Rebecca Heilweil

Rebecca Heilweil is an investigative reporter for FedScoop. She writes about the intersection of government, tech policy, and emerging technologies.

Previously she was a reporter at Vox’s tech site, Recode. She’s also written for Slate, Wired, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications.

You can reach her at rebecca.heilweil@fedscoop.com. Message her if you’d like to chat on Signal.

Articles by Author

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg holds a news conference about summer air travel at the department’s headquarters on May 23, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Transportation Department to examine consumer privacy issues with big airlines

Policy

A blue charger is plugged into the front of an electric vehicle. Only the nose of white the vehicle is shown in the frame. — Electric vehicles were displayed before a news conference with White House Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg about the American Jobs Plan and to highlight electric vehicles April 2021 in Washington. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The tech behind the nationwide charging network is top of mind for this Biden official

Tech

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 16: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Department of Homeland Security lays out AI plans in new roadmap

AI

From left, NASA astronaut and pilot Michael Barratt, NASA astronaut and commander Matthew Dominick and Roscosmos cosmonaut and mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin wave as they leave to launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 3, 2024. (Photo by Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images)

NASA investigating 2023 theft of astronaut training devices

Cyber

Houston Airport Biometrics and CBP Operations — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer takes a biometric photo of a passenger prior to boarding a flight at Houston International Airport on Feb. 12, 2018. (Customs and Border Protection / Donna Burton / Flickr)

CBP leaning into biometrics on controversial app, raising concerns from immigrant rights advocates

Emerging Tech

A United Airlines plane departs the Newark International Airport, in Newark, New Jersey, on January 11 2023. (Photo by Kena Betancur / AFP) (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

FAA shares new commercial space hiring strategy

Workforce

President Joe Biden visits the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Washington, DC, on August 31, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

FEMA employees brought government devices abroad without authorization, including to China and Iraq, document shows

Tech

Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., speaks during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing on Capitol Hill on Oct. 2, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/Getty Images)

Bill Foster, a particle physicist-turned-congressman, on why he’s worried about artificial general intelligence

Policy

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y., speaks during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Sept. 23, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

With House AI task force, Rep. Yvette Clarke is ready to ‘get to the table’

Policy