OSTP’s Kratsios touts ‘incredible’ interest in Tech Force, defends Trump science and tech cuts

The White House’s top technology and science official on Wednesday defended the Trump administration’s “hard decisions” to gut agency staff last year while simultaneously trumpeting the “incredible” interest it has received in its new Tech Force recruiting initiative.

Michael Kratsios, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, told lawmakers that more than “35,000 Americans have put forward interest in participating in Tech Force,” a governmentwide hiring program launched last month aimed at bringing technologists into federal agencies for two-year commitments.

Appearing before the House Science, Space and Technology Research and Technology Subcommittee, Kratsios said bringing technical talent into the government is a top priority for the White House. The tech community has responded to the administration’s calls, he said, pointing specifically to the “unique … buy-in from the private sector.”

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