A bipartisan Senate bill aims to strengthen the United States’ preparedness for future pandemics by making it easier for Federal agencies to quickly hire employees during a public health emergency. […]

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Jan. 22 that the Federal government’s backlog of security clearance has fallen to near 200,000, from its peak of 725,000 backlog applications in 2018. […]

A bill introduced by three senior senators would require the White House to develop a strategy to ensure the security of 5G wireless systems and infrastructure, but would also block the executive branch from recommending that 5G or subsequent generations of mobile communications infrastructure be “nationalized” by the government – a possibility that has been floated in recent weeks by an official connected with the Trump campaign organization. […]

A bipartisan group of senators urged Trump administration officials in a letter dated today to ban the use of inverter equipment made by China-based Huawei from the U.S. electric grid, citing the same cybersecurity concerns that led Congress to block Huawei network equipment from the U.S. market because of firm’s alleged links to Chinese intelligence services. […]

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 chairman and ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee today voiced some interest in considering Federal government regulation of social media companies and their services, but offered no concrete steps on how to do so. […]

The House and Senate Intelligence Committees each passed restrictions on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board that would restrict its funding, give it jurisdiction only over the privacy of people in the United States, and force it to report to the agencies that it’s overseeing. […]