Privacy was the topic du jour on the Hill today. In its first hearing in the new Congress, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce heard testimony from privacy rights activists and technology industry groups on how to protect consumer privacy in the era of big data. All witnesses before the Subcommittee agreed that the Federal government needs to enact Federal data privacy legislation, though witnesses disagreed on what exactly the legislation should cover. […]

Following up on a letter to health organizations to describe their cybersecurity challenges, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., sent a letter to the heads of health-related Federal agencies on Monday, calling on them to work towards a national health-sector cybersecurity strategy. […]

A bipartisan group of senators urged Trump administration officials in a letter dated today to ban the use of inverter equipment made by China-based Huawei from the U.S. electric grid, citing the same cybersecurity concerns that led Congress to block Huawei network equipment from the U.S. market because of firm’s alleged links to Chinese intelligence services. […]

Yesterday, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., sent letters to various healthcare groups to seek information on ways to best improve cybersecurity within the healthcare industry. […]

In the 115th Congress, a new study found that 226 cybersecurity-focused bills were introduced which was an increase compared to past sessions, but only 10 had been signed into law. […]

A group of Federal lawmakers from Louisiana penned an op-ed in the Washington Times on Feb. 13 urging President Trump to increase funding for cybersecurity education. […]

A bill approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week would direct the Office of Management and Budget and Federal government agencies to promptly publish a laundry list of “guidance” communications that agencies issue and that constitute statements of “general applicability” but do not have the full force of law. […]

President Trump signed legislation today that fully funds Federal government agencies and operations through Sept. 30 – putting an end to nearly two months of funding disruption and anxiety that included the 35-day partial shutdown of agencies and impacted about one quarter of the Federal civilian workforce. […]

Senators during an Energy and Natural Resources Senate Committee hearing Thursday called for more urgency regarding cyberattacks on the energy grid. […]

The White House said today that President Trump will sign funding legislation set to be approved by Congress, but at the same time also will declare a national emergency under which he will seek to access additional funding for wall construction on the U.S.-Mexico border. […]

The bill expected to be approved by the House and Senate today to fully fund Federal government agencies through Sept. 30 provides $550 million for the Agriculture Department’s rural broadband loan and grant pilot program, which supports the creation of broadband infrastructure in rural parts of the U.S., according to a Democratic party summary of the Consolidated Appropriations Act. […]

The issue of back-pay for contractors left high and dry by the 35-day partial government shutdown failed to make the cut in the Consolidated Appropriations Act legislation to be considered as soon as today by the House and Senate. […]

The Consolidated Appropriations Act–the bill negotiated by Democrats and Republicans in Congress that could fully fund several Federal agencies and avert another partial government shutdown–features a variety of funding for IT modernization projects at multiple agencies, according to the joint explanatory statement released with the bill: […]

Gen. Paul Nakasone, director of the National Security Agency and head of U.S. Cyber Command, told senators today he was optimistic about the future of U.S. cybersecurity, but also warned that Russian attempts to influence U.S. elections remain a threat. […]

President Trump said today he intends to take a “very serious” look at proposed funding legislation that would forestall another government shutdown beginning on Feb. 15. […]

With the 2020 national election cycle on the horizon, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., convened a hearing Wednesday to examine the how the United States was working to secure its elections. The hearing, broken into two panels, heard from senior Federal election officials, as well as state and local election officials. […]

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., former chairman and current member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, said today at an event organized by Axios that he is working with Sen. Gary Peters, R-Mich., on an effort to reintroduce legislation in the Senate that would allow manufacturers to sell tens of thousands of autonomous vehicles each year in the U.S. […]

With the 2020 national election cycle on the horizon, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., convened a hearing Wednesday to examine the how the United States was working to secure its elections, and despite some partisan squabbling from members over the issue, a senior Homeland Security Department (DHS) official testified that election security is on the upswing. […]

A group of three Democratic representatives from the Capital region sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Tuesday, asking for an update on back pay for Federal workers amid reports of discrepancies. […]

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, named six Republican representatives to the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress on Monday. […]

While the threat of a new government shutdown looms with a Feb. 15 deadline, a bipartisan deal is reportedly in place—but support from President Trump remains uncertain. […]

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Thune, R-S.D., introduced new legislation Monday to address the cybersecurity workforce shortage plaguing the Federal government. The legislation, called the Cyber Security Exchange Act, would establish a public-private cybersecurity worker exchange program. […]

Republican and Democratic legislators were expected to meet again today in an attempt to reach agreement on border security issues and avoid another partial Federal government shutdown, following news that negotiations by a House-Senate conference committee stalled on related immigration issues this weekend. […]

Senior House and Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle expect members of a conference committee working on border security funding issues to reach an agreement soon on a funding package that will prevent another partial Federal government shutdown before funding for some agencies – including the Department of Homeland Security – runs out on Feb. 15. […]

While there is no doubt that the House Intelligence Committee will continue to concern itself with relevant cybersecurity issues, that would not be obvious from this week’s announcement of changes to the panel’s subcommittee structure. […]

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, introduced legislation on Thursday that would give Federal government civilian employees a 3.6 percent pay raise in 2020. […]

Yesterday, legislation was reintroduced to make it easier for cyber specialists to lend their expertise to other Federal agencies. […]

Two senior House leaders with jurisdiction over major tech-sector issues drew familiar battle lines today over the issue of net neutrality – or how providers of Internet service should or should not have their service offerings and operations regulated by the Federal government. […]

President Trump today met with Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.–chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of a House-Senate conference committee coming up with recommendations for border security funding–and outlined his demands for a funding deal as the Feb. 15 deadline for another partial Federal government shutdown looms. […]

A new bill introduced by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would push the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to work with the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC), an association of university-based training organizations, to improve cybersecurity training for state and local governments. […]