President Trump today met with Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.–chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of a House-Senate conference committee coming up with recommendations for border security funding–and outlined his demands for a funding deal as the Feb. 15 deadline for another partial Federal government shutdown looms. […]

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. […]

On Tuesday, President Trump continued to push his desire for a border wall on the U.S.- Mexico border, even suggesting a “human wall” to prevent immigrants from illegally entering the U.S. President Trump will give his State of the Union address tonight where he could talk about border security at length. […]

Senate Democrats on Monday introduced a bill that would prevent President Trump from using money already appropriated for the U.S. military to help build a border wall in the event that the President declares a national emergency to accomplish that purpose. […]

President Trump hinted today at using emergency powers to begin construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, and suggested that an announcement to that effect may be part of his State of the Union speech next Tuesday. […]

The prospects for an amicable legislative solution to President Trump’s demand for border wall funding appeared to take a turn for the worse today as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., predicted there will be no such funding coming from a House-Senate conference committee looking at the issue, while President Trump indicated that legislation to fully fund Federal government operations won’t “work” unless the border wall funding he wants is included. […]

A new report from cybersecurity firm Security Scorecard released this week found that the partial Federal government shutdown had minimal negative effects on Federal network security, and even found some positive impacts on patching and endpoint security. […]

Multiple tech-related issues including cybersecurity, social media manipulation, and intellectual property theft took center stage today at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing featuring six U.S. intelligence organization chiefs fielding senators’ questions about threats to the country from adversaries who they said are becoming more dangerous as they better understand and use technology. […]

The post-government shutdown thaw produced its first green shoots today, as Federal employees returned to work and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., invited President Trump to deliver the State of the Union address in the House chambers on Feb. 5.  […]

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today estimated the cost of the partial Federal government shutdown–which began Dec. 22 and ended Jan. 25–at $11 billion of reduced U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), although most of that amount will be recoverable in future periods. […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on Sunday posted back-to-work guidance for Federal agencies and employees that were furloughed and/or required to work without pay during the partial government shutdown that began Dec. 22 and ended late Friday with congressional and White House approval of a continuing resolution to restart shuttered operations through Feb. 15. […]

President Trump today endorsed a three-week extension of appropriations for Federal agencies that have been impacted by the partial government shutdown that began on Dec. 22. Assuming that legislation to that effect is quickly approved by the House and Senate, the partial shutdown would come to an end – for now. […]

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. […]

A former Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Thursday she believes that while the agency’s core cybersecurity operations are holding up through the partial Federal government shutdown, other important IT security initiatives appear to be lying fallow until the agency receives funding to operate and pay its employees. […]

On the heels of the Senate voting down both competing Republican and Democrat funding bills to reopen the partially-closed Federal government, President Trump today suggested that he might be willing to accept a smaller “down payment” on funding the southern border wall. […]

The shutdown is having adverse effects on as many as 41,000 small businesses, as well as affecting revenue streams, executive VP and chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Neil Bradley told reporters on a call Thursday. […]

A group of D.C.-area senators expressed their concern over guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that asks federal employees affected by the shutdown to continue paying dental and vision insurance premiums. […]

Yesterday, 13 Democratic Senators signed and sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Joe Simons expressing their concerns over the FTC’s ability to monitor and respond to phone spam and robocalls during the partial government shutdown. […]

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. […]

Republican and Democratic Senate leaders announced an agreement late today under which the Senate will vote Thursday on two pieces of legislation that would clear the way to fully fund government operations and at least temporarily end the partial Federal government shutdown, which entered its 31st day today. Whether either of those pieces of legislation […]

The partial government shutdown could weaken the twin strengths of stability and mission that the government has in recruiting talent for the Federal workforce, said Jonathan Alboum, public sector CTO for Veritas and former CIO at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), during an interview with Government Matters TV on Sunday. […]

The “End The Shutdown And Secure The Border Act,” touted by President Trump as a “commonsense compromise” funding bill to end the partial federal government shutdown and set to be introduced in the Senate, includes $25 million in FY 2019 funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) – mirroring the funding level set in H.R. 648, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, set to be considered in the House this week. […]

On Friday, the Senate blocked a bill that would open the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through Feb. 8. […]

A House-Senate conference committee has pegged FY 2019 funding for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) at just $25 million, according to text of legislation made public by the House Rules Committee and set to be considered by the committee, and possibly by the House, next week. […]

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. […]

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. […]

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. […]

As the partial government shutdown reached day 25, the latest continuing resolution (CR) aimed at reopening the partially-shuttered Federal government until Feb. 1 failed in the House, today. […]

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. […]

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. […]