Sen. Mark Warner sent a letter to the acting director of national intelligence (DNI) and the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to issue clear guidance ensuring that security clearances will not be jeopardized due to financial impacts of COVID-19. […]

Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., said today they introduced legislation that would ban the use of the TikTok app on Federal government-provided devices out of concern that the company providing the service – ByteDance – has close ties to the Chinese government and could be compelled to share user data with the government. […]

House members voted 395-13 on March 10 to adopt recommendations from the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress on establishing a centralized human resources (HR) system and modernizing House IT resources.  […]

Implementing a proposed Federal grant program designed to improve state and local government cybersecurity would cost a total of $2.89 billion over the next six years including both expected grant totals and the cost to run the program, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. […]

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs passed multiple cybersecurity bills, including the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act of 2019 and the Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act of 2020 at a March 11 markup. […]

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., told Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Christopher Krebs that Congress would not approve CISA budget cuts contained in the President’s Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Proposal. […]

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today approved legislation on broadband connectivity, protecting the public from online scams, and promoting industries of the future at a markup session March 11. […]

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., a member of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission that is set to release recommendations March 11 on how to better defend the U.S. against cyber threats, said today the commission hopes to spark quick action by Congress on at least some of those recommendations. […]

On the same day that several members of Congress entered into voluntary quarantine after interacting with an individual who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late February, Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Rick Crawford, R-Ark., reintroduced the Members Operating to Be Innovative and Link Everyone (MOBILE) Resolution. […]

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., introduced the Network Security Trade Act on March 5 directing trade officials to make supply chain security a key objective in their telecommunications trade discussions, in the midst of formal trade talks with the United Kingdom and other allies on the matter. […]

Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., introduced legislation March 5 that would establish an Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focused on developing innovative technology to improve water management. […]

In a letter to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Dale Cabaniss, Democratic senators urged the agency to improve its plan to protect Federal employees from income insecurity and disciplinary action as they work to comply with COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, safeguards. […]

Three members of Congress representing big Federal government employee districts introduced legislation today that would protect telework availability for Federal employees. […]

Shortcomings in crucial IT systems and staff training caused the launch delay of the electronic health records modernization (EHRm) effort at the Department of Veterans Affairs, David Case, deputy inspector general at the Department of Veterans Affairs, told a House panel today. […]

The House voted late on March 4 to approve the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (HR 6074) that would make $8.3 billion of new funding available for a “robust response” to the COVID-19 coronavirus, including vaccine and treatment development, support for state and local health agencies, and loans for small businesses impacted by the virus. […]

While business owners told members of the House Small Business Committee at a March 4 hearing how they use blockchain in their operations, a question from the committee’s chairwoman led to talk of bigger operations that could benefit from blockchain ­– state governments. […]

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said today he expects President Trump to sign into law “in just a few days” legislation approved by the Senate late last month that will provide up to $1 billion to pay for smaller U.S.-based communications providers to remove and replace network equipment made by China-based suppliers Huawei and ZTE, among others. […]

During today’s House Oversight Committee hearing, officials from GAO and the General Services Administration (GSA) answered questions on the EIS transition from a frustrated Committee. […]

House Appropriations Committee members raised concerns at a March 4 hearing over the size of President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with one calling it “irresponsible” and asking Secretary Robert Wilkie to justify the request. […]

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, co-chair of the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Committee that is set to release recommendations next week on how to better defend the U.S. against cyber threats, indicated today that Federal government coordination and new thinking about deterrence will be among the report’s major findings. […]

Today’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing on DHS’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget request covered a wide array of topics. However, Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), spent much of his time defending a budget cut to Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). […]

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., introduced legislation Feb. 28 that would increase the number of children who have internet access in their homes to close the “homework gap.” […]

The New Democrat Coalition (NDC) released its 2020 policy priorities on Feb. 28. The priorities cover a wide breadth of issues, but there were a handful focused on the technology sector. […]

On Feb. 27, the Senate passed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 sending the bill to President Trump’s desk. […]

After facing IT challenges with the implementation of the Forever GI Bill, Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Robert Wilkie said during a Budget Request hearing for Fiscal Year 2021 that the department needed to look at its entire IT infrastructure’s readiness. […]

In a Feb. 26 letter to Dana Deasy, CIO of the Department of Defense (DoD), Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., stressed the importance of vulnerability disclosure programs. […]

Congressional staffers on House and Senate committees with strong interest in cybersecurity issues said today they are watching for “low-hanging fruit” in the form of easy-to-enact legislative proposals expected to make up some of the recommendations in the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) report set to be released on March 11. […]

The National Governors Association (NGA) urged Congress to take action on key pieces of legislation that will help harden state and local government’s (SLGs) cybersecurity defenses. […]

While senators at a Feb. 25 Appropriations Committee hearing agreed with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf about the agency’s cybersecurity mission priority, election security cuts in the President’s Budget proposal raised questions from committee members. […]

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act of 2020 (H.R. 5680) could slightly lower the deficit, but not by a significant amount. The bill, introduced by Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I. on Jan. 27, would authorize the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to issue administrative subpoenas in rare […]