Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
data privacy, people, personal data, binary

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Kennedy, R-La., reintroduced the Social Media Privacy and Consumer Rights Act on Thursday, which would strengthen privacy notices and breach disclosure requirements for online platforms. […]

closed government shutdown government closed-min

Congress and the White House seemed no closer today to reaching an agreement to end the partial Federal government shutdown, as the public interactions between the two mainly featured an apparently tit-for-tat exchange between President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., over the latter’s ability to use U.S. military transportation for an overseas trip. […]

Members of the House and Senate are giving the bipartisan Securing Energy Infrastructure Act another go in the current Congress, after passing the bill in the Senate in December 2018 but failing to get the bill through the House before the 115th Congress ended. […]

Federal money spending government

A group of House Democrats said today they plan to introduce a bill on Friday that would require the Treasury Department to offer zero-interest loans of up to $6,000 to Federal government employees that have not been getting paid as a result of the partial Federal government shutdown. […]

Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday called for the Federal Trade Commission to take a larger role in protecting online consumer data by creating and overseeing a data-broker clearinghouse under which all brokers would have to register so that consumers could track how their data has been sold or deleted. […]

On Wednesday, President Trump signed into law a bill that would guarantee back-pay to Federal workers who have been furloughed during the partial government shutdown. […]

government shutdown government closed option-min

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., updated her previous invitation for President Trump to deliver the annual State of the Union address to Congress today, suggesting that he should consider postponing the Jan. 29 speech or submitting it in writing until the Federal government is fully reopened. […]

Members of the House and Senate announced introduction of the Telecommunications Denial Order Enforcement Act today, which would require the Trump administration to issue export denial orders for Chinese telecommunications companies caught breaking export control laws and sanctions. […]

Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, has been appointed a member of the House Appropriations Committee, according to a press release from his office, but will remain committed to promoting Federal government IT modernization efforts, a Hurd staffer told MeriTalk. […]

Robin Kelly 1-min
capitol government shutdown government closed-min
Ajit Pai, FCC Commisioner

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Monday that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai is refusing to give the committee an emergency briefing on wireless carrier data disclosure issues, and is citing the partial Federal government shutdown–which includes the FCC–for his decision.  […]

The Federal CIO Authorization Act, sponsored by Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., passed the House today unanimously on a voice vote, setting the stage for an elevated, more empowered Federal CIO position. […]

snow man capitol winter-min

The partial Federal government shutdown continued its record-setting pace today as negotiations between the White House and Congress remained stalled and Mother Nature had a hand in preventing activity on Capitol Hill from progressing further. […]

Frank Pallone-min

In a letter on Friday to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Democratic leadership on the House Energy and Commerce Committee called for an emergency briefing from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to explain why the Commission “has yet to end wireless carriers’ unauthorized disclosure of consumers’ real-time location data and what actions the FCC has taken to address this issue to date.” […]

Snow day winter capitol building DC-min

The Federal CIO Authorization Act of 2019, spearheaded by Reps. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., and Will Hurd, R-Texas, was added to the list of bills up for consideration this week late Friday evening. Rep. Kelly’s office confirmed to MeriTalk that the bill was on the House’s docket, but said given the snow that blanketed D.C. this weekend, things may shift around. MeriTalk previously reported that Rep. Kelly’s office believed that the legislation would be shelved until after the government reopened, but things appear to have shifted later in the day on Friday to move the legislation back on to the schedule. […]

workforce database

President Trump held off today on his threat to declare a national emergency to get border wall funding, and the House of Representatives passed another separate funding bill to reopen the Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Forest Service, with little chance that measure will receive Senate or White House approval. […]

Congress Capitol Senate House
Robin Kelly 1-min

The bipartisan Federal CIO Authorization Act, sponsored by Reps. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., and Will Hurd, R-Texas, will likely be shelved until after the partial Federal government shutdown ends. […]

President Trump said today that he was getting closer to calling a national emergency in order to get a wall built on the southern U.S. border, while at the same time the Democratic-led House continued to pass separate spending bills that would re-open Federal agencies, but which have little chance of passing in the GOP-led Senate. […]

Washington DC capitol federal government-min
Robin Kelly 1-min
quantum computing chip ai -min

Artificial intelligence is key to the future of the American economy, and investments need to be made now to ensure that the workforce is prepared, said members of Congress during a panel at a Washington Post Live event on Thursday. […]

Capitol Washington DC Federal

Congressman Doug Collins, R-Ga., is expected to introduce legislation that will require FCC Connect America Fund (CAF) broadband subsidy recipients to provide additional information about their internet speed and latency testing. […]

Mobility

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Mark Warner, D-Va., along with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel voiced strong opposition Tuesday and Wednesday to the reported sale of user location data by telecom service providers including Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T. […]

5G wireless infrastructure technology

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Ala., the new chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, is pushing for a hearing on 5G wireless deployment and said the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act could be a good jumping off point for the hearing, according to a Politico report. […]

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