Management

Bill Would Codify and Elevate Role of Federal CIO, CISO

The legislation has passed the House and will likely be taken up again in 2019 if the Senate does not act.

Twitter

Phil Goldstein is a former web editor of the CDW family of tech magazines and a veteran technology journalist. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and their animals: a dog named Brenna, and two cats, Grady and Princess.

On Nov. 30, the House passed a bill by a wide margin that would codify the role of the federal CIO and CISO and make them presidentially appointed positions.

The legislation, known as the Federal CIO Authorization Act of 2018, would make the federal CIO a position that reports directly to the Office of Management and Budget director, instead of the deputy director of OMB, as it currently does. The role of the federal CISO would be codified and sit within the CIO’s office and would continue to report to the CIO under the legislation.

And the bill would rename the Office of E-Government to the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer.

The bill comes amid ongoing federal IT modernization efforts, which are being encouraged by both Congress and the Trump administration. In May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that requires agency CIOs report directly to the agency head and makes CIOs voting members of bureau-level IT governance boards.

The bill, which passed 391-41, was introduced by Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.). As FedScoop reports, the Senate does not have a companion bill. However, the publication notes: “The bipartisan support for Hurd and Kelly’s measure suggests that even if the Senate doesn’t act this year, the bill will return in 2019 in the Democrat-controlled House.”