# White House Reportedly Taps EPA CIO

Carter Farmer, the Environmental Protection Agency’s CIO, is reported to be the White House’s choice to succeed Greg Barbaccia as federal CIO; the Office of Management and Budget had not formally confirmed the selection in the reports, and Barbaccia left the role on August 31, 2026. Farmer has emphasized guarded, expert-reviewed AI use and reusing solutions already developed across agencies. Separately, Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued an RFI on an AI-agent software factory, while EPA’s CIO vacancy remains open for applications through **October 13, 2026 (11 days remaining)**.

- The ICE RFI creates a market-engagement opportunity for firms with AI orchestration, governance, cybersecurity, accessibility, and testing capabilities; the signals provide no RFI deadline or contract value.
- Farmer’s reported experience points to potential federal focus on shared solutions, IT modernization, critical-infrastructure cybersecurity, and operational-technology visibility and recovery. These are indications of possible priorities, not confirmed new requirements or awards.
- Companies pursuing the EPA CIO role can submit applications by October 13, 2026. Contractors can assess whether their existing, expert-reviewed AI and reusable government technology offerings align with the priorities described in the reports.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology
**Topics:** Artificial Intelligence, Digital Infrastructure, Cybersecurity
**Published:** October 01, 2026

### Government Entities
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

### Key Quotes
> Anything you’re probably trying to solve in your agency has probably already been solved 10 to 20 thousand times everywhere else in the world. There is no need for you to go out there and be a trailblazer on something that has already been done 20 times by different agencies.
> — Carter Farmer, EPA Chief Information Officer

### Sources
- [
        EPA’s Farmer to be new federal CIO - Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/cio-news/2026/09/epas-farmer-to-be-new-federal-cio) - Federal News Network
- [EPA CIO Carter Farmer picked to be the new federal CIO, sources say | FedScoop](https://fedscoop.com/carter-farmer-picked-as-new-federal-cio-former-epa) - FedScoop
- [EPA CIO Tapped to be Next Federal CIO | GovCIO Media & Research](https://govciomedia.com/epa-cio-tapped-to-be-next-federal-cio) - GovCIO Media & Research