Thirty Democratic senators and House members are asking newly confirmed Labor Secretary Marty Walsh in a March 23 letter for the agency to focus its efforts to help states improve their unemployment insurance (UI) systems along the lines of legislation introduced in both houses of Congress earlier this year. […]
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., chairs of the Senate and House committees on Veterans’ Affairs, respectively, both predicted this week that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a lasting effect on veterans’ access to telehealth services. […]
Federal CISO Christopher DeRusha said today that new IT modernization and security funding streams stemming from the American Rescue Plan Act represent a “down payment” on extensive work that needs to be done to improve Federal agency network security. […]
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas addressed a range of questions about the nation’s cybersecurity and spoke on how to better secure Federal networks in a March 17 House Homeland Security Committee hearing. […]
A bipartisan group of senators has introduced the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) IT Reform Act, which aims to increase congressional oversight of agency IT and would require VA to provide reports on IT projects before they begin. […]
Bipartisan legislation introduced in the House and Senate on March 16 would change the Federal Advisory Committee Act to make more transparent the work of advisory committees that provide expert advice to Federal agencies. […]
The nine Federal agencies whose networks were compromised in the Russia-backed hack via SolarWinds Orion products are close to finishing their remediation reviews, and the government is planning new deployments of unspecified security and IT modernization technologies to avoid a repeat of the intrusions, a senior Biden administration official said during a background briefing on March 12. […]
A bipartisan group of legislators introduced has the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Industrial Control Systems Enhancement Act of 2021. The legislation will solidify the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) lead role in protecting critical infrastructure – particularly industrial control systems (ICS) – from cyber threats. […]
Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Bobby Rush, D-Ill., the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and chair of the Energy Subcommittee, respectively, sent a letter on March 12 to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo urging the department to address the country’s need for increased leadership in the innovation and deployment of emerging technologies. […]
Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced a $94 billion Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act in the House and Senate, respectively. The bill also has the support of Clyburn’s Rural Broadband Task Force, composed of 27 House Democrats. […]
Legislation to invest in 21st century security technology, bolster Transportation Security Administration (TSA) funding and its workforce, and end diversion of passenger security fees was reintroduced by a bipartisan group of House representatives on March 11. […]
President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act today, a day ahead of schedule due to a speedy transmission of the legislation by the House. The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill forms the centerpiece of the Biden administration’s initial legislative agenda. […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced K-12 students to move to distance and hybrid learning, which has placed a bright spotlight on the need for modern Federal regulation to protect children, and their data, online. […]
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., reintroduced the Information Privacy and Data Transparency Act that would adapt state privacy laws and proposals into a national standard for data privacy. She introduced a similar version of the legislation in 2019, but it ultimately did not gain traction. […]
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., long a prime mover in the House for Federal IT modernization, today hailed the inclusion of $1 billion of new funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act approved by the House. […]
A newly introduced bill in the House of Representatives would give Americans the ability to make claims in Federal or state courts against foreign states that engage in cyberattacks against U.S. citizens. […]
After the transmittal of the bill took longer than initially expected, the House of Representatives now plans to vote on the Senate version of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act on Wednesday, March 10, according to multiple reports. The House vote had been expected on March 9. […]
As Congress closes in on pushing through a historic funding increase for Federal IT modernization, former Federal IT officials gave the latest legislative advancement a warm welcome today and offered an early look at some types of projects that might benefit most from quick investments. […]
The House Armed Services Committee is standing up an acquisition task force that will examine supply chain threats and vulnerabilities. […]
The House plans to vote Tuesday, March 9 on the version of the American Rescue Plan Act approved by the Senate over the weekend, setting the stage for the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill to become law with President Biden’s signature later this week. […]
The Senate version of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan approved over the weekend features an amendment with a provision to extend relief to government contractors for paid leave, if they can’t work through the end of the fiscal year ending in September. […]
The Senate voted March 6 to approve the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act after a lengthy amendment and debate process that pushed the vote into the weekend. […]
The Senate as of late Friday afternoon was continuing to debate the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which contains considerable increases in Federal government funding for agency IT modernization and security upgrades. […]
A bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on March 4 introduced the Democratic Technology Partnership Act, which would create an interagency effort aimed at forming technology partnerships among democratic countries to counter Chinese tech dominance. […]
After some delay waiting for an official bill “score” from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Senate voted today to begin debate on legislation that embodies the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. […]
The Senate was expected later today to introduce its version of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act, and to begin 20 hours of scheduled debate on the legislation. […]
The Federal government’s response to the Russia-backed SolarWinds cyberhack – and the pressing need for government agencies to speed progress on putting in place cybersecurity protections including through the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program – […]
The use of telehealth skyrocketed throughout 2020, and while helped stem the spread of COVID-19, its increased use laid bare the logistical and regulatory challenges facing telehealth. […]
After the House version of the reconciliation bill passed last week, the Senate will bring its version of the bill to a vote by week’s end, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. While the Senate is still working on finalizing its draft of the legislation, parameters for votes and amendments have already been set, according to internal Senate communication. […]
The House Homeland Security and Oversight and Reform committees held a joint public hearing today to discuss the Russia-based hack of government and private sector networks via SolarWinds Orion products. During the hearing, both the private sector witnesses and members of Congress called for better cybersecurity practices, legislation, and increased information sharing. […]