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Biden's 2023 Budget Includes $65B for Civilian Agency IT
The White House is looking for a $300 million boost for the Technology Modernization Fund and big increases in cyber and IT spending across the board.
The Biden administration's $1.58 trillion discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2023 includes increases in IT and cyber spending, another boost for the Technology Modernization Fund and more.
Budget documents released on Monday include IT and cybersecurity spending at federal civilian agencies. Top-line breakouts of defense spending in tech categories is forthcoming.
In the IT arena, the White House is seeking $65 billion in IT spend across civilian agencies, an 11% increase from the overall figure reported for 2022.
Within that, the budget request is looking for $10.9 billion for federal civilian cybersecurity capabilities, also an 11% increase.
The White House says that these investments will align with the cybersecurity executive order released last spring. Among other priorities, the funding will support the ongoing move to zero trust and fund the new Office of the National Cyber Director, the White House says.
The administration is also looking for a $300 million boost for the Technology Modernization Fund.
The fund did not get any increase in the recently passed appropriations package, although it did receive a $1 billion boost via the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021.
“With the continuously evolving IT and cyber landscape, these investments are an important down payment on delivering modern and secure services to the American public, and continued investment in IT will be necessary to ensure the United States meets the accelerated pace of modernization,” the White House says.
The General Services Administration, which manages the TMF, noted in their budget request that since the $1 billion plus-up under the American Rescue Plan legislation the board has fielded more than 120 funding proposals totalling $2.5 billion in requests. The board has awarded $311 million across seven projects since the new funding. GSA expects more new investment rounds to be announced this year.
The budget request also includes $115.7 million for the Federal Citizen Services Fund, which saw its operational rules updated in the omnibus appropriations bill that passed earlier this month. Last November, GSA announced $150 million in new commitments made by the fund.