Insider Brief
- The White House is reportedly drafting a sweeping executive order that would establish a whole-of-government strategy to coordinate federal investment, infrastructure, security and commercialization efforts across U.S. quantum technologies.
- The draft order directs OSTP, Commerce, Energy and Defense to update the National Quantum Strategy, launch a federally backed scientific quantum computer, expand quantum sensing and networking, and deepen partnerships with industry and allied nations.
- The proposal emphasizes workforce development, manufacturing capacity and counterintelligence protections for quantum research, while notably omitting provisions related to post-quantum cryptography and DHS oversight.
The White House is reportedly preparing a sweeping executive order on quantum technology that would reorganize how the federal government funds, builds, protects and commercializes one of the most strategically sensitive technologies now emerging.
According to a draft document obtained by NextGov/FCW, the order would establish a whole-of-government approach to quantum information science and technology, or QIST, aimed at strengthening U.S. competitiveness while reducing security and supply-chain risks. The directive, titled “Ushering In The Next Frontier Of Quantum Innovation,” assigns a central coordinating role to the Office of Science and Technology Policy and signals a sharper federal push to move quantum systems from laboratory research toward practical use.
The draft order frames quantum technology as both an economic opportunity and a national security concern. It directs federal agencies to lower barriers for commercial deployment, expand access to foreign markets, work more closely with allied nations and scale infrastructure needed to support quantum research and manufacturing, according to NextGov. At the same time, it emphasizes protecting sensitive quantum know-how from espionage and misuse as private investment in the field accelerates.
The OSTP director would be tasked with setting a national vision for quantum innovation, while the secretaries of Energy, Defense and Commerce would be responsible for executing many of the order’s core provisions. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Science Foundation would also play key roles, reflecting the technology’s dual-use nature across civilian, military and intelligence applications.
Updating the National Quantum Strategy
One of the major actions outlined in the draft — and arguably the one most important to the U.S. quantum ecosystem — is an update to the National Quantum Strategy, which has not been formally revised since a strategic overview was released in 2018 by the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science. That earlier document was intended to guide U.S. leadership as global interest in quantum computing, sensing and communications began to accelerate.
Under the new order, OSTP and the departments of Commerce, Energy and Defense would have 180 days after the order is signed to work with ODNI, NSF and the NSTC subcommittees on quantum science and its economic and security implications to produce an updated strategy, NextGov reported. The process would incorporate input from across government to reflect changes in the technology and the global competitive landscape.
Thirty days after the revised strategy is issued, agencies would be required to report to OSTP and the Office of Management and Budget on how they plan to implement its objectives.
While this may sound like mere bureaucratic shuffling, it’s an important step. The provision is intended to turn quantum policy into action by imposing clear deadlines and accountability. The 180-day timeline forces the federal government to update a national quantum strategy that dates back to 2018, before today’s surge in private investment, intensifying global competition and heightened security concerns, while requiring coordination across science, economic, defense and intelligence agencies to reflect quantum’s broader strategic role.
The subsequent 30-day reporting requirement gives the strategy teeth by compelling agencies to explain to the White House and federal budget officials how they will implement its objectives, tying quantum priorities to concrete programs and funding decisions.
The order also calls for coordination among OSTP, ODNI, Commerce, Energy and the Pentagon to ensure that manufacturing infrastructure, technical expertise and related capabilities are aligned. The goal is to accelerate discoveries that can inform national security missions, government operations and commercial products.
National Quantum Computing Capability
The draft order appears to focus on the creation of a new national effort to deliver a quantum computer for scientific applications and discovery, referred to as QCSAD, according to NextGov. At least one such system would be housed at a Department of Energy facility, reflecting DOE’s longstanding role in operating large-scale scientific infrastructure.
To speed delivery of the QCSAD system, the Energy Department would be directed to engage private-sector partners, drawing on commercial expertise to bring systems online for use by researchers. The Commerce Department, meanwhile, would be tasked with developing a plan to continue investments in commercial quantum companies, with the explicit goal of reducing technical and financial risk as technologies mature.
In practical terms, this might mean the Commerce Department would create programs to help “de-risk” quantum, such as expanding tools to encourage private investors and customers. That could include co-investment programs, targeted grants or loan guarantees for hardware manufacturing, and government commitments to buy or test early systems once they meet defined performance benchmarks. It may also involve standards work and independent system evaluations that give customers clearer signals about what today’s quantum machines can realistically do.
Within 180 days, the departments of Energy, Commerce and Defense would also be required to establish a Center of Excellence focused on assessing the capabilities of quantum computing systems. Such assessments are intended to provide a clearer, standardized understanding of what quantum machines can and cannot do, an issue that has become increasingly important as claims about performance proliferate.
Other Quantum Techs
Beyond computing, the draft order addresses quantum sensing and quantum networking. The order treats these technologies as foundational to a future distributed quantum computing environment, in which multiple systems could be connected and coordinated, NextGo reports. Leaders at Energy, Commerce, NSF and NASA would each be required to submit five-year roadmaps describing how they plan to expand quantum sensing and networking within their respective missions.
Those roadmaps would identify application areas tailored to each agency, ranging from scientific measurement to space-based systems. Agencies would also be asked to outline how they could use tools such as prize challenges and advanced market commitments to encourage private companies to develop key components needed across the quantum ecosystem.
Talent and Oversight
At the 180-day mark, the OSTP director would reconstitute the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee, a body originally established under the 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act. That committee expired in 2023 after Congress failed to reauthorize the law, though lawmakers have made repeated attempts to revive it.
The most recent reauthorization proposal was introduced in early 2026 by Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Maria Cantwell of Washington. Once reformed, the advisory committee would be charged with recommending ways to stimulate domestic development of quantum-enabling technologies, according to the draft order.
Workforce development is another major focus. OSTP would engage academic partners to expand education and training opportunities, while NSF would begin building a network of National QIST Education and Teaching Institutes. The Labor Department would partner with NSF to track workforce statistics, creating a data-driven way to measure progress in building a skilled quantum workforce.
The order also treats international partnerships as a strategic priority, particularly in trade. Commerce, the International Trade Administration and the U.S. Trade Representative would be directed to identify foreign trade barriers, discriminatory practices and other policies that limit U.S. competitiveness in quantum technologies, and to recommend steps to address them.
Notably absent from the draft, however, are provisions focused on post-quantum cryptography. Those technologies are designed to protect sensitive data from future quantum computers that could break today’s encryption. The draft does not mention the Department of Homeland Security or the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which has played a leading role in pushing agencies and companies to prepare for cryptographic migration.
The order does include security measures for protecting quantum research itself. The FBI would be tasked with leading and expanding its Quantum Information Science and Technology Counterintelligence Protection Team to improve responses to cybersecurity threats associated with cryptographically relevant quantum computers. ODNI, working through the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, would coordinate budgets and resources to strengthen protections around QIST.
As private investment in quantum technologies continues to grow, federal policymakers appear intent on shaping both the opportunities and the risks. The White House did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication, NextGov reported, but the draft order suggests that quantum policy is poised to become a central pillar of U.S. science, technology and security strategy.
