Venable LLP has hired Nick Choate as a policy advisor in its Legislative and Government Affairs Practice in Washington, with a focus on cybersecurity, telecom and technology public policy.  He was deputy legislative director for former Sen. Claire McCaskill, D.-Mo. […]

The Senate on Dec. 18 approved by unanimous consent S. 3085, the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act.  This bill, according to its text, would “establish a Federal Acquisition Security Council and … provide executive agencies with authorities relating to mitigating supply chain risks in the procurement of information technology.” […]

As Congressional members celebrate and lament the results of yesterday’s midterm elections, Federal IT leaders face a changed landscape on Capitol Hill, with a new party in charge of the House and close elections for several members key to initiatives like FITARA, Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM), and IT modernization. Here are some of the key races and their results: […]

Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., today introduced legislation that would create a Federal Acquisition Security Council to oversee creation of a government-wide strategy to address supply IT chain security and mitigate supply chain security threats from IT equipment and service purchases. […]

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced 14 bills out of its business meeting today, including legislation to protect against drone threats and to establish a framework for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that will improve data sharing across DHS’s numerous component agencies. […]

The designation of the nation’s election systems as critical infrastructure will not infringe upon state and local authority to run elections. In a recent memo to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Members, Ranking Member Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., relayed communications from the Department of Homeland Security that reiterated that fact. […]

Both members of the private sector and state governments are struggling under the burden of inconsistent and overlapping Federal cybersecurity regulations, according to experts who spoke before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. […]

Missouri National Guard Capt. Kevin Keeney called for Congress to write legislation funding a new uniformed service called U.S. Cyber and to consolidate all cyber personnel, equipment, and missions under it. […]

The Internal Revenue Service could potentially collect hundreds of millions of dollars by making online services available to more people, according to Eugene Dodaro, Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office. […]

Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs that the border wall the president promised will probably be an amalgam of physical barriers and technological sensors, including drones and radar. He said that DHS will set up physical barriers at the points where border security chiefs deem walls most necessary. […]