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. […]

Retired Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery will be named executive director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, according to a report from Task and Purpose. […]

A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced the Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Government Act on Wednesday to improve the use of AI across the Federal government by “providing access to technical expertise and streamlining hiring within the agencies.” The bill was previously introduced by the same group of senators in September of 2018, but didn’t receive a vote in the Senate. […]

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., announced the formal launch of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) on May 8. The two lawmakers will lead the 14-person Commission. […]

An Office of Personnel Management (OPM) spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk that Margaret Weichert, OPM’s Acting Director, has accepted an invitation from the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee to testify at a hearing to examine the Trump administration’s plan to reorganize OPM. […]

Data privacy took center stage in yet another Congressional hearing today, as the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs met for a hearing on privacy rights and data collection in a digital economy. […]

Officials from a slew of private sector contractors – ranging from IT services giant Leidos to the owner of a coffee shop leasing space in a Federal building in Washington – urged members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee to take legislative action to better inoculate contractors against the harsh impacts of any future Federal government shutdown. […]

The House Oversight and Reform Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee is aiming to hold a hearing on May 21 to examine what its chairman, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., characterizes as the Trump administration’s plan to “dismantle” the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). […]

Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and James Lankford, R-Okla., introduced the Federal Agency Customer Experience (FACE) Act of 2019 on May 1 to improve American customer service experiences when they interact with Federal agencies. […]

The Executive Order on America’s Cybersecurity Workforce, released by the White House on Thursday, May 2, is earning mostly positive reviews from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill, as well as industry. […]

A software security framework document issued this week by trade group BSA | The Software Alliance drew the endorsement of key House and Senate lawmakers involved in cybersecurity issues. […]

The Senate today unanimously passed the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act of 2019 today, moving the legislation one step closer to establishing a cyber workforce that can move between Federal agencies as needed. […]

Panelists representing consumer privacy perspectives discussed an array of strategies for approaching data privacy protection laws at a hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today. […]