GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (2/10–14)

This week's Weekly Debrief covers proposed legislation on a DeepSeek ban, Silicon Valley and the Pentagon, DOGE and the Pentagon, fixed-price contracts and Space Force, and NASA authorization and commercial space legislation.

AI

FedScoop – House bill would ban DeepSeek on agency workers’ devices

• "Federal employees would be banned from using the Chinese artificial intelligence platform DeepSeek on their government-issued devices under new legislation from a bipartisan group of House lawmakers. The No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act, introduced by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and 16 of their House colleagues Friday, comes after weeks of panic in Silicon Valley following the revelation that the Chinese startup’s AI models were comparable if not more advanced than offerings from U.S. companies."

Defense

WaPo – Silicon Valley and the military need to bury the hatchet

• "Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly central to modern warfare. Yet, as the DeepSeek surprise reveals, American dominance in AI is not guaranteed. With technology determining battlefield outcomes, how can the U.S. government keep pace on AI innovation, and how does the tech industry align with national geopolitical priorities?"

DefenseOne – Pentagon officials are bracing for Musk's DOGE

• "Few would deny that the Defense Department, with its $886 billion budget and byzantine ways, could be run more efficiently. Many have called for sweeping reforms of one sort of another. But if billionaire defense contractor Elon Musk and his DOGE team disrupt Pentagon data systems, contracts, and employees as they’ve done at other federal agencies, the results could expose critical national-security data, endanger personnel, and create unprecedented conflicts of interest, say current and former officials and outside experts."

Space

ViaSatellite – US Space Force Looks to Accelerate Shift to Fixed-Price Contracts

• "The U.S. Space Force is moving to shift a traditional 50-50 cost-plus versus fixed-price development contract split even more toward the use of fixed-price contracts with low non-recurring engineering costs and two to three year development cycles, a top service official said on Tuesday."

SpaceNews – Congress seeks NASA authorization, commercial space bills

• "The chairs of the congressional committees that oversee civil and commercial spaceflight say their priorities for the new Congress include a NASA authorization bill and commercial space legislation. In back-to-back speeches at the 27th Annual Commercial Space Conference here Feb. 12, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), chairman of the House Science Committee, outlined similar plans for legislation involving NASA and commercial space activities."

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