Day One 2025

The U.S. should continue its voluntary moratorium on explosive nuclear weapons tests and implement further checks on the president’s ability to call for a resumption of nuclear testing.

To help protect U.S. critical infrastructure workers, the next presidential administration should ensure ample supplies of high-quality respiratory personal protective equipment.

As data fuels the next transformative modernization phase, the federal government has an opportunity to leverage modern practices to leap forward in scaling IT modernization.

To maximize the potential of apprenticeship programs, the federal government should develop a cohesive approach to supporting “apprenticeships of the future,” such as those in cyber, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing.

To address challenges posed by increased extreme heat, USAID should mobilize finance through environmental impact bonds focused on scaling extreme heat adaptation solutions.

Congress should foster a more responsive and evidence-based ecosystem for GenAI-powered educational tools, ensuring that they are equitable, effective, and safe for all students.

Without independent research, we do not know if the AI systems that are being deployed today are safe or if they pose widespread risks that have yet to be discovered, including risks to U.S. national security.

Companies that store children’s voice recordings and use them for profit-driven applications without parental consent pose serious privacy threats to children and families.

What if the concurrent challenges of digital upskilling and teacher shortages could help solve one another?

Create a 10-year pilot AI Entrepreneur Visa program for a select group of countries to demonstrate the potential efficacy of the visa.

Urgent policy action is essential to address bias, promote diversity, increase transparency, and enforce accountability in clinical decision support AI systems.

Federal legislation would provide funding for grants and technical assistance to states and districts in planning and implementing comprehensive AI policy-to-practice plans.

Congress should assign and fund an agency office within the BIS to act as an information clearinghouse for receiving, triaging, and distributing reports on dual-use AI capabilities.

Congress should pass legislation to create a pilot program under the Department of Defense to expand access to shared commercial classified spaces and infrastructure.

Congress should establish a National Center for AI in Education to build the capacity of education agencies to undertake evidence-based continuous improvement in AI in education.

Congress should create a voluntary Artificial Intelligence Incident Reporting Hub, inspired by existing public initiatives in cybersecurity.

For decades, assistive technology, ranging from low tech to high tech, has helped students with disabilities with learning. AI tools hold promise for making lessons more accessible.

NIST should lead an interagency coalition to produce standards that enable third-party research and development on healthcare data.

To establish the NSF Teacher AI Literacy Development Program, Congress should pass a defining piece of legislation that will outline the program’s purpose, delineate its extent, and allocate necessary funding.

Congress should authorize the establishment of a NIST Foundation to unlock additional resources, expertise, and strong ethics for AI research.

By advocating for the integration of technology-focused green jobs within federal initiatives, there is an opportunity to broaden the talent pool and harness the potential of emerging technologies to tackle pressing environmental issues.

Global episodes of extreme heat intensify water shortages caused by extended drought and overpumping. Creating actionable solutions to the challenges of a warming planet requires cooperation across all water consumers.

To better incorporate extreme heat and people-centered disasters into U.S. emergency management, Congress and federal agencies should take several interrelated actions.

The undercounting of deaths related to extreme heat and other people-centered disasters — like extreme cold and smoke waves — hinders the political and public drive to address the problem.

The U.S. must urgently reform its disaster assistance policies to incorporate extreme heat through an amendment to the Stafford Act.

The incoming administration should undertake a multi-agency effort to further develop the science and quantify the benefits of urban forests today and into the future.

The federal government must maximize existing funds to mitigate heat stress and ensure the equitable distribution of these resources to the most vulnerable households.

The escalating frequency and intensity of extreme heat events, exacerbated by climate change, pose a significant and growing threat to public health. By leveraging funding mechanisms, incentives, and requirements, HHS can strengthen health system preparedness.

In a blackout, access to critical services like telecommunications, transportation, and medical assistance is also compromised, which only intensifies and compounds the urgency for coordinated response efforts.

An energy-efficient workplace cooling transformation is needed to ensure businesses have the support required to comply with existing state heat rules and upcoming federal workplace heat prevention requirements.