How Will the Trump Administration Handle Quantum Policy?

It was in President Trump’s first term that he signed the 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act (NQI) into law. With Trump’s return to office, industry leaders are speculating on what that means for quantum computing legislation.

Government’s focus in recent years has been on preparing systems for “Q-Day,” when quantum technology will become so advanced that it can crack current encryption methods and threaten the information systems that make up the nation’s digital services and critical infrastructure across sectors. Agencies have been told to migrate to post-quantum cryptography as a result.

The National Quantum Initiative Act is authorized until 2029, but a December 2024 reauthorization bill introduced in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation calls on extending that deadline to December 2034 and focus efforts toward development of practical applications for quantum.

A recent report from Congress suggested more investments in the workforce, developing industry and international partnerships and providing critical infrastructure to support the tech are needed.

“While the development of QIS technologies is at an early stage, now is a critical time to develop the fundamental scientific knowledge, infrastructure and workforce needed for the creation of new applications and use cases for QIS technologies, grow the marketplace, and foster an ecosystem for basic, applied and translational research in QIS,” said the report.

Since returning to office, Trump’s recent actions have been heavily oriented toward his focus on government efficiency.

But on the science and technology front, Trump has shown priorities around artificial intelligence with a new executive order and also reestablished the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to “spearhead American innovation and competitiveness in critical and emerging technologies.” Trump pledged to build on the “significant science and technology accomplishments” led by his first administration and cited the initial 2018 law. Some say these moves could show some promise for future movements in quantum legislation.

The Promise of Quantum

Agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and the Department of Transportation are looking to quantum to solve problems once deemed impossible. But harnessing its benefits means ensuring systems are protected from nefarious actors who would use quantum adversely.

“It is necessary to strengthen our agency’s data through post-quantum cryptography encryptions now, in order to be prepared for the security threats of the future,” CBP CIO Sonny Bhagowalia said in November.

The Defense Department has also been exploring quantum. The Defense Quantum Acceleration Act had been added into the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but then dropped in favor of calling on DOD to create a report on how it could use quantum technologies.

Additional legislation in quantum could position the United States as a leader in quantum technologies, according to Sam Howell, associate fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a bipartisan national security and defense think tank based in Washington, D.C.

“Quantum technologies are rapidly nearing market readiness, and U.S. adversaries are more determined than ever to beat the United States to the quantum punch,” wrote Howell in a November article. “The incoming Trump administration can seize the moment by fully resourcing the Tech Hubs Program, passing the [NQI] Reauthorization Act and leveraging the power of the United States’ alliances.”

Quantum technology could also help improve and optimize existing infrastructure, noted Allison Schwartz, vice president of global government relations and public affairs at the quantum computing company D-Wave.

“You need to do [things] better than you did yesterday. It may not be perfect, but you need to do it better and that’s where quantum computing can help,” said Schwartz during a Dec. 9 Hudson Institute panel. “If you could provide a solution that uses less computational power and energy consumption than a classical computer would, you could do with [quantum technologies].”

Economic Impact of Quantum Development

Quantum computing development is one area underpinning former president Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act that injected funding into new regional technology and innovation hubs called “Tech Hubs” across the country. Only two Tech Hubs focus on quantum development: The Bloch, a Chicago-based consortium, and Elevate Quantum, a mountain west consortium working to position Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming as the global epicenter for quantum development.

Elevate Quantum CEO and Regional Innovation Officer Zach Yerushalmi told GovCIO Media & Research the hub will focus on three pillars: creating tools for rapid prototyping of all quantum technologies, ensuring an educated and sustainable quantum-led workforce and investing in accelerator programs to move entrepreneurs into the field faster.

In addition to these pillars, Elevate Quantum is the anchor for the New Mexico Quantum Moonshot, a finalist of the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program (NSF Engines).

Yerushalmi said the moonshot could help the U.S. to maintain its competitive edge in QIT by focusing on collaboration with leading national laboratories of New Mexico like Los Alamos National Laboratory and bridging the gap between research and real-world applications.

With the state’s poverty rate in 2021 at 18.4%, the third highest in the country, Yerushalmi said national efforts like the Tech Hubs funding and the moonshot help the state create more jobs while contributing to overall national security.

“It’s a technology moonshot, but it’s grafted with capacity building to ensure that the fruits of this quantum technology … the fruits of that economic benefit are actually felt by the people in the communities that are giving birth to innovation itself,” said Yerushalmi.