civil rights advocates and consumers. Bayer, who has pursued graduate work in machine learning, said in a press release that consumers deserve more information about AI foundation models that are commonly described as as a black box, meaning users aren't privy to why a model may provide a particular response. Giving users more information, such as what the model bases its results on and how it was built, would go a long way toward changing that element of the unknown, according to Bayer. For more news at the intersection of the federal government and technology, make sure to visit fedscoop.com.