Experts in constituent communication explained the reasons behind distrust of members of Congress, and provided technological methods of improving meaningful engagement between constituents and members at a June 5 House Committee on the Modernization of Congress hearing. […]
The House Armed Services Committee draft version of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), released June 3, includes multiple provisions that would increase congressional oversight over multiple Defense Department (DoD) technology initiatives. […]
Senators John Thune, R-S.D., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, reintroduced the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act, which would set requirements for cities during the approval process of installing infrastructure for 5G. […]
The draft Financial Service and General Government budget released by the House Appropriations Committee on Sunday, June 2, only includes $35 million for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF), putting funding below the White House budget request of $150 million and more in line with the $25 million allocated in fiscal year 2019. […]
House Democrats did not include funding for the Trump administration’s proposed merger of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and General Services Administration (GSA), opting instead to increase OPM’s funding in the draft Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) funding bill released Sunday. […]
In contrast to the White House’s fiscal 2020 budget proposal that would freeze civilian Federal workers’ salaries next year, the House Appropriations Committee is proposing a 3.1 percent increase in those salaries in its Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill. […]
Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee released a draft of the fiscal year 2020 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) funding bill that would see the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) get a bump in their funding. […]
The House Appropriations Committee’s Fiscal Services and General Government fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget draft includes $600 million to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to aid states in modernizing election systems and administering Federal elections. […]
A group of bipartisan representatives introduced the Securing American Science and Technology Act of 2019 (SASTA) to address foreign espionage of academic research at higher education institutions on May 30. […]
The Association for Computing Machinery asked the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to adopt policy that disallows internet connections to voting equipment. […]
A group of five senators released bipartisan legislation that would create a national policy to securely deploy commercial 5G networks and establish an up to $700 million grant program to aid American communications providers in removing Chinese products from their networks. […]
Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced the Protecting Data at the Border Act on May 22. The legislation would ban the Federal government from conducting warrantless searches of Americans’ phones and laptops when crossing the U.S. border. […]
The House Oversight and Reform Committee held a hearing May 22 examining the impact of facial recognition technology on citizens’ civil rights and right to privacy. […]
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing Wednesday, May 22, on pending legislation – including bills related to electronic health records, and to make the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) website more accessible to disabled veterans – but took no votes on those measures. […]
Members of two House Veterans Affairs subcommittees sharply criticized Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials at a hearing on Wednesday, May 23 for the agency’s failure to keep up with expanding IT requirements for VA’s popular Caregivers program, which provides a range of services for post-9/11 wounded veterans. […]
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its cost estimate for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Cyber Awareness Act, H.R. 2331 and S. 772, on May 20, and said the bill would cost nothing to implement. […]
Testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee regarding President Trump’s 2020 fiscal year budget, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan stated that the 2020 budget would continue to assist in building up an innovative tower effort at the U.S.-Mexico border. […]
House members and witnesses from academia and industry on Tuesday discussed the importance of providing academic programs, tools, and pathways to not only help address the cybersecurity workforce shortage in America, but to also diversify the cybersecurity field. […]
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said today he plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit online service providers from collecting data from consumers “any data that is beyond what is necessary for the companies’ online services.” […]
The Trump administration’s plan to reorganize the Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) ran squarely into bipartisan concerns expressed by House members over a lack of information about the plan to move the agency’s functions to the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). […]
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, announced on May 20 that Eric Einhorn will serve as his new Chief of Staff. […]
A bipartisan group of Federal legislators wrote Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on May 20 urging “greater scrutiny and regulation of private companies providing highly advanced surveillance capabilities to governments with troubling human rights records.” […]
The co-founders of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus, Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced the Armed Forces Digital Advantage Act on May 16. […]
The Trump administration’s proposal to reorganize the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is due to face tough questioning by the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations at a hearing scheduled for May 21. […]
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent its proposal to reorganize the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) – and move most of its functions under the General Services Administration (GSA) – to Congress on Thursday, May 17. […]
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., argued in favor of the U.S. placing more emphasis on preparing the workforce for IT fields through certification programs, in remarks at the Department of Labor’s Federal IT Day on Thursday, May 16. […]
President Donald Trump declared a “national emergency” when he signed an executive order (EO) on May 15 that would grant Federal authority to prohibit the adoption of foreign adversaries’ telecom suppliers. Though the order was signed only a day ago, both legislators and trade groups have already weighed in and the EO has received mostly positive reviews. […]
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved three pieces of legislation via voice vote during today’s executive session. […]
Earlier this week, Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Maria Cantwell, D.-Wash., wrote to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to not allow wireless companies to run in a 24 GHz band until weather forecasting is protected. […]
The Cyberspace Solarium Commission aims to explore three paths for cyber doctrine in the United States, select one, and make concrete policy recommendations to clearly communicate an American strategy in cyberspace, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told reporters on a call on Monday, May 13. […]