From Mandate to Momentum
President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill and America’s AI Action Plan represent a rare convergence of legislative momentum and technological vision. Together, they are catalysts for reshaping how agencies serve citizens, how operations adapt to modern demands, and how America strengthens its competitive edge globally. This historic combination offers a chance to transform vision into execution at a scale not seen in decades.
What stands before us now is more than the promise of modernization; it is the test of how quickly and effectively agencies deliver. By pairing legislative momentum with responsible AI adoption, the Trump administration has already demonstrated foresight and commitment. The challenge and opportunity lie in turning that momentum into measurable outcomes that reinforce citizen trust and institutional resilience.
The IRS shows how federal agencies can translate sweeping legislative mandates into measurable results that strengthen citizen trust. In 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. According to the Tax Foundation, TCJA “reduced average tax burdens for taxpayers across the income spectrum and temporarily simplified the tax filing process through structural reforms.” Specifically, the IRS was tasked with revising more than 500 tax forms, activating 170 IT workstreams, and reprogramming over 50 return processing systems over the course of 2018. This warp-speed initiative led to a successful filing season starting in January 2019. This extraordinary achievement showed what is possible when urgency meets execution. But it also underscored how much strain such rapid change places on the capacity of federal agencies.
In 2021, the American Rescue Plan introduced the Advanced Child Tax Credit. To deliver it, the IRS launched Secure Access Digital Identity (SADI), an award-winning platform that enabled millions of taxpayers and businesses to securely access online services under heightened identity verification requirements. Launched on an accelerated timeline, this work reflected the power of pairing legislative mandate with technology innovation and foreshadowed the rapid innovation OB3 now requires. At Makpar, we were proud to support the launch of SADI—just one example of how ambitious mandates translate into trusted public services.
These experiences show the IRS can deliver under pressure, even while facing a multitude of challenges. OB3 builds on this history as a continuation of President Trump’s tax reform policy. The contrast is clear: the IRS proved it can execute quickly when required, but OB3’s scale demands even greater execution readiness within a condensed time period. OB3’s success depends on smart strategy, surge capacity, and modern tools like AI to translate mandate into public trust by the next filing season.
OB3 now presents Washington with its next great execution test. The upcoming January filing season is the immediate deadline for the IRS where tens of millions of taxpayers judge success. OB3, however, must also set the foundation for a multi-year modernization trajectory that strengthens the country as a whole. Here, the AI Action Plan can move from concept to practice. For example, at the IRS, AI-enabled document processing can reduce manual workloads, virtual assistants can expand taxpayer service capacity during peak demand, and advanced analytics can combat fraud.
OB3 is not just about managing a single filing season at a single agency. It is the proving ground for embedding AI responsibly into core government operations. For OB3 to succeed, therefore, the IRS cannot act alone. Collaboration with other agencies, especially the General Services Administration, is essential. GSA is an essential partner that gives the IRS the scale and speed required to meet ambitious deadlines. The agency provides critical support that allows the IRS to modernize more quickly, securely, and efficiently.
Back in March, President Trump signed Executive Order 14240, Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement. This EO tasks GSA with consolidating federal purchasing power and making acquisition vehicles more efficient. Tools such as multiple award schedules, blanket purchase agreements, and shared digital services give the IRS rapid access to technology and vendor expertise while reducing agency duplication. By leaning on GSA as a procurement partner, the IRS can concentrate on execution while relying on GSA to simplify acquisition and deliver efficiency at scale.
Simply put, the Administration’s goals can be achieved when agencies work together. Just this month, GSA and the Treasury Department launched the Savings Award for Verified Efficiencies (SAVE) Program. As GSA Acting Administrator Mike Rigas stated, “The SAVE program exemplifies inter-agency collaboration at its best by combining GSA's procurement expertise with Treasury’s fiscal oversight. By empowering frontline federal employees to act decisively on wasteful contracts, we are driving a cultural shift toward greater accountability and efficiency government-wide.” More broadly, linking IRS's OB3 implementation with GSA’s efficiency initiatives demonstrates how federal collaboration serves as part of a unifying strategy that accelerates results, streamlines federal operations, and brings government modernization into the 21st century.
The Trump administration has already taken important steps to link modernization with responsible AI adoption. OB3 now provides the chance to turn that momentum into visible outcomes. The task now is to deliver on the promise of the AI Action Plan, showing results the American people will see in the upcoming tax filing season. Done right, this effort will not only lay the foundation for a unifying federal strategy that streamlines operations, but also showcase the administration’s commitment to technological innovation.
Kaamil Khan is the president of Makpar Corporation, a leading professional and technology solutions firm based in Virginia.
