According to Reuters, a senior Trump administration official said roughly 25,000 people have expressed interest in joining a new cadre of engineers called Tech Force. Scott Kupor, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, announced the figure in a post on X on Tuesday, December 23, though Reuters notes it could not independently verify the number. The interested candidates will compete for just 1,000 spots in the first cohort. Those recruits will spend two years working on tech projects inside federal agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and Justice. This hiring push is part of the administration’s AI agenda and marks a shift from President Trump’s earlier focus on eliminating government jobs.
The Talent Grab Context
Here’s the thing: every modern administration tries this. The article itself notes that previous presidents, including Joe Biden, launched similar initiatives. The government has a perennial, almost desperate, need for tech talent that can navigate its unique bureaucratic systems and legacy tech stacks. But the scale of interest here—25,000 for 1,000 slots—is pretty striking. It suggests either a very effective marketing campaign or a real hunger among tech workers for something beyond the volatility of startup life or the next big product cycle at a FAANG company. Is it patriotism? A desire for stable work? Or maybe just curiosity about working on problems with a different kind of impact?
A Shift From Downsizing?
Now, the most interesting political angle is how this contrasts with the early months of Trump‘s second term. The report says his focus was on “eliminating government jobs,” with exceptions for national security. So Tech Force is a clear departure. It signals that when it comes to certain technological capabilities—especially around AI and data—the administration sees building internal muscle as a national security imperative. You can’t just contract everything out. You need people who understand the mission from the inside. This is a pragmatic shift, and honestly, it’s one that makes sense regardless of who’s in office. The real test will be if they can actually retain this talent beyond the two-year stint or if it just becomes a glorified tour of duty.
The Execution Challenge
Let’s be skeptical for a second. Getting 1,000 tech folks through federal hiring paperwork, security clearances, and into agencies with famously slow IT procurement cycles is a monumental task. And then you have to give them meaningful work. The risk is creating a kind of tech island within these departments, where the “Tech Force” is seen as an outside group rather than being integrated. The potential, though, is huge. If they can actually modernize legacy systems at places like the VA or improve data sharing at Justice, the ROI could be massive. But it’s a big “if.” I think the success of this won’t be measured by the application numbers, but by whether any of the projects they start are still alive and functioning well five years from now.
