U.S Tech Force gets 25,000 sign-ups for federal AI jobs

A week into the U.S. Tech Force initiative to bring AI and software developers to the government, the government finds itself with something it did not have a week ago: volume.

Approximately 25,000 individuals have shown interest in joining Tech Force, a Trump administration insider told a news conference on Dec. 23, 2025. The number was initially posted by OPM Director Scott Kupor on X, and it could not be verified by Reuters.

That’s an important point because it puts this update in context: it is not 25,000 applicants hired, but a fast-growing pool of potential candidates. Kupor stated that the administration plans to use this list to recruit software and data engineers and other technical talent.

Now the funnel narrows. Those interested candidates will compete for 1,000 spots in the first Tech Force cohort, with recruits expected to work on technology projects inside federal agencies including Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and Justice.

Kupor has previously pointed to concrete work such as building a digital platform tied to the administration’s savings accounts for children, which would involve the Treasury Department.

The money is part of the pitch, too. Salaries have been described as landing roughly in the $130,000 to $195,000 range, with many roles expected to be based around Washington, D.C., and remote work varying by agency and role.

The bigger “so what” is speed. A list can be built in days. Converting that list into start dates depends on screening, agency matching, and the slowest part of federal hiring—clearances and onboarding. That’s the phase where government tech efforts tend to lose people to private-sector timelines.

Tech Force also sits inside a political tension Reuters highlighted: the administration has pushed government downsizing, while carving out exceptions for roles it frames as critical to national priorities. Tech Force is one of the clearest exceptions.