Senators and panelists across government and industry came to agreements, but also butted heads, about steps to take in strengthening Internet of Things (IoT) cybersecurity at an April 30 Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Security Subcommittee hearing. […]

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology convened today to discuss the growing number of unwanted robocalls, with an inconclusive conversation and no clear plan to move forward with legislation. […]

Cybersecurity and other IT-centric issues made cameo appearances at today’s House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on the Department of Homeland Security’s FY2020 budget proposal, but were quickly overshadowed by sharp questions about immigration and border protection policy. […]

Government Accountability Office (GAO) Director of IT and Cybersecurity Nick Marinos emphasized concerns about the Census Bureau’s IT readiness and cybersecurity ahead of the 2020 census, at a House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee oversight hearing today. […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Communications and Technology Subcommittee is getting ready for Tuesday’s hearing on unwanted robocalls. The hearing – which will include expert testimony from academia, consumer interest groups, and technology interest groups – will cover seven legislative measures that lawmakers unveiled today. […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee asked Google CEO Sundar Pichai on April 23 for a lengthy list of details about historical consumer location information that, according to recent media reports, the company maintains internally and refers to as “Sensorvault.” […]

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig said his agency needs $290 million this year and as much as $2.7 billion in additional funding over the next six years to modernize its IT before the Senate Finance Committee April 10. […]

Broadband access is essential in the 21st Century. To achieve availability across the country, the Federal government must have accurate broadband access data to ensure that funds and resources are being spent to expand coverage to unserved areas. However, accuracy issues with the broadband map have plagued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)–the Federal entity tasked with compiling the data. […]

David Norquist, deputy Defense Secretary and chief financial officer at the Pentagon, told senators today that threats posed by China and Russia are the Defense Department’s (DoD) central problem – particularly in the race for technological defense capabilities – and largely justify the White House’s proposed $750 billion defense budget for FY2020. […]

Testifying today in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee which is reviewing the Navy’s FY2020 Defense Authorization Request, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said the service branch is sending a proposition up to Congress to add a fifth assistant secretary to address cyber needs. […]

Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., on April 3 introduced an updated version of their Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines Act (DETER Act), which they said promises “swift and severe consequences” to Russia and other “foreign actors” if they attack U.S. political candidates, campaigns, or voting infrastructure. […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee late Wednesday voted 30-22 to approve H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act, which would roll back network neutrality rules to their 2015 level. […]

In the wake of a critical report on the implementation of the MISSION Act by the U.S. Digital Service, officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offered assurances to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs that the program is on track and veterans will see no disruption in care. […]

The House Appropriations Committee’s Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee adjourned its scheduled hearing today without reviewing the Trump administration’s FY2020 Department of Commerce budget request after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross declined to testify before the subcommittee. […]

Defense Department (DoD) officials today underscored the importance of the agency’s ongoing electronic health records (EHR) modernization efforts at a Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee hearing on the Defense Health Program FY2020 budget request. […]

Sen Ben Cardin, D-Md., today asked leadership of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a “game plan” on workforce stabilization and recruiting after discussing with agency officials the steady reduction of headcount at NRC as the agency’s budget has declined in recent years. […]

The House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization held its first hearing of the year today with hopes of getting a baseline reading from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Information and Technology (VA OIT) – but with no OIT representation, the committee went ahead and discussed the department’s challenges with panelists from VA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). […]

Reps. John Katko, R-N.Y., Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., introduced a bill yesterday to create a 35-person advisory committee within the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency so that cyber professionals across different industries can help make suggestions on cybersecurity policies and programs. The National Technology Security Coalition, […]

Senators and healthcare stakeholders juggled issues of expanding healthcare record access while at the same time keeping those records secure during a Senate Healthcare, Education Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on the 21st Century Cures Act (CURES) Tuesday. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) secretary outlined how it will use its proposed budget to improve veteran healthcare and modernize its largely outdated information technology (IT) systems at a hearing today before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies. […]

Congress must take action to ensure that consumer data is being adequately protected at consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), witnesses said at Tuesday’s House Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy hearing. […]

Panelists representing small businesses advocated for Federal uniformity and preempt over state data privacy laws and against data protection regulations that would disproportionately burden smaller companies at a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection hearing today. […]

In one of many budget hearings taking place on the Hill this week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government heard from Russell T. Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding the agency’s FY2020 budget request. While the bulk of the hearing didn’t address IT issues, Vought did touch on IT spending, IT modernization, and the President’s Management Agenda (PMA). […]

The Defense Department’s (DoD’s) ability to reprogram funds may be hindered in the future because of the Pentagon’s approval of a transfer up to $1 billion to the Department of Homeland Security yesterday to build the Trump administration’s long-requested southern border wall. […]

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee’s Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing for March 26 at 2:30 p.m. EDT on data privacy issues impacting small businesses and “the unique challenges they face with laws designed for larger companies.” […]

Two senators this week introduced a bipartisan piece of legislation that aims to “to protect the integrity of the security clearance process and ensure that it cannot be abused for political purposes.” Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced the Integrity in Security Clearance Determinations Act on Thursday. […]

Two members of the House Armed Services Committee said at a hearing on Wednesday they support continuation of the “dual-hat” command structure which finds Gen. Paul Nakasone heading both U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency. […]

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked the Senate Sergeant at Arms in a March 13 letter to disclose to each member of the Senate “the extent of the cyber threats faced by the U.S. Senate–and by extension, our democracy,” and said disclosure of that information was “imperative in order to help the U.S. Senate address important cyber-security needs.” […]

Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, issued a statement on Tuesday urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to “pause” activities to spread the use of facial recognition technologies and develop policy that will further inform U.S. citizens about the technology and what happens to the data that it generates. […]

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology met today to hear testimony on H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act, which would roll back net neutrality rules to their 2015 level. […]