The House of Representatives passed the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act of 2022 (COMPETES) today by a 220-210 vote. […]
Democratic lawmakers in the Senate and House have reintroduced legislation that aims to bring renewed transparency and oversight to software, algorithms, and other automated systems used to make critical decisions that impact nearly every aspect of American life, and to guard against bias in the creation and use of those technologies. […]
The House Oversight and Reform Committee voted on Feb. 2 to approve the Supply Chain Security Training Act. The committee’s approval of the bill sends it to the full House of Representatives for consideration. […]
Once upon a time – before the tenures of most of its members began – Congress had inside help in understanding tech-related issues before members were asked to vote on legislation that could prove crucial to their further development. […]
The Office of the Chief Administrator in the House of Representatives is launching a House Digital Service team comprised of technology experts that will help improve members’ access to innovative technology tools, according to Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor. […]
Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., have launched a new Congressional IT Modernization Caucus that they said will function as an “informal group” of lawmakers dedicated to addressing IT modernization challenges across government, and educating members of Congress on Federal IT issues. […]
Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced legislation last week to protect commercial satellites from cybersecurity threats. […]
Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., announced Tuesday he will not seek reelection in November, ending a 22-year career in Congress marked by groundbreaking work in cybersecurity policy. […]
The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology favorably reported several bills to the full House today, including H.R. 847—the Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act. […]
Reps. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., are seeking more information on efforts by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) efforts to reduce security risks to Federal networks through the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA). […]
The House Government Operations Subcommittee has confirmed scheduling for its Jan. 20 hearing on the 13th edition of the FITARA Scorecard issued by the House Oversight and Reform Committee that grades major Federal agencies for progress across a range of IT-related goals. […]
Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Jody Hice, R-Ga., have sent letters to the IRS, Social Security Administration (SSA), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) seeking feedback on how the agencies are implementing the CASES Act. […]
A bipartisan panel of five female senators previewed major items on the Capitol Hill technology agenda for 2022 at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 7, including legislative priorities in broadband, STEM education, child protection, and advanced manufacturing. […]
The Senate voted on Dec. 18 to approve the Artificial Intelligence Training for the Acquisition Workforce Act, legislation that aims to improve the Federal workforce’s understanding of AI and ensure its ethical and safe use. […]
Despite a proclamation over the weekend from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., that he was a “no” on the existing version of Build Back Better Act legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a Dear Colleague letter today that he plans to keep working on the reconciliation legislation until they “get something done.” […]
Despite concerted efforts to get Democrats’ $1.75 trillion-plus Build Back Better Act passed before the end of the month, the timeline for Senate consideration of the budget reconciliation bill is effectively sliding into 2022. […]
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee voted Dec. 15 to approve the White House’s nomination of Alan Davidson to head the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA). […]
The Senate passed the conferenced version of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) today, sending the $768 billion defense spending bill to President Biden’s desk for his signature. The annual defense spending bill has now been passed 61 years in a row. […]
The Senate on Dec. 14 voted to invoke cloture on the conferenced version of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), setting up a final vote on Wednesday for the $768 billion defense spending bill. […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee favorably reported the Open Courts Act of 2021 (S. 2614) to the full Senate floor with bipartisan support for the legislation. […]
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expects to have a final conference agreement for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, with votes potentially taking place into the weekend, Schumer wrote in a Dec. 6 Dear Colleague letter. […]
Legislation designed to strengthen the Office of Personnel Management Act has cleared the House Oversight and Reform Committee, despite multiple Republicans objecting to the bill. […]
Since the release of the Cloud First mandate in 2011, the Federal government has been pushing agencies to modernize legacy technology and migrate to the cloud. While Cloud First evolved into Cloud Smart, agencies have historically taken a measured approach to cloud migration. On the most recent FITARA scorecard, only three agencies scored an A in the Modernizing Government Technology category. Eleven agencies scored a C or below. […]
The Federal government avoided a costly shutdown, after the House and Senate both passed a continuing resolution Dec. 2 to keep the government funded until Feb. 18, 2022. President Biden signed the CR today, the White House announced. […]
Leaders in the House and Senate said on Thursday they have reached an agreement for a new continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the Federal government funded through mid-February 2022. Under the existing CR, the government is set to run out of funding before midnight Dec. 3. […]
During a House Committee on Oversight and Reform subcommittee hearing today, the committee took up two IT-related bills, H.R. 4688 and H.R. 5792, one of which was reported favorably to the House and the other postponed with some resistance from the GOP side of the committee. […]
After returning from the Thanksgiving break yesterday, the Senate’s progress on consideration of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) stalled last night with Senate Republicans refusing to vote for cloture due to disagreements on the amendment process for the defense spending act. […]
The Senate returned to work Monday afternoon to continue consideration of the fiscal year (FY) 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), beginning a torrid stretch of legislative work leading up to the end of the calendar year. […]
House Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., introduced bipartisan legislation on Nov. 23 that the congressman said would help to rebuild and strengthen the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and its civil service leadership mission. […]
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has introduced an amendment (SA. 4281) to the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would fundamentally transform the Federal government’s approach to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) – more commonly referred to as unidentified flying objects (UFOs). […]