A bipartisan group of senators – Sens. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.; John Thune, R-S.D.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Deb Fischer, R-Neb. – have reintroduced the Rural Internet Improvement Act. The legislation would “streamline and bolster U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development broadband programs and ensure that their funding is being targeted to rural areas that need it the most,” according to the bill’s cosponsors. […]
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee kicked off its first hearing of the 118th Congress on Feb. 9 with a focus on strengthening airline operations by upgrading the sector’s IT systems and technology. […]
A member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce is planning to reintroduce legislation that aims to increase transparency between critical electric infrastructure owners and the Department of Energy (DoE). […]
The new chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee pledged this week to look at a number of tech issues in 2023 including quantum information sciences, boosting the government’s weather-related capabilities, and overseeing implementation of the Chips and Science Act approved by Congress last year. […]
The pandemic-fueled expansion of unemployment insurance (UI) benefitted millions of Americans even as the programs became riddled with fraud, a senior Federal watchdog agency official said on Feb. 8 at a congressional hearing marked by contentious exchanges between Republicans and Democrats over more than $60 billion in fraudulent payments. […]
IT modernization can feel like a never-ending process for Federal agencies, especially with new technologies emerging every day. However, having a modernization budget can help organizations ease those day-to-day hassles and stay ahead of the curve. […]
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held its first of many hearings today on the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), where IT system modernization and cybersecurity took center stage. […]
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., the newly installed chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he wants to help the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) strengthen its role as an “information enabler,” but at the same time said he is wary of the agency taking more of a “regulatory approach” to its mission. […]
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has been appointed chairwoman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation for the 118th Congress. […]
The newly constituted House Committee on Oversight and Accountability dedicated its first hearing of the 118th Congress on Feb. 1 to investigating fraud in the distribution of Federal COVID-19 relief funds, and committee leadership said that focus will continue down the road. […]
The House voted 221–206 on Feb. 1 to approve legislation that would roll back Federal agency telework policies to their year-end 2019 levels, and require agencies to justify any future changes in telework policies through reporting to Congress. […]
At ITI’s inaugural Tech and Policy Summit on Jan. 31 in Washington, D.C., three members of the 118th Congress outlined their priorities for technology and innovation legislation for the next two years. […]
Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., was named this week as new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection – giving him the reins of one of the prime House panels for moving cybersecurity-related legislation. […]
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., will serve as ranking member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation, a Capitol Hill source told MeriTalk today. […]
The newly named House Oversight and Accountability Committee – formerly known as the House Oversight and Reform Committee – has officially split its Government Operations Subcommittee into two new subcommittees with focuses on tech issues and Federal government workforce. […]
The Informing Consumers about Smart Devices Act is once again floating down the halls of Capitol Hill – this time in the 118th Congress – but the same mission as last year: protecting you from your snooping appliances. […]
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he is planning to introduce legislation to ban use of the popular social media app TikTok across the United States. […]
As the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) gears up to unveil its final AI Risk Management Framework (RMF) on Thursday, new House committee leaders want answers from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) about what they called recent “conflicting guidance” on artificial intelligence (AI). […]
Legislation that would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to submit a yearly report to Congress on the disclosure of cyber vulnerabilities was reintroduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, on Jan. 11. […]
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., has asked the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a joint review of the cyber vulnerabilities of all systems supporting national air travel, according to a Jan. 12 letter Rep. Torres sent to CISA Director Jen Easterly. […]
With Democrats retaining control of the Senate in the November elections, leadership ranks of key committees with an impact on government technology and cybersecurity issues are mostly unchanged, but with some new wrinkles due to member retirements. […]
Bipartisan legislation was reintroduced in the House on Jan. 11 to address the rise in cybersecurity threats and attacks against energy infrastructure in the United States. […]
Here is MeriTalk’s primer on the new leadership ranks and changes to be aware of for key House committees active on Federal IT and cyber issues. […]
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., introduced legislation on Jan. 11 that would roll back Federal agency telework policies to their year-end 2019 levels, and require agencies to justify any future changes in telework policies through reporting to Congress. […]
House members from both sides of the aisle this week reintroduced legislation that would create a National Digital Reserve Corps – a civilian organization tasked with addressing digital and cyber needs across the Federal government. […]
Rep. Mark Green, R.-Tenn., who was selected yesterday to chair the House Homeland Security Committee, pledged to “secure our cyber border” as one of his top priorities for the committee for the 118th Congress. […]
The House voted late on Jan. 9 to approve the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, a bill that would rescind legislation approved last year providing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with $80 billion of funding over ten years to rebuild its workforce and replace legacy IT systems. […]
The new rules package approved by the House on Monday night includes a provision that could affect the government workforce, allowing members of Congress to attempt to fire or reduce the salary of Federal employees during the appropriations process. […]
Three Senate Democrats outlined their tech priorities for this year at the CES 2023 technology conference in Las Vegas on Jan. 6, with cybersecurity and investments in tech advancements topping that list. […]
President Biden on Jan. 5 signed into law the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act that aims to prevent China-based corporations – and other foreign companies – from stealing U.S. intellectual property. […]