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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
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. […]
Amazon Web Services (AWS) shared its support for calls for a national legislative framework when it comes to regulating facial recognition software in a blog post written today by VP of Global Public Policy Michael Punke. […]
The government funding bill is still being debated among members of Congress, and Democratic leaders have suggested Friday as a benchmark to get an agreement in place. […]
Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Dan Sullivan, R-Ark., reintroduced legislation on Tuesday that would “establish an international information sharing program on election administration and security at the State Department.” The Global Electoral Exchange Act, which had been introduced in the last Congress, would enable the United States to work with its international allies to strengthen election security by sharing best practices on audits, disinformation campaigns, and voter database protections–among other pertinent issues. […]
Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, a House Energy and Commerce Committee member, said today that the House would work to bring about autonomous vehicle legislation for the new Congress to vote on, after legislation addressing self-driving vehicles stalled in the last Congress. […]
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on Monday reintroduced a bill to prevent “abusive” robocall practices and to give the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) increased authority to fight robocalls. […]
If recent events are any indication, we could be seeing big changes to agency cloud migration plans in 2019. The Federal government could be rethinking its role in owning and operating its own data centers, strongly questioning whether that is a job best left to government employees. […]
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on Friday reintroduced the Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act, which would overhaul the Federal government’s security clearance process and tackle the government’s backlog of pending security clearance investigations. […]
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., is reintroducing the Kelsey Smith Act this week, a bill that would have wireless carriers ping the mobile devices of subscribers believed to be in danger and send their location information to law enforcement. […]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Tuesday released the Democratic roster for the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, which was created as part of a House Rules package adopted earlier this month when Democratic leadership took over in the House. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has not yet named the committee’s Republican members. […]
The 17 members of Congress whose job it is to try to avert another partial Federal government shutdown held their first official meeting today, and two of the Democratic House members that are part of the House-Senate conference committee created to resolve differences on border security issues described the initial negotiating session as both cordial and constructive. […]
The House voted today to approve a 2.6 percent pay increase for civilian Federal employees. The legislation sponsored by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., cleared the House on a vote of 259-161, with all 230 House Democrats being joined by 29 Republicans voting for the measure. […]
The House on Tuesday passed H.R. 769, the Counterterrorism Advisory Board Act of 2019, which would establish a board at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to coordinate and integrate departmental intelligence, activities, and policy related to counterterrorism. […]
Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Steny Hoyer, D-Md., introduced the Federal Civilian Workforce Pay Raise Fairness Act of 2019. The legislation, introduced today, would bring this year’s pay increase for civilian Federal employees in line with the raise given to members of the military. Currently, under President Trump’s pay freeze, civilian employees will see no pay raise, while members of the military received a 2.6 pay increase for the 2018 calendar year. […]
The chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs have introduced H.R. 739, the Cyber Diplomacy Act of 2019, which would establish an Ambassador for Cyberspace in the State Department. […]
A group of 23 Democratic and independent senators have announced their support for the Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act, which was introduced Jan. 16 and would provide back pay up to $600 per paycheck for Federal contractors who were furloughed or had their hours reduced due to the partial government shutdown. […]
By a vote of 377-3, the House passed the Hack Your State Department Act late Tuesday evening. […]
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced a bill that aims to prevent any future Federal government shutdown caused by lapsed appropriations by creating a mechanism to automatically renew government funding at the prior-year level with adjustments for inflation, the senator said. […]