Technology

Frank Konkel A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has a backup plan to extend provisions set to expire later this year under the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee by voice vote cleared the FITARA Enhancement Act of 2017, which would extend the sunset… Read more »

Jessie Bur If Federal agencies invest upfront in technologies to track fraud and improper payments, the government could end up saving enough money to pay back some of the national debt or stave off sequestration, according to Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. “We can do something in the management end that would have big payoff,… Read more »

Today, the House adopted three amendments offered by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) to the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. Connolly’s amendments addressed federal IT modernization, data center consolidation, procurement reform and increased government efficiency and accountability. FITARA Extension: This amendment extends Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform… Read more »

Last night, as part of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, the House adopted Congressman Gerry Connolly’s FITARA Extension amendment. The amendment, cosponsored by Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), would extend key provisions of FITARA that were set to expire. Connolly’s amendment would extend three expiring provisions of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition and… Read more »

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) sent a letter to Vice President Pence urging he rescind the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity’s directive for sensitive voter data. Connolly said the directive “is a thinly veiled effort to carry out voter suppression on a national scale. States should not comply.” The Vice President serves as chair of the Commission. On… Read more »

Mohana Ravindranath A presidential commission investigating voter fraud could compromise voters’ personal information, says one lawmaker who is urging the panel to drop its request for that data. President Donald Trump established the panel in May via an executive order. The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election… Read more »

Olivia Beavers Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) called on Vice President Pence in a letter Tuesday to rescind President Trump's voter data directive that he says “is a thinly veiled effort to carry out voter suppression on a national scale." "I write to urge you, in your capacity as chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, to rescind the Commission’s directive… Read more »

Edward Graham Congressional Democrats are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to review its cybersecurity protocols following a May cyberattack that knocked the agency’s commenting system offline, and ahead of online activism in support of net neutrality planned for Wednesday. Ranking House Democrats on two committees — Energy and Commerce and Oversight and Government… Read more »

Jessie Bur The transparent reporting of spending data through Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) requirements will go a long way to increasing public trust in the government, according to legislators and agency officials who spoke at the DATA Summit on June 29. “Back when I was growing up, people used to trust the government,” said GSA’s Technology Transformation… Read more »

Jason Miller In a rocky FITARA sea of red and yellow “Fs” and “Ds,” the U.S. Agency for International Development stood out like a lighthouse. USAID became the first agency earlier this month to receive an “A” on the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) scorecard from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. While most agencies stagnated, USAID lifted its grades… Read more »