The Government Accountability Office (GAO) identified in a new report 168 new actions that Congress and Federal agencies could to take to improve efficiency and effectiveness across the Federal government, including two new recommendations involving information technology. […]
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, believes that the Federal government needs to help state and local governments figure out how to bridge the digital divide as the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates a need to expand broadband to areas that don’t have it and to provide better services. […]
The Senate today confirmed Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, to become the next Director of National Intelligence (DNI), by a vote of 49 to 44. […]
In a move to ward off foreign adversaries, Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., led the charge to encrypt phone calls between the chambers to protect communications against foreign surveillance. […]
The Spectrum IT Modernization Act, which advanced on a voice vote out of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on May 20, takes aim at revamping the way the Federal government manages the airwaves. […]
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced key pieces of IT legislation out of markup during today’s business meeting. […]
Four House Republicans have come out in favor of the Federal Communications Commission’s recent unanimous decision to allocate wireless spectrum to Ligado over the strenuous objections of the Defense Department (DoD) and other parties. […]
The House late Friday passed the HEROES Act, the Democrat-led $3 trillion COVID-19 coronavirus relief legislation that includes billions of Federal technology-related spending. […]
On the same day that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint warning to COVID-19 research organizations about China’s cyber threat, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission got its hearing in the Senate. […]
In a move to strengthen the United States’ cybersecurity posture, Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Cory Gardner, R-Colo., introduced the Cybersecurity Competitions to Yield Better Efforts to Research the Latest Exceptionally Advanced Problems (CYBER LEAP) Act of 2020. […]
Schools moving to distance learning to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown a bright light on the homework gap experienced by 12 million students who lack internet access at home. […]
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said at a May 13 hearing that he is pushing to include in National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) legislation a requirement for a National Cyber Director. […]
Republican House leadership has its eye on AI, data privacy, and the Internet of Things (IoT) in its newly released emerging tech agenda. […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered nearly every aspect of American life, but changes to the way students learn and adults work has presented unique challenges to the U.S. broadband network. […]
The Professional Services Council (PSC) said in a press release that it applauds the inclusion of contractor-focused provisions with the House’s latest coronavirus response bill released yesterday. […]
DevSecOps, or development security operations, is not a term that rolls off the tip of your tongue in an “agile” way, but it is a process that is gaining momentum across the Federal government. […]
The latest COVID-19 relief legislation being prepared by House Democrats – the HEROES Act – proposes $1 billion for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) to help Federal agencies improve their information technology systems. […]
With the COVID-19 pandemic putting significant financial pressure on states nationwide, Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., introduced the Secure Our Elections Act to eliminate a requirement for states to match a portion of Federal funding received for election security. […]
A bipartisan group of 23 members of the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) questioning whether the commission’s recent Ligado decision may have violated the law. […]
Thirty-eight members of Congress sent a letter to House leadership asking for funding for Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technologies. […]
More than 30 senators from both parties penned a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., requesting $26 billion in funding for researchers in the next COVID-19 coronavirus stimulus package. […]
Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., introduced the Accountability for Acting Officials Act on May 1 to limit acting officials from serving for more than 120 days from the date of the vacancy. […]
Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., introduced legislation on May 5 to protect annual leave for Federal employees who have been working to aid the Federal response to COVID-19. […]
In light of millions of Americans applying for unemployment benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., are looking to modernize state unemployment systems. […]
Defense Department officials on May 6 pleaded their case to the Senate Armed Services Committee for a reversal of the Federal Communications Commission’s recent decision to grant a spectrum license to Virginia-based Ligado to operate in a spectrum band that military officials claim will interfere with Global Positioning System (GPS) networks vital to DoD operations. […]
Several senators from both parties are calling on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to use existing authorities to provide hazard pay to Federal government employees working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. That proposed hazard pay would total a 25% increase in those workers’ current salaries. […]
Two public health experts testified that contact tracing and other data collection are vital to the U.S. COVID-19 response during a May 6 hearing by the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. […]
A bipartisan group of legislators introduced the Universal Broadband Act to improve access to broadband services by requiring companies to contribute to a fund, currently used only by telephone companies. […]
The Trump administration’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence told the Senate Intelligence Committee today he is worried about the lack of investments the U.S. is making in quantum computing technologies relative to those being made by China. […]
As Congress considers remote voting and other measures to make the body work during the COVID-19 pandemic, a California-based non-profit has started the Congressional Digital Service Fellowship in order to bring additional digital expertise to the legislative branch. […]