Here’s an overview of some of the latest developments on the government and tech fronts due to COVID-19. […]
The U.S. 2020 general election is drawing ever closer, but complications posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are adding an enduring set of worries for conducting a smooth election process. Public health experts and election officials alike remain largely stumped on the best ways to conduct the general election amid the pandemic. […]
At least two senators reaffirmed their support for Federal data privacy legislation at a virtual Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing this week, with committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., citing the collection of coronavirus-related data as another good reason for lawmakers to act. […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to play out with no firm end-date in sight, its impact on major events has been felt widely and the status of future events grows only more uncertain. […]
Here’s an overview of some of the latest COVID-19 coronavirus developments on the government and tech fronts: […]
The Democratic Party’s top leaders in the House and Senate today proposed a $500 billion interim emergency coronavirus relief bill as a prelude to the next jumbo-sized relief measure that could rival the size of the $2 trillion CARES Act legislation signed by President Trump late last month. […]
As schools have closed down across the country to combat the spread of COVID-19, students are increasingly needing broadband access to take part in digital learning. However, there are still wide swaths of the country – much of it rural – that lack access to broadband. […]
In a Dear Colleague letter to House members, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told members that the House is taking additional action to limit physical presence in the Capitol by formalizing electronic submissions for floor documents. “Beginning [today], staff must electronically submit all Floor documents – including bills, resolutions, co-sponsors and extensions of remarks – to […]
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., asked Zoom Communications CEO Eric Yuan in an April 6 letter for a detailed accounting of the company’s security and privacy practices following numerous press reports of security complaints about the company’s teleconference services. […]
After Congress agreed to pass the CARES Act in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote to House Democrats that it is time to “double down” on those efforts. […]
While new information about the novel Coronavirus continues to develop and economic uncertainty remains, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updated an economic forecast to account for the pandemic. […]
In a letter to the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., wrote asking to “consistently implement” relief for contractors amid the novel Coronavirus outbreak. […]
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and other Washington-area House members are questioning the Federal government’s decision to remove the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) building operation authority, and claiming that action is part of the Trump administration’s plan to move forward with an OPM-General Services Administration (GSA) merger. […]
In an estimate released March 31, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said that over the next five years the Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act would cost $37 million to enact. […]
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the $2 trillion bill to stimulate the economy and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak on a voice vote with little to no audible opposition in the House chamber. […]
Senior U.S. Army officials told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee today that adoption of cloud architecture and services is high on the service branch’s IT priority list over the next several years. […]
In a March 25 letter, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., urged six Internet networking device vendors to ensure their internet connectivity products “remain secure as Americans across the nation ramp up their use of these devices for remote work, health, and education purposes as part of COVID-19 social distancing efforts.” […]
The $2 trillion COVID-19 coronavirus relief legislation, passed by the Senate late Wednesday night, includes far reaching Federal agency investments [link to Jordan’s story] to ramp up the government’s response to the pandemic, including funds for IT and telework infrastructure. The Senate legislation still requires approval by the House of Representatives, and President Trump’s signature. […]
The $2 trillion measure approved by the Senate last night to help stimulate the flagging U.S. economy and respond to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic will provide hefty increases to the budgets of numerous Federal agencies with major roles in pandemic response and mitigation. […]
President Donald Trump signed two wireless bills into law Monday night, one to create a plan for the security of 5G networks and the other to ensure the accuracy of broadband data maps. […]
A House version of COVID-19 relief legislation being prepared as an alternative to the separate relief/stimulus bill being considered by the Senate on March 24 features a stunning proposed increase in funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) that serves as a repayable source of capital for Federal agency IT modernization projects. […]
The Federal government and other entities are adjusting to and planning for the impact of the spreading COVID-19 coronavirus. Here’s a quick look at some of the top developments of interest to the Federal IT community: […]
A group of eight senators including all four from Virginia and Maryland asked the Trump administration in a March 19 letter to direct Federal departments and agencies to make publicly available their continuity of operations plans (COOP) in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. […]
More than 50 Congressional representatives agreed to a March 18 letter in support of remote voting addressed to House leadership, however, not all representatives physically signed the letter due to concerns about the coronavirus. […]
In a letter to Federal CTO Michael Kratsios, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., questioned the Federal government’s plan to use American’s smartphone location data to fight COVID-19. […]
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., along with 56 other House members, pressed ahead today with a demand to President Trump for an executive order mandating telework for all eligible Federal employees and contractors. […]
The Federal government and other entities are adjusting to and planning for the impact of the spreading COVID-19 coronavirus. […]
With the release of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission report, there has been much discussion about the future of cyber policy. A key component of the Trump administration’s current cyber policy, however, has been obscured from Congress for months, until recently. […]
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of 16 senators pushed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai to temporarily allow schools to use the E-Rate program funding to provide Wi-Fi hotspots or devices with Wi-Fi capability to students who lack internet access at home. […]
The Department of Defense (DoD) has a renewed focus on modernizing its hiring process and investing in cyber education to improve recruitment and retention stats as it looks ahead at its Fiscal Year 2021 budget. […]