Congress

Does Congress need a chief data officer?

A new joint resolution would establish a bipartisan commission to look at what legislators need in terms of data, evidence and professional capacity.

  • By Adam Mazmanian

House passes bill to permanently authorize VA’s tech training program

VA’s VET-TEC pilot ran out of funding last month, but lawmakers in the House and Senate are moving to permanently authorize the technology education program.

  • By Edward Graham

Carper says he won’t run for fifth Senate term

The Delaware senator has been active in the federal tech space for years, earning a Fed 100 award in the process.

  • By Natalie Alms

Bill to cut software costs advances in Senate

A Senate committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve a bill designed to help agencies get a handle on software licensing with an eye to cutting costs.

  • By Adam Mazmanian

Republicans unemployment fraud bill passes House, gets Senate version

The bill’s passage in the House fell one day after the indictment of one of its cosponsors – Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) – for unemployment fraud.

  • By Natalie Alms

Bipartisan group looks to fix 'hopelessly obsolete' classification system

Legislation is aimed at reducing over-classification and improving the handling of secrets.

  • By Courtney Bublé

Tech subcommittee chairwoman plans MGT Act rewrite

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said at a hearing that the congressionally-mandated revolving fund for tech upgrades is "a tool that needs sharpening."

  • By Chris Riotta

Biden will veto Republican-led clawback of unemployment funding, White House says

The Office of Management and Budget says that the president would veto a Republican proposal to rescind American Rescue Plan Act funding for unemployment if passed by Congress.

  • By Natalie Alms

New bill would add disclosure requirements for AI in political ads

A new bill from Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) comes shortly after the Republican National Committee released a new ad using generative artificial intelligence.

  • By Natalie Alms

DHS R&D arm to drive climate change response under new bill

The Science and Technology Directorate would take a leading role in climate change resilience research under a new bill.

  • By Adam Mazmanian

VA's health record 'reset' has budget fallout

Secretary Denis McDonough told Senate appropriators on Wednesday that the "reset" of the massive electronic health record replacement project likely means tweaks to the agency's budget request.

  • By Adam Mazmanian

House Democrats bring back customer experience bill targeting student loan, passport updates

A bill reintroduced Tuesday aims to codify parts of the White House’s 2021 executive order on making government services more user-friendly.

  • By Natalie Alms

GSA makes a case for Login.gov on Capitol Hill following scathing report

General Services Administration officials addressed allegations that the agency misrepresented identity proofing standards of Login.gov at a hearing Wednesday, as lawmakers pondered the potential for fraudsters in the system.

  • By Natalie Alms

Another Democrat joins chorus of concerns about CBP’s mobile app

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is the latest to express concerns about CBP's mobile application and its role in the asylum process. 

  • By Natalie Alms
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Senators try again to advance software license bill

Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) have brought back the Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act with a few new changes after the proposal came up short last fall.

  • By Carten Cordell

House Republicans offer proposal to claw back unemployment modernization funding

A Tuesday markup in the House Ways and Means Committee featured partisan sparing over a proposal to pull back Labor Department funding from the American Rescue Plan Act for unemployment modernization.

  • By Natalie Alms

Lawmakers clash during hearing about unemployment insurance fraud

While House members pointed fingers over fraudulent payouts from pandemic-era programs, watchdogs offered recommendations for action, including new tech and data-sharing tools.

  • By Natalie Alms

House Dem pushes back on bill to cancel VA's $20B-plus software refresh

Rep. Mark Takano, now ranking member on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, doesn't want to cancel the Electronic Health Records Modernization program without a ready alternative – and VistA doesn't count.

  • By Adam Mazmanian

Hoyer takes up post as top Dem on key approps subcommittee

After decades in House leadership, Hoyer is taking up a supporting role on a congressional panel with a strong focus on government tech, management and the workforce. 

  • By Adam Mazmanian

Oversight Chairman Comer: ‘We’re two years behind in oversight’

Meanwhile, Democrats say Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the incoming chairman of the newly renamed House Oversight and Accountability Committee, is hypocritical and partisan.

  • By Courtney Bublé

House lawmakers want VA's $20 billion-plus electronic health record program to improve or else

Senior Republicans on the House Veterans Affairs Committee are backing legislation to end the troubled program to replace the Department of Veterans Affairs' homegrown electronic health record system with commercial software from Oracle-Cerner -- unless the program can hit performance targets and satisfy top hospital officials.

  • By Carten Cordell