Latest news with #MaggieMiller
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PowerSchool Honored as Gold Stevie® Award Winner in 2025 American Business Awards®
FOLSOM, Calif., May 30, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PowerSchool, a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, has been named a Gold Stevie® Award winner in the Use of Artificial Intelligence in EdTech category in the 23rd Annual American Business Awards®. The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.'s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. PowerSchool earned the honor for PowerBuddy™, its secure, AI-powered assistant, designed to support teachers, students, families, and administrators. PowerBuddy personalizes learning, simplifies data analysis, and improves operational efficiency across PowerSchool's suite of solutions. Built with Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Services and grounded in PowerSchool's Responsible AI principles, PowerBuddy supports individualized learning by securely analyzing student data and delivering actionable insights. Embedded across PowerSchool products like Schoology Learning, Naviance CCLR, and Performance Matters, PowerBuddy has already powered over 30,000 study sessions, generated 15,000 test items, and supported more than 12,000 college and career readiness activities for students worldwide. More than 3,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Thought Leader of the Year, and App of the Year, among others. PowerSchool was nominated in the education category for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in EdTech. "Organizations across the United States continue to demonstrate resilience and innovation," said Stevie Awards president Maggie Miller. "The 2025 Stevie winners have helped drive that success through their innovation, persistence, and hard work. We congratulate all of the winners in the 2025 ABAs and look forward to celebrating their achievements during our June 10 gala event in New York." About the Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at About PowerSchool PowerSchool is a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America. Its mission is to empower educators, administrators, and families to ensure personalized education for every student journey. PowerSchool offers end-to-end product clouds that connect the central office to the classroom to the home with award-winning products including Schoology Learning and Naviance CCLR, so school districts can securely manage student data, enrollment, attendance, grades, instruction, assessments, human resources, talent, professional development, special education, data analytics and insights, communications, and college and career readiness. PowerSchool supports over 60 million students in more than 90 countries and over 18,000 customers, including more than 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States. © PowerSchool. PowerSchool and other PowerSchool marks are trademarks of PowerSchool Holdings, Inc. or its subsidiaries. ** Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. View source version on Contacts Media ContactWe. Communications for PowerSchoolWE-PowerSchool@ (503) 443-7155
Politico
5 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Israel feels fallout of Trump's ceasefire with Houthis
With help from Maggie Miller, Paul McLeary, Joe Gould and Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Robbie | Email Eric President DONALD TRUMP's ceasefire with the Houthi militant group in Yemen appears to be holding. But that hasn't stopped the Houthis from continually lobbing missiles at Israel, the United States' most important Middle East ally. The Houthis late Thursday night launched another ballistic missile at Israel — which Israeli air defenses successfully intercepted — marking the Houthis' sixth attempted attack in a week. It came days after Israel carried out its own airstrike against Houthi territory in Yemen. The attacks show how the Houthis are emerging as one of the most resilient Iran-backed militant groups in the region following a prolonged conflict that has seen Israel destroy a large part of Hamas and Hezbollah's military power. But the ongoing Houthi attacks also lay bare how Israel was left out of Trump's ceasefire deal with the Yemeni militants — a fact that could put the staunchly pro-Israel administration under new pressure to respond if the Houthi attacks escalate. 'Israel is not immune to America First foreign policy,' a former Trump administration official who worked on Middle East issues told NatSec Daily. 'And this was an America First negotiation.' Some pro-Israel groups have bridled at the Trump administration's decision to strike a deal with the Houthis that didn't include conditions on halting attacks on Israel. Leaving Israel out 'suggests there's daylight or divergence between the United States and Israel, which is always something Iran seeks to exploit,' said BLAISE MISZTAL of the Jewish Institute for National Security, a nonprofit advocacy group. But administration insiders, including the former official and one current official who we granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal deliberations, defended the Trump administration's decision. They argued that the Houthis would never halt attacks on Israel and that the administration simply took the least bad option it had available: Stop expending significant military resources and high-end munitions on a fight that had no end in sight. And, these people argued to us, the administration will use its resources better by focusing on tackling the root causes of the Houthi attacks. That includes a final ceasefire in Gaza and a deal with Iran, the Houthis' prime military backers, over its nuclear program. The Houthis have justified their attacks against Israel as a response to Israel's ongoing military offensive in Gaza. The militant group halted its missile attacks briefly during an Israel-Hamas ceasefire in January, then launched them again in March when Israel resumed its Gaza operations. 'The Houthis will continue these attacks to establish their jihadi street cred and axis of resistance street cred against Israel,' said the former Trump administration official. 'Everyone has tried to take on the Houthis militarily for a decade. And everyone has failed.' Spokespeople for the National Security Council and Israeli embassy in Washington didn't respond to NatSec Daily's request for comment. Still, the ongoing attacks may only serve to embolden the Houthis and bring them new resources, recruits and military prestige if left unchecked, other analysts warned. 'From a Houthi perspective, they're demonstrating not only 'You can go toe to toe with the United States and emerge,' but 'You can continue taking potshots at the most powerful military force in the Middle East and still be standing,'' said JON ALTERMAN of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. That, he argued, 'gives them tremendous credibility.' The Inbox HARVARD'S NEW VISA VETTING: The State Department unveiled new guidance for vetting visa applications of students, faculty members, staff and visiting speakers at Harvard University for online expressions of antisemitism, our own Nahal Toosi and Eric scooped. Per the cable issued Thursday and signed by Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO, consular officers should 'conduct a complete screening of the online presence of any nonimmigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose.' This goes beyond existing protocols, which primarily involved screening returning students who may have participated in pro-Gaza campus protests. And having no social media, or having accounts set to private, may cause applications to be rejected, as the cable tells consular officers to weigh those factors when evaluating an applicant's credibility. The policy is being described as a 'pilot' that could be expanded to visa applicants associated with other colleges and universities. NATO EXPANSION CONSENSUS? Russia is celebrating the Trump administration's public agreement that Ukraine shouldn't join NATO any time soon. U.S. special envoy to Ukraine KEITH KELLOGG said Thursday that Russia's worries about NATO's eastern expansion are 'a fair concern' and that 'Ukraine coming into NATO is not on the table.' It's the first public statement that Ukraine's NATO membership is truly a nonstarter amid negotiations to end Russia's invasion. The Kremlin embraced those comments today, per our European colleague Yurii Stasiuk. 'We are glad that these explanations of the president find their understanding, including in Washington,' Kremlin spokesperson DMITRY PESKOV said. That consensus indicates that the U.S. and Russia could write into any deal to end the war in Ukraine that Kyiv won't be admitted formally into the alliance. MACRON'S WARNINGS: French President EMMANUEL MACRON offered a warning to China at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore today: The future of NATO in Asia rests on China's ability to keep North Korea out of the war in Ukraine. Per our European colleague Laura Kayali, Macron said that 'North Korea in Ukraine is a big question for all of us. If China doesn't want NATO to be involved in Southeast Asia, it should prevent [North Korea] from being engaged on European soil.' It's a remarkable about-face for the French leader, who helped block previous efforts by NATO to expand its presence in Asia by creating a liaison office in Japan. 'I had objected to NATO having a role in Asia because I don't believe in being enrolled in someone else's strategic rivalry,' Macron said, hinting that Paris could change its stance. The comments highlight Europe's deep vexation with the growing Russia-North Korea partnership in Ukraine, which has seen Pyongyang offer Russia troops and ammunition for its three-year invasion of Ukraine in exchange for cutting edge defense technology. China, which has traditionally served as the main power with influence over the mercurial government in Pyongyang, has chafed at the growing ties between its two allies, but has done little to rein in North Korea. DRINKS WITH NATSEC DAILY: At the end of every long, hard week, we like to highlight how a prominent member of the national security scene prefers to unwind with a drink. Today, we're featuring KURT VOLKER, who served as Trump's envoy for Ukraine in his first administration and U.S. ambassador to NATO during the GEORGE W. BUSH administration. As a longtime Europe policy hand, it's perhaps no surprise that Volker's drink of choice involves European grapes: Tsolikouri, a dry white wine from the western region of Georgia in the South Caucasus. Volker said he first tried Georgian wine in 2005, when he was a member of then-President Bush's delegation visiting the country. 'It was wonderful. I've had Georgian wine from that time,' he said. (The rest of the trip after that, though, not so much: A Georgian man attempted to assassinate Bush later in the trip by throwing a grenade at him during a speech, but fortunately the grenade failed to detonate.) Another factor that may explain Volker's fondness for these dry white wines: Volker's wife, former Voice of America journalist IA MEURMISHVILI, has a vineyard in Georgia that produces wines including Tsolikouris. Maybe NatSec Daily should look at buying a vineyard to really upgrade the Drinks with NatSec Daily experience… But until then, cheers to you, Kurt! IT'S FRIDAY! WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@ and ebazail@ and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil. While you're at it, follow the rest of POLITICO's global security team on X and Bluesky: @dave_brown24, @HeidiVogt, @jessicameyers, @RosiePerper, @ @PhelimKine, @ak_mack, @felschwartz, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @reporterjoe, @JackDetsch, @samuelskove, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130 and @delizanickel Keystrokes BRING IT BACK: A group of Senate Democrats is urging Homeland Security Secretary KRISTI NOEM to reinstate a key federal advisory board tasked with investigating major cyber incidents, with the senators citing national security concerns, our own Maggie Miller writes in. Members of the Cyber Safety Review Board were dismissed during the first week of the Trump administration as part of an overhaul of DHS federal advisory boards, right as the CSRB was beginning to investigate the hack of U.S. telecommunications last year by Chinese government hacking group Salt Typhoon. Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair MARK WARNER (D-Va.), along with Sens. RON WYDEN (D-Ore.), RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-Conn.) and ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-Mich.) sent a letter to Noem today outlining their concerns with closing the CSRB, in particular the interruption of the Salt Typhoon investigation. 'The January dismissal of CSRB members, and continued uncertainty about the future role of the board, has undermined cyber defense preparations for public and private entities across the United States,' the senators wrote. A spokesperson for DHS did not immediately respond to NatSec Daily's request for comment. The Complex WAITING ON HEGSETH: Friday was a busy day for Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH, as he worked through his first Shangri-La Dialogue meeting in Singapore, our own Paul McLeary and Joe Gould write in. His meetings with allies presaged his highly anticipated Saturday keynote speech at the cornerstone annual event for nations to talk though security issues in the Indo-Pacific region. Hegseth's remarks are expected to be a major statement on the Trump administration's still undefined security policy in the region. 'This is a really important speech, and the main reason for that is we don't know nearly as much as we would like to about where the Trump administration lies on Asia policy,' said MIRA RAPP-HOOPER, who was one of former President JOE BIDEN's top Asia advisers on East Asia and Oceania. 'There is uncertainty about how the United States is defining its own security role,' said Rapp-Hooper. 'So they don't really know how to gauge how strong the U.S. commitment is to them right now.' There's also concern that Hegseth will push Asian nations to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP, which is emerging as the new spending goal for European NATO members. Pentagon policy chief ELBRIDGE COLBY posted on X recently that 5 percent 'is the new standard for our allies around the world, especially Asia.' Rapp-Hooper said any such ask 'will not land particularly well,' with allies in Asia, particularly South Korea, Japan and Australia — which are currently increasing spending and ramping up their military readiness. Other countries in the region simply can't afford to spend that much on defense, she said. The Trump administration's new isolationist-meaning doctrine, spelled out by Trump during his visit to Saudi Arabia this month, and Vice President JD VANCE at the Naval Academy earlier this month, also might not entice allies to spend more just because Washington says so. 'When you threaten to pull back, it doesn't necessarily drive allies to spend more,' said ZACK COOPER, a former Pentagon official now with the American Enterprise Institute. 'It can empower the people in those capitals who are most skeptical of the U.S., who also happen to be skeptical of defense spending.' On the Hill MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS: Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers from a senior Trump administration Africa envoy over his efforts to resolve the ongoing conflict between Rwanda and the Congo and the role that U.S. investments in Congo's critical minerals is playing in any negotiations. Five Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to MASSAD BOULOS, the State Department's senior adviser on African affairs (who is also TIFFANY TRUMP's father-in-law). They said they had questions over expanded U.S. access to the Congo's critical mineral resources and 'how these resources will be managed transparently and equitably.' They also warned that the administration's cuts to humanitarian and health aid to the Congo will exacerbate the drivers of the ongoing conflict, including weak governance, corruption and lack of economic opportunity. The letter was signed by Reps. JOHNNY OLSZEWSKI (D-Md.), SARA JACOBS (D-Calif.), SHEILA CHERFILUS-McCORMICK (D-Fl.), JONATHAN JACKSON (D-Ill.) and PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.). The State Department declined to comment, saying it doesn't comment on correspondence with Congress. Broadsides INDIA ISN'T BACKING DOWN: India is reminding Pakistan that it has only paused military operations against it. Per Indian outlet Mint, Indian Prime Minister NARENDRA MODI said at a rally today that 'Operation Sindoor is not over yet.' He continued: 'It showed the world power of indigenous weapons and 'Make in India.' We destroyed terrorist hideouts in Pakistan by going hundreds of miles inside. Indian weapons, Brahmos missiles, entered enemy territory and wreaked havoc.' Modi reiterated that India won't be cowed by threats from Pakistan about the use of nuclear weapons, echoing what's become a new strategic doctrine in Delhi as to relations with Islamabad. The comments come as India and Pakistan have reduced their troop buildup near their shared border. Pakistan has also signaled that the conflagration between both countries in late April and early May has increased the likelihood of further conflict and escalation. Transitions — Rubio announced today that former Ambassador to Jordan HENRY WOOSTER will become the chargé d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Haiti as of June 12. DENNIS HANKINS, the outgoing U.S. ambassador, is retiring. Wooster is an Army veteran who previously worked at the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince and will bring a 'whole-of-government approach to U.S. policy on Haiti,' per Rubio. — JORDAN BREWER is leaving the Cato Institute after serving as a manager of government affairs. He will join the State Department as special adviser in the bureau of cyberspace and digital policy. — Retired Col. ERIC LECKEL has joined the National Guard Association of the United States as its chief of staff. He previously served on the NGAUS board of directors and was president of the Wisconsin National Guard Association. — Cambridge Global Advisors has added PATRICK LECHLEITNER, ELAINE DUKE, KATIE TOBIN, RYAN SCUDDER, PAUL THOMAS, TIM DEVINE and MORGAN RYAN. What to Read — Kathleen Kingsbury, The New York Times: The U.S. Deported This Chinese Scientist, in a Decision That Changed World History — Judd Devermont, Post Strategy: On Engagement — Matthew Kassel, Jewish Insider: How Congress became impotent on foreign policy Monday Today — Council on Foreign Relations, 12:15 p.m.: The Geopolitics of Critical Minerals: Risks, Resilience, and Resource Control — Atlantic Council, 1:30 p.m.: A book discussion on 'Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom' Thanks to our editors, Heidi Vogt and Emily Lussier, who fail to pass any visa vetting requirements.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PowerSchool Honored as Gold Stevie® Award Winner in 2025 American Business Awards®
FOLSOM, Calif., May 30, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PowerSchool, a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, has been named a Gold Stevie® Award winner in the Use of Artificial Intelligence in EdTech category in the 23rd Annual American Business Awards®. The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.'s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. PowerSchool earned the honor for PowerBuddy™, its secure, AI-powered assistant, designed to support teachers, students, families, and administrators. PowerBuddy personalizes learning, simplifies data analysis, and improves operational efficiency across PowerSchool's suite of solutions. Built with Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Services and grounded in PowerSchool's Responsible AI principles, PowerBuddy supports individualized learning by securely analyzing student data and delivering actionable insights. Embedded across PowerSchool products like Schoology Learning, Naviance CCLR, and Performance Matters, PowerBuddy has already powered over 30,000 study sessions, generated 15,000 test items, and supported more than 12,000 college and career readiness activities for students worldwide. More than 3,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Thought Leader of the Year, and App of the Year, among others. PowerSchool was nominated in the education category for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in EdTech. "Organizations across the United States continue to demonstrate resilience and innovation," said Stevie Awards president Maggie Miller. "The 2025 Stevie winners have helped drive that success through their innovation, persistence, and hard work. We congratulate all of the winners in the 2025 ABAs and look forward to celebrating their achievements during our June 10 gala event in New York." About the Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at About PowerSchool PowerSchool is a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America. Its mission is to empower educators, administrators, and families to ensure personalized education for every student journey. PowerSchool offers end-to-end product clouds that connect the central office to the classroom to the home with award-winning products including Schoology Learning and Naviance CCLR, so school districts can securely manage student data, enrollment, attendance, grades, instruction, assessments, human resources, talent, professional development, special education, data analytics and insights, communications, and college and career readiness. PowerSchool supports over 60 million students in more than 90 countries and over 18,000 customers, including more than 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States. © PowerSchool. PowerSchool and other PowerSchool marks are trademarks of PowerSchool Holdings, Inc. or its subsidiaries. ** Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. View source version on Contacts Media ContactWe. Communications for PowerSchoolWE-PowerSchool@ (503) 443-7155 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
PowerSchool Honored as Gold Stevie® Award Winner in 2025 American Business Awards®
FOLSOM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- PowerSchool, a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, has been named a Gold Stevie® Award winner in the Use of Artificial Intelligence in EdTech category in the 23 rd Annual American Business Awards ®. The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.'s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. PowerSchool earned the honor for PowerBuddy™, its secure, AI-powered assistant, designed to support teachers, students, families, and administrators. PowerBuddy personalizes learning, simplifies data analysis, and improves operational efficiency across PowerSchool's suite of solutions. Built with Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Services and grounded in PowerSchool's Responsible AI principles, PowerBuddy supports individualized learning by securely analyzing student data and delivering actionable insights. Embedded across PowerSchool products like Schoology Learning, Naviance CCLR, and Performance Matters, PowerBuddy has already powered over 30,000 study sessions, generated 15,000 test items, and supported more than 12,000 college and career readiness activities for students worldwide. More than 3,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Thought Leader of the Year, and App of the Year, among others. PowerSchool was nominated in the education category for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in EdTech. 'Organizations across the United States continue to demonstrate resilience and innovation,' said Stevie Awards president Maggie Miller. 'The 2025 Stevie winners have helped drive that success through their innovation, persistence, and hard work. We congratulate all of the winners in the 2025 ABAs and look forward to celebrating their achievements during our June 10 gala event in New York.' About the Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at About PowerSchool PowerSchool is a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America. Its mission is to empower educators, administrators, and families to ensure personalized education for every student journey. PowerSchool offers end-to-end product clouds that connect the central office to the classroom to the home with award-winning products including Schoology Learning and Naviance CCLR, so school districts can securely manage student data, enrollment, attendance, grades, instruction, assessments, human resources, talent, professional development, special education, data analytics and insights, communications, and college and career readiness. PowerSchool supports over 60 million students in more than 90 countries and over 18,000 customers, including more than 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States. © PowerSchool. PowerSchool and other PowerSchool marks are trademarks of PowerSchool Holdings, Inc. or its subsidiaries. ** Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Politico
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Trump's slash-and-burn agenda hits DOD's cyber workforce
With help from Maggie Miller and John Sakellariadis Driving the day — The Defense Department is bulldozing through its cyber workforce, and former Pentagon officials and experts warn it could cause irreparable damage to the nation's cyber defenses. HAPPY TUESDAY, and welcome to MORNING CYBERSECURITY! I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! I spent most of the time outdoors, but I'm happy to be back in your inboxes today. Drop me a line at dnickel@ Follow POLITICO's cybersecurity team on X at @RosiePerper, @johnnysaks130, @delizanickel and @magmill95, or reach out via email or text for tips. You can also follow @POLITICOPro on X. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. Happening This Week On Wednesday: The House Homeland Security Committee holds a field hearing on 'Innovation Nation: Leveraging Technology to Secure Cyberspace and Streamline Compliance' at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. 5 p.m. At the Agencies CUTS AT THE PENTAGON — The Defense Department's cybersecurity workforce is preparing to take a hit as the Trump administration continues its workforce blitz across agencies. At the DOD, cyber agencies — including the Defense Information Systems Agency and U.S. Cyber Command — have faced staffing cuts within the last month that worry lawmakers, former Pentagon officials and cyber experts alike. Last week, Maggie reported that Lt. Gen. Paul Stanton, head of DISA, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee's cyber subcommittee that the agency will lose around 10 percent of its staff to cuts and resignations. Between 5 percent and 8 percent of the U.S. Cyber Command personnel also took the Trump administration's offer of deferred resignation this month. While the scope of the Pentagon workforce reduction remains unclear, former DOD officials and cyber experts warn that sweeping cuts across the board may leave certain areas severely understaffed and could destabilize cyber operations. — Back-and-forth: President Donald Trump and his administration have drawn sharp criticism for ousting officials who don't align with his agenda — including Gen. Timothy Haugh, the former head of the NSA and Cyber Command, and Chris Krebs, the former head of CISA in Trump's first term. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has faced similar backlash over his removal of high-ranking officers across the military. Former DOD officials are concerned that removals at the top are creating a ripple effect throughout the workforce and weakening the nation's ability to fight back effectively. 'You lost a person, and that expertise is lost to the government forever,' said one former Defense Department official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the cuts. 'The people who remain don't have the institutional knowledge base.' Patrick Johnson, director of the DOD chief information officer's Workforce Innovation Directorate, pushed back against concerns of a haphazard hatchet of the cyber workforce, saying on Thursday that the office is aligning itself with the DOD's broader personnel strategy of reducing the federal civilian workforce. He added that the department is working to curb the potential blowback through selective staffing cuts and is focused on opportunities to teach remaining staff new skills on the job. But Pentagon officials are already talking about bringing back ousted staff. When testifying before Congress last week, Stanton told lawmakers that the personnel changes give the agency 'an opportunity to ruthlessly realign and operationalize what is an evolving mission,' but added that some of the vacated roles will likely be reinstated. 'We need to rehire the right people into the right positions to then lead us forward,' Stanton testified. A second former DOD official, also granted anonymity to speak candidly, said there are ways to make precision cuts while minimizing long-term damage to cyber operations, including giving operational commanders oversight over where staff reductions are made. — Clearing house as threats circle in: While Pentagon staff continue to weigh whether to take employment deferment offers or potentially face layoffs, the Defense Department has seen an injection of funds to enhance cyber offensive measures for Indo-Pacific Command through the budget reconciliation bill passed by the House late last week. Experts say this funding to boost cyber offensive measures is a step in the right direction, though workforce cuts could undermine the success of these efforts. 'China and Russia are increasing the scope and complexity of their attacks against U.S. military networks and vital critical infrastructure,' said retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center for Cyber and Technology at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, adding that the Pentagon's cyber workforce needs 'resource and personnel plus ups not cuts.' On The Hill WEST COAST HEARING — The House Homeland Security Committee is decamping to Silicon Valley this week for a field hearing at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. The hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, was set so lawmakers could get a closer look at where the U.S. stands in cyberspace. Witnesses are set to include representatives from cyber and tech giants Google and Palo Alto Networks, and committee members plan to discuss how to better secure U.S. critical infrastructure networks. 'This hearing is an opportunity to hear directly from technology leaders, innovators and researchers about what's working and what isn't,' Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), chair of the panel's cyber subcommittee, told Axios when the hearing was announced. The International Scene ENCRYPTION ON THE LINE — The Center for Democracy and Technology Europe is joining 88 other advocacy groups, cybersecurity experts and companies to urge the European Commission to consider how the European Internal Security Strategy, also known as ProtectEU, could hurt the future of end-to-end encryption in the EU. In a letter sent to the European Commission on Monday, the groups said that ProtectEU's proposed Technology Roadmap on Encryption — which would enable law enforcement authorities to lawfully access encrypted data — could harm cybersecurity and privacy protections for EU citizens. The European Commission has recently focused on end-to-end encryption to crack down on the distribution of child sex abuse material by requiring messaging platforms to conduct blanket scans on content, even if the platforms offer end-to-end encryption. The efforts have been met with backlash from digital advocates and the tech industry over the risks posed to EU citizens' data privacy and their devices' cybersecurity. The groups called on the European Commission to acknowledge that strong encryption tools won't hinder EU security, edit the proposed Technology Roadmap to include the benefits of encryption and consult with private companies, digital advocates and cybersecurity experts to add 'credibility' to the document. Quick Bytes A FAN, THIS AGENCY IS — A seemingly ordinary Star Wars fan website from the early 2010s was built by the CIA to covertly communicate with its informants around the world, Joseph Cox writes for 404 Media. AI CHIPS — Nvidia will launch a newer — and cheaper — AI chipset for China after recent U.S. export restrictions on the company's H20 chips, Liam Mo and Fanny Potkin report for Reuters. DOWNSIZING YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT — Wired's Matt Burgess, Sophie Johal and Michaela Neville prepared a guide on the basics of keeping your digital footprint locked down. Chat soon. Stay in touch with the whole team: Rosie Perper (rperper@ John Sakellariadis (jsakellariadis@ Maggie Miller (mmiller@ and Dana Nickel (dnickel@
