January 16, 2015

The House passed HR 203, the Clay Hunt SAV Act; HR 33, the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act; HR 185, the Regulatory and Accountability Act of 2015; HR 37, the Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act; and HR 240, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The Senate began consideration of S1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act, and invoked cloture by a vote of 63 to 32. The bill is open to amendment, and, as of today, more than 60 amendments were filed.

White House Announcement on Cybersecurity and Data Breach Notification

Cybersecurity Proposal

President Obama announced a new cybersecurity legislative proposal this week. His bill would enable cybersecurity information sharing between the private sector and the Department of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), which will then share it in as close to real-time as practicable with other relevant federal agencies. The legislation also encourages the formation of private-sector led Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations. The proposal also enhances collaboration and information sharing amongst the private sector.

Legislative Proposal:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/letters/updated-information-sharing-legislative-proposal.pdf

Section-by-Section Analysis:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/letters/information-sharing-legislation-section-by-section.pdf

Law Enforcement Proposals

The Administration’s proposal contains provisions that would allow for the prosecution of the sale of botnets, criminalize the overseas sale of stolen US financial information like credit card and bank account numbers, expand federal law enforcement authority to deter the sale of spyware used to stalk or commit ID theft, and give courts the authority to shut down botnets engaged in distributed denial of service attacks and other criminal activity. It also proposes updates to the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) so that it applies to cybercrimes, clarifies the penalties for computer crimes, and makes sure these penalties are in line with other similar non-cyber crimes.  Finally, the proposal modernizes the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by ensuring that insignificant conduct does not fall within the scope of the statute, while making clear that it can be used to prosecute insiders who abuse their ability to access information to use it for their own purposes.

Legislative Proposal:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/letters/updated-law-enforcement-tools.pdf

Section-by-Section Analysis:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/letters/updated-law-enforcement-tools-section-by-section.pdf

Data Breach Notification Proposal

The Administration also updated its proposal on security breach reporting standardizing the existing patchwork of 46 state laws (plus the District of Columbia and several territories) that contain these requirements into one federal statute.

Legislative Proposal:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/letters/updated-data-breach-notification.pdf

Section-by-Section Analysis:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/letters/updated-data-breach-notification-section-by-section.pdf

Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection Summit

The White House announced that it would host a summit on cybersecurity and consumer protection on February 13, 2015 at Stanford University. The summit will bring together major stakeholders on cybersecurity and consumer financial protection issues – including senior leaders from the White House and across the federal government; CEOs from a wide range of industries including the financial services industry, technology and communications companies; computer security companies and the retail industry; as well as law enforcement officials, consumer advocates, technical experts, and students. Topics at the Summit will include increasing public-private partnerships and cybersecurity information sharing, creating and promoting improved cybersecurity practices and technologies, and improving adoption and use of more secure payment technologies.

Cybersecurity Education Consortium

Vice President Biden and Department of Energy Secretary Ernie Moniz announced on Thursday that the Department of Energy will provide $25 million in grants over the next five years to support a cybersecurity education consortium consisting of 13 HBCUs and two national labs. The program is intended to help to fill the growing demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals in the US job market. The full list of participating consortium members are:

Virginia

Norfolk State University (lead)

Georgia

Clark Atlanta University

Paine College

Maryland

Bowie State University

North Carolina

North Carolina A&T State University

South Carolina

Allen University

Benedict College

Claflin University

Denmark Technical College

Morris College

South Carolina State University

Voorhees College

Charleston County School District

US Virgin Islands

University of the Virgin Islands

California

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

New Mexico

Sandia National Laboratories

Homeland Security Appropriations

The House passed the $39.7B Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill this week by a vote of 236 to 191. Five amendments aimed at blocking the President’s immigration executive order were agreed to during consideration of the bill on the House floor. Text of the amendments can be found at:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/L?d114:./temp/~bdaxDQA:1[1-5](Amendments_For_H.R.240)&./temp/~bdL4Ys

The inclusion of these amendments containing partisan immigration policy provisions drew a veto threat from the President even though he was supportive of the underlying bill. The Senate is also unlikely to back all of these immigration policy provisions and may not have the 60 votes needed to advance the measure. In addition, the Senate may not take up the measure until the first week of February as they plan to resume consideration of the Keystone XL Pipeline Act next week. The current funding agreement for DHS expires on February 27, 2015 providing five more weeks (both are in recess the week of President’s Day) when the House and Senate are in session before a potential shutdown of DHS. Given the tight timeframe, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has not ruled out the possibility of passing a “clean” DHS spending bill without the immigration amendments.

House FY15 DHS Appropriations Bill Text:

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20150112/BILLS-114-HR240-IH.pdf

House FY15 DHS Appropriations Explanatory Statement:

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20150112/114-HR240-ES.pdf

House Armed Services Committee Organization Meeting

The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) met this week to organize for the 114^th Congress. HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-CA) offered four committee resolutions that were adopted by the committee during the meeting. One resolution shifted oversight of the military intelligence program to the full committee from the Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee. Chairman Thornberry said that he wants to increase exposure of all committee members to the intelligence community. Thornberry chaired the Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee during the 113^th Congress, and has served on the House Intelligence Committee.

Links to the adopted committee resolutions can be found at:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/hearings-display?ContentRecord_id=1430C0E8-390F-4E61-828B-B59035A7E5E5

House and Senate Committee Assignments

House Appropriations GOP Subcommittee Assignments

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) announced Republican appropriators subcommittee seats this week, assigning more senior members to the more powerful spending panels. The complete subcommittee roster can be found at:

http://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=393934

House Homeland Security Committee (Democrats)

The Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), announced the subcommittee Ranking Members and the new Democratic membership of the Committee for the 114th Congress.

Subcommittee Ranking Members:

Border and Maritime Security – Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX)

Counterterrorism and Intelligence – Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY)

Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection & Security Technologies – Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA)

Emergency Preparedness, Response & Communications – Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ)

Oversight and Management Efficiency – Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)

Transportation Security – Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY)

Homeland Security Committee Democratic Members (12):

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS)

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)

Rep. James R. Langevin(D-RI)

Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY)

Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA)

Rep. William R. Keating (D-MA)

Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ)

Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX)

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)

Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY)

Rep. Norma J. Torres (D-CA)

House Intelligence Committee

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced the appointment of members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Republicans

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Chairman

Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL)

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX)

Rep. Peter King (R-NY)

Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)

Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL)

Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV)

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS)

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)

Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH)

Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)

Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT)

Democrats

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Ranking Member

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL)

Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT)

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL)

Rep. André Carson (D-IN)

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA)

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL)

Senate Appropriations Committee

Agriculture Subcommittee

Chairman: Jerry Moran (R-KS)

Ranking Member: Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee

Chairman: Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Ranking Member: Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)

Defense Subcommittee

Chairman: Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Ranking Member: Richard Durbin (D-IL)

Energy and Water Subcommittee

Chairman: Lamar Alexander (R-TN)

Ranking Member: Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Financial Services Subcommittee

Chairman: John Boozman (R-AR)

Ranking Member: Christopher Coons (D-DE)

Homeland Security Subcommittee

Chairman: John Hoeven (R-ND)

Ranking Member: Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

Interior Subcommittee

Chairman: Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Ranking Member: Tom Udall (D-NM)

Labor HHS Subcommittee

Chairman: Roy Blunt (R-MO)

Ranking Member: Patty Murray (D-WA)

Legislative Branch Subcommittee

Chairman: Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)

Ranking Member: Brian Schatz

Military Construction Subcommittee

Chairman: Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Ranking Member: Jon Tester (D-MT)

State Foreign Operations Subcommittee

Chairman: Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Ranking Member: Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Transportation HUD Subcommittee

Chairman: Susan Collins (R-ME)

Ranking Member: Jack Reed (D-RI)

Senate Armed Services Committee

Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) named the subcommittee leadership for the committee.

Airland Subcommittee

Chairman: Tom Cotton (R-AR)

Ranking Member: Joe Manchin (D-WV)

Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee (now including cybersecurity)

Chairman: Deb Fischer (R-NE)

Ranking Member: Bill Nelson (D-FL)

Personnel Subcommittee

Chairman: Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Ranking Member: Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee

Chairman: Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)

Ranking Member: Tim Kaine (D-VA)

Seapower Subcommittee

Chairman: Roger Wicker (R-MS)

Ranking Member: Mazie Hirono (D-HI)

Strategic Forces Subcommittee

Chairman: Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Ranking Member: Joe Donnelly (D-IN)

Political Updates

Marilyn Tavenner, the administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced today that she is resigning effective the end of February. Tavenner oversaw the rollout of the Affordable Care Act and the federal health insurance marketplace. She joined the administration in February 2010.

Antonio Weiss took himself out of contention to become the Treasury Department’s Undersecretary of Domestic Finance this week asking President Obama to not renominate him for consideration in the new 114^th Congress. Weiss’ nomination had drawn criticism from a number of progressive members of Congress including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) who thought that Weiss did not have enough regulatory experience. Warren was also concerned that the head of investment banking for Lazard would be too deferential to the finance industry. Instead, Weiss will serve as a counselor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

Newly elected Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) will deliver the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.

The President nominated Alissa Starzak to be General Counsel of the Department of the Army replacing Brad Carson who resigned.

The Republican National Committee set its 2016 convention dates this week. The convention will be held in Cleveland, OH from July 18 to July 21, 2016. These dates are more than a month earlier than the convention that was held in 2012.

Next Week

The House will take up HR 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and HR 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act. The Senate will resume consideration of S1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act.

January 9, 2015

The House and Senate convened and gaveled in the 114^th Congress this week, adopting new rules packages and swearing in newly elected members. The President returned from his Hawaiian holiday, but quickly hit the road to preview his State of the Union themes. First up in the House was HR 22, the Hire More Heroes Act of 2015, a bill exempting veterans and reservists from being counted as full-time employees under Obamacare. The bill passed under suspension of the rules. The House also passed HR 30, the Save American Workers Act; HR 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act (but fell short of a veto override); HR 37, the Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act; HR 23, the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization; and HR 26, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act. The Senate also passed HR 26, which now goes to the President for his signature, and began consideration of S1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act. And the Office of Management and Budget announced this week that the White House will release its fiscal year 2016 budget on Monday, February 2, meeting the mandated deadline for the first time in five years.

Leadership Elections

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) was re-elected speaker of the House this week, overcoming an effort by House conservatives to oust him as speaker. Boehner garnered a total of 216 votes out of 408 cast. The 25 Republicans not voting for Boehner either voted present or voted for other candidates. Two members of the Senate received one vote each for speaker, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), as did retired four-star general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. A number of House Democrats from New York missed the vote as they attended the funeral of former NY Governor Mario Cuomo on Tuesday.

In the Senate, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) was sworn in as the Senate President Pro Tempore this week making him third in line to the Presidency after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House. Since 1890, the most senior senator in the majority party has generally been chosen to be the President Pro Tempore.

Senate Committee Assignments

The Senate approved organizing resolutions this week affirming 114th Congress committee assignments for the majority and minority.

Majority Committee Assignments:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?p=330 

Minority Committee Assignments:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?p=329

FY15 Homeland Security Appropriations

Eleven of the 12 FY2015 appropriations bills were included in the FY15 omnibus appropriations measure, which was signed into law on December 16 and became Public Law No. 113-235. The Department of Homeland Security was the only federal agency that didn’t get a full appropriations measure as part of this omnibus spending deal. DHS was funded through February 27, 2015 in the omnibus bill allowing Republicans more time to craft a response to President Obama’s immigration executive order. House Republicans released a $39.7B spending bill this afternoon that they are planning on considering on the House floor next week. The House Rules Committee will consider the bill on Monday, and it is expected that a few amendments will be made in order to be offered on the House Floor.

House FY15 DHS Appropriations Bill Text:

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20150112/BILLS-114-HR240-IH.pdf

House FY15 DHS Appropriations Explanatory Statement:

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20150112/114-HR240-ES.pdf

2015 Key Dates

Now that the new Congress has convened, here are some key dates to keep in mind for 2015:

Jan 20            State of the Union Address

Feb 2              President’s FY16 budget request due to Congress

Feb 27           FY15 DHS appropriations continuing resolution expires

March 15       Debt ceiling suspension expires, Treasury can use extraordinary measures to buy more time

March 31       “Doc Fix” expires

April 15          Budget resolution deadline for Congress (no penalty if missed)

May 31           Surface Transportation authorization expires

June 1            USA Patriot Act provisions expire

June 30         Export Import Bank charter expires

October 1      Fiscal Year 2016 begins

Senate Appropriations Ranking Members

Senate Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) announced the subcommittee ranking members this week.

Agriculture

Ranking Member: Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Commerce, Justice, Science

Ranking Member: Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)

Defense

Ranking Member: Richard Durbin (D-IL)

Energy and Water

Ranking Member: Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Financial Services

Ranking Member: Christopher Coons (D-DE)

Homeland Security

Ranking Member: Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)

Interior

Ranking Member: Tom Udall (D-NM)

Labor HHS

Ranking Member: Patty Murray (D-WA)

Legislative Branch

Ranking Member: Brian Schatz

Military Construction

Ranking Member: Jon Tester (D-MT)

State Foreign Operations

Ranking Member: Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Transportation HUD

Ranking Member: Jack Reed (D-RI)

As for the subcommittee chairmen, the ranking Republican appropriators for the subcommittees in the last Congress are now expected to claim the gavels. But a few subcommittee chairmanships are up for grabs as members have either retired or departed the committee.

Senate Armed Services Committee Leadership

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released its list of subcommittee chairmen and ranking members this week. While SASC Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) had considered adding a new subcommittee for cybersecurity, he instead opted to add the cybersecurity portfolio to the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee as the panel is restricted to six subcommittees by Senate rules. The new subcommittee chairmen and ranking members are as follows:

Airland Subcommittee

Chairman: Tom Cotton (R-AR)

Ranking Member: Joe Manchin (D-WV)

Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee

Chairman: Deb Fischer (R-NE)

Ranking Member: Bill Nelson (D-FL)

Personnel Subcommittee

Chairman: Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Ranking Member: Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)

Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee

Chairman: Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)

Ranking Member: Tim Kaine (D-VA)

Seapower Subcommittee

Chairman: Roger Wicker (R-MS)

Ranking Member: Mazie Hirono (D-HI)

Strategic Forces Subcommittee

Chairman: Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Ranking Member: Joe Donnelly (D-IN)

Cybersecurity

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), the former ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee reintroduced the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) this week. The bill provides legal safe-harbor for companies sharing cyberthreat information with the federal government and each other. Privacy advocates are concerned that the bill could give NSA more access to the private information of Americans. Ruppersberger said that he was reintroducing the bill because of the severe cyber attack on Sony by North Korea. CISPA passed the House last spring.

Political Updates

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) announced this week that she would not seek re-election in 2016. Boxer is the junior senator from California and was first elected in 1992. She holds the ranking member position on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Speculation over who will run for her seat centers on four candidates: Kamala Harris, Attorney General of California; Gavin Newsome; current Lieutenant Governor of California and former mayor of San Francisco; Tom Steyer, a wealthy hedge fund manager and environmentalist; and Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Mayor of Los Angeles.

President Obama nominated Allan Landon to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Landon is a Partner in Community BanCapital and was the former CEO of the Bank of Hawaii.

The President also nominated David Cohen to be Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Cohen is currently the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Department of the Treasury. Before joining the Treasury Department, Cohen was a partner in the law firm of WilmerHale, where he focused on complex civil litigation, white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and anti-money laundering counseling.

And, the President submitted the following nominations to the Senate this week: Therese McMillan to be Federal Transit Administrator, Dava Newman to be Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Marisa Lago to be a Deputy United States Trade Representative, and Russell Deyo to be Under Secretary for Management at the Department of Homeland Security.

The White House also announced that Debra Eschmeyer will be joining the staff as the Executive Director of Let’s Move! and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition policy replacing Sam Kass who departed in December. Eschmeyer co-founded FoodCorps, a national AmeriCorps service program whose members teach hands-on lessons about food and nutrition; build and tend school gardens; teach cooking lessons; and help change school cafeteria menus to give kids healthy food.

Next Week

The House will only be in session Monday through Wednesday, and during that time will consider HR 185, the Regulatory Accountability Act; HR 37, the Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act; and legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate will resume consideration of S.1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act.

December 19, 2014

The House wrapped up their work and adjourned last week while the Senate had a few pieces of unfinished business to complete keeping them in session this week. In a typical end-of-session flurry of activity, the Senate passed the FY15 CR/Omnibus (cromnibus) and HR 5771, the tax extenders legislation, in addition to confirming numerous nominations. The Senate did not complete action on S 2244, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014, which had passed the house the previous week by a vote of 417 to 7.

FY15 Appropriations

On Friday, December 12, 2014, the President signed into law H.J. Res. 130, which provided FY15 appropriations for the Federal Government through Saturday, December 13, 2014. Then on On Saturday, December 13, 2014, he signed into law H.J. Res. 131, which provided FY15 appropriations through Wednesday, December 17, 2014. On Saturday, the Senate passed HR 83, the $1.014T FY15 CR/omnibus spending bill by a vote of 56 to 40. The President signed this final FY15 spending bill into law on December 16. The bill provides FY15 appropriations through September 30, 2015 for all agencies except the Department of Homeland Security, which is funded through February 27, 2015. The bill was finally cleared with broad mainstream support from the more moderate members of both parties. It passed in the House with yea votes from 162 Republicans and 57 Democrats. And in the Senate it passed with the support of 31 Democrats, 24 Republicans, and 1 Independent.

Links to the report language for each section of the “cromnibus” conference report:

Introduction:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-Intro.pdf

Agriculture:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-A.pdf

Commerce Justice Science:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-B.pdf

Defense:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-C.pdf

Energy and Water:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-D.pdf

Financial Services:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-E.pdf

Interior:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-F.pdf

Labor HHS:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-G.pdf

Legislative branch:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-H.pdf

MilCon/Veterans Affairs:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-I.pdf

State/Foreign Operations:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-J.pdf

Transportation/HUD:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-K.pdf

Committee Rosters

Senate committee rosters began to take shape this week, but Senate committee chairmen have yet to be named. In the 114^th Congress, the tax panels were more popular than the appropriations committees. No freshman members were appointed to the Senate Finance or House Ways and Means committees, while some freshman members were able to get seats on the appropriations committees. And, Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) gave up his seat on Appropriations for a seat on the Senate Finance Committee.

Senate Committee rosters can be found at:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?p=320

Tax Extenders

The Senate passed HR 5771, the tax extenders bill by a vote of 76 to 16. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had held off the vote on the bill in order to keep Senators in DC for consideration of nominations. The House passed two tax measures before they adjourned – HR 647, the ABLE Act of 2014 and HR 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014. HR 5771 is a short-term tax extenders package retroactively reviving more than 50 expired tax breaks for 2014 only. HR 647 is a tax measure designed to provide families who care for people with disabilities with tax-preferred savings accounts. Before transmitting the bill to the Senate, the House added the text of HR 647 as Division B to HR 5771. The bill now goes to the President for his signature.

FY15 National Defense Authorization Act Conference Agreement

The Senate passed the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last Friday by a vote of 89 to 11. The House passed the bill on Dec. 4 by a vote of 300 to 119. The $584.2 billion measure was named after the retiring chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee – “Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘Buck’ McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015.”The bill authorizes $521.3 billion in base discretionary spending ($495.5B for the Department of Defense and $17.9 billion for the defense activities of the Department of Energy and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board) and $63.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).

The bill text can be found here:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=926D63B6-5E50-49FC-99EF-A59B98825265

The joint explanatory statement can be found here:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=78ED7A79-9066-43FD-AA75-1D8F14B4B4A2

State of the Union Address

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) issued a formal invitation to President Barack Obama to deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 20.

Political Updates

Republican Martha McSally prevailed in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District over Democratic Rep. Ron Barber following a recount. McSally, the first the first female fighter pilot to fly a combat mission and command a fighter squadron, edged out Barber by only 167 votes. The result of this recount adds to the majority for the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, with the party holding 247 seats when the new Congress convenes in January.

The Senate confirmed Vivek Murthy as surgeon general, Sarah Saldana to be an Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Antony Blinken to be Deputy Secretary of State, Colette Dodson Honorable to be a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Chris Smith to be assistant Energy secretary for fossil fuels, Robert Scher to be assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans and capabilities, and David Berteau to be assistant secretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness.

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah announced this week that he would be stepping down next month after serving in this position for five years.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has selected Chris Brose to be the new staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee when McCain assumes the chairmanship in the 114^th Congress in January.

President Obama selected Avril Haines as his Deputy National Security Advisor. Haines has served as the National Security Council’s Legal Advisor and Vice President Biden’s counsel on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She most recently was the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Next Week

The House and Senate have adjourned for the year. The new 114^th Congress will convene on January 6. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said that his first course of business bill be to pass legislation that will approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The Senate Republican conference will also have to quickly decide if they will change back filibuster rules with the so-called nuclear option.

December 12, 2014

The House and Senate completed action on a number of bills this week and are poised to adjourn for the year pending action on some final key measures. In addition to passing a short-term (two day) FY15 continuing resolution, the end of year flurry of activity included passage of HR 4681, the FY15 Intelligence Authorization bill; S 1691, the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act of 2013; HR 4007 the Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014; S 2444, the Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014; HR 5057, the EPS Service Parts Act of 2014; and HR 2640, the Central Oregon Jobs and Water Security Act. Both chambers also passed four cybersecurity bills – S 2519, the National Cybersecurity Protection Act of 2014; S 2521, the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014; HR 2952, the Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act; and S 1353, the Cybersecurity Act of 2013. All of these bills will be sent to the President for his signature. The Senate is expected to pass the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act this afternoon and then take up the FY15 “cromnibus.” The Senate is also expected to vote on S 2244, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act before adjourning. If the Senate passes these measures, they will also be sent to the President for his signature. The Senate also passed S 2828, the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 and S 2785, the Safe and Secure Drinking Water Protection Act of 2014, both of which have not been considered by the House. 

FY15 Appropriations

House and Senate Appropriations staff worked through last weekend to iron out final details of a year-end FY15 spending package, which was released late Tuesday evening. The final $1.013T omnibus/continuing resolution (CR), or cromnibus, included full-year funding for 11 appropriations bills and a short-term CR for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in protest of the president’s recent executive orders on immigration. The CR maintains DHS funding at the current FY14 level, and expires on February 27, 2015. The bill meets the $521 billion defense and $492 billion non-defense budget caps. The bill also includes $64 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding to combat ISIL, to train and equip Iraqi allies, and to reinforce European countries facing Russian aggression; and a total of $5.4 billion in emergency funding to address the domestic and international Ebola crisis.

With the current CR expiring on Thursday, December 11, Congress had to act quickly to get a new spending agreement in place to avoid a government shutdown. The House faced some opposition from conservative Republicans over funding levels and Democrats over policy riders, and had to delay final passage of the measure until later Thursday evening. The measure finally passed by a vote of 219 to 206 with 162 Republicans and 57 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. If the bill had not passed, House Republicans were prepared to offer a three month CR setting themselves up to re-write the bills to their liking next year when they control both chambers. Less than three hours away from a government shutdown the House also passed a two-day CR that was also approved by the Senate and signed into law by the President last night. The short-term CR gives the Senate a few extra days to consider and pass the cromnibus package. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) cannot call up the bill until after finishing the FY15 defense authorization bill. Absent a consent agreement, a cloture vote would take place under the rules on Sunday with a final vote on Monday. However, the two-day CR expires Saturday at midnight. The President has indicated that he will sign the cromnibus.

Links to the report language for each section of the “cromnibus” conference report:

Introduction:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-Intro.pdf

Agriculture:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-A.pdf

Commerce Justice Science:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-B.pdf

Defense:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-C.pdf

Energy and Water:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-D.pdf

Financial Services:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-E.pdf

Interior:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-F.pdf

Labor HHS:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-G.pdf

Legislative branch:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-H.pdf

MilCon/Veterans Affairs:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-I.pdf

State/Foreign Operations:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-J.pdf

Transportation/HUD:

http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-1/PDF/113-HR83sa-ES-K.pdf

Tax Extenders

The House passed two tax measures last week – HR 647, the ABLE Act of 2014 and HR 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014. HR 5771 is a short-term tax extenders package retroactively reviving more than 50 expired tax breaks for 2014 only. HR 647 is a tax measure designed to provide families who care for people with disabilities with tax-preferred savings accounts. Before transmitting the bill to the Senate, the House added the text of HR 647 as Division B to HR 5771. It’s still not clear if the Senate will take up this one-year extension or take no action before they adjourn for the year. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is not a fan of the legislation and has not decided yet if he will object to a unanimous consent agreement.

FY15 National Defense Authorization Act Conference Agreement

The Senate is expected to pass the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this afternoon around 3 pm. The House passed the bill last week by a vote of 300 to 119. The $584.2 billion measure was named after the retiring chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee – “Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘Buck’ McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015.”The bill authorizes $521.3 billion in base discretionary spending ($495.5B for the Department of Defense and $17.9 billion for the defense activities of the Department of Energy and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board) and $63.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).

The bill text can be found here:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=926D63B6-5E50-49FC-99EF-A59B98825265

The joint explanatory statement can be found here:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=78ED7A79-9066-43FD-AA75-1D8F14B4B4A2

A summary from HASC Republicans can be found here:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=F477F464-90AE-4B7A-AD7A-438065807D04

A summary from HASC Democrats can be found here:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/govdoc-4581940.pdf

Political Updates

The Senate confirmed Franklin Orr, Jr. to be Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy and Ellen Dudley Williams to be Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

Next Week

The House is expected to adjourn for the year. The Senate may be in session completing action on appropriations, tax extenders, and TRIA. The new 114^th Congress will convene on January 6.

December 5, 2014

The House passed two tax measures this week – HR 647, the ABLE Act of 2014 and HR 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014. The House also passed HR 5759, the Executive Amnesty Prevention Act of 2014; HR 3979, the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act of 2014; and HR 5769 a bill reauthorizing the Coast Guard. HR 5759 is a largely symbolic bill disapproving of President Obama’s executive action in immigration, as it will not be considered in the Senate. The Senate approved a number of nominations and passed HR 2203, a bill awarding the congressional gold medal to Jack Nicklaus and HR 5739, the No Social Security for Nazis Act. The oath of office was administered to Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Tim Scott (R-SC) as both won special elections Nov. 4 after earlier being appointed to their seats.

Tax Extenders

The House passed two tax measures this week – HR 647, the ABLE Act of 2014 and HR 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014. HR 5771 is a short-term tax extenders package retroactively reviving more than 50 expired tax breaks for 2014 only. A list of the tax breaks can be found at: http://rules.house.gov/sites/republicans.rules.house.gov/files/113-2/PDF/113-HR5771-SxS.pdf.

HR 647 is a tax measure designed to provide families who care for people with disabilities with tax-preferred savings accounts. It’s still not clear if the Senate will accept this one-year extension, try to pass a two-year framework forcing the House in its last few days in session to accept a longer bill, or take no action. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Thursday night that the Senate might not be able to pass the House tax extenders bill before the end of the year. Reid had tried to negotiate an agreement with the House making a number of the tax extenders permanent; including ones allowing companies to write off investments and costs associated with research and development programs. The president threatened to veto the agreement because “it would help well-connected corporations while neglecting working families.” The Administration indicated that it would not veto a clean, short-term extension of the tax extenders in the absence of a broader agreement.

FY15 Appropriations

House and Senate Appropriations staff will be working through the weekend ironing out final details of a year-end FY15 spending package, which could be released on Monday morning. The final omnibus/continuing resolution (CR) is expected to include full-year funding for 11 appropriations bills and a short-term CR for the Department of Homeland Security in protest of the president’s recent executive orders on immigration. However, any policy fights that cannot be resolved by House and Senate Appropriations Chairmen Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) could result in a CR for the agency in which the issue resides. The bill will also include emergency funding for combating the Islamic State as well as fighting the Ebola virus. The current CR expires on Thursday, December 11.

FY15 National Defense Authorization Act Conference Agreement

The House on Thursday passed the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a largely bipartisan vote of 300 to 119. The bill now heads to the Senate where it is expected to be approved before they adjourn for the year. The $584.2 billion measure was named after the retiring chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee – “Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘Buck’ McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015.”The bill authorizes $521.3 billion in base discretionary spending ($495.5B for the Department of Defense and $17.9 billion for the defense activities of the Department of Energy and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board) and $63.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).

The bill text can be found here:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=926D63B6-5E50-49FC-99EF-A59B98825265

The joint explanatory statement can be found here:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=78ED7A79-9066-43FD-AA75-1D8F14B4B4A2

A summary from HASC Republicans can be found here:

http://armedservices.house.gov/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=F477F464-90AE-4B7A-AD7A-438065807D04

A summary from HASC Democrats can be found here:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/govdoc-4581940.pdf

National Counterintelligence Security Center

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) announced the establishment of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) within ODNI. Effective Dec. 1, Bill Evanina, the current National Counterintelligence Executive will be dual hatted as he takes on an additional role as NCSC director. The NCSC will become the parent organization of the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX), which was created by the Counterintelligence Enhancement Act of 2002 to carry out counterintelligence and security responsibilities for the Director of National Intelligence. The NCSC will integrate and align counterintelligence and security mission areas, and carry out counterintelligence and security responsibilities under a single organizational model. The creation of the NCSC was predicated by the destructive growth and complexity of cyber threats, economic espionage, insider threats, and supply chain threats.

Political Updates

Following Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s announcement last week that he was resigning, President Obama today nominated Ash Carter for the position. Carter is a physicist who has served as deputy secretary of defense, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and assistant secretary of defense for international security policy. Carter has also been a senior partner at Global Technology Partners, an advisor to Goldman Sachs on global affairs, and a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School. He has served on the boards of the MITRE Corporation, Mitretek Systems, and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratories. He has been a member of the Draper Laboratory Corporation, the Defense Policy Board, the Defense Science Board, and the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board. While Carter is a highly regarded technocrat who was unanimously confirmed for his last position, his nomination could face some hurdles in the new GOP Senate.

The Justice Department announced this week that it will create a special unit to combat cyber attacks, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell announced that the unit will be part of the Criminal Division and will serve as a central hub for law enforcement officials to provide legal guidance regarding the criminal electronic surveillance statutes that cover cyber investigations. The unit will also share information with the private sector about how to protect their networks and advise Congress on cybersecurity legislation.

The Senate voted on the following confirmations this week: Joseph Hezir to be Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Energy, Nani Coloretti to be Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Robert Adler to be Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Next Week

The House will take up HR 5781, the California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014; an FY15 appropriations omnibus/continuing resolution; and a Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) reauthorization bill. The Senate will also consider the FY15 appropriations bill as well as the tax bills and the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act conference agreement that were passed by the House this week. The Senate could also take up the TRIA reauthorization, HR 1163, the Federal Information Security Amendments Act of 2013 and HR 3696, the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, both of which have already passed the House. Both the House and Senate are expected to complete their work and adjourn for the year on Thursday, December 11.

November 21, 2014

The House this week passed three bills that would change Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules: HR 1422, the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act (modifies the process for choosing members of the EPA’s Science Advisory Board); HR 4012, the Secret Science Reform Act of 2014 (requires EPA to publicly release all of the data it uses to justify regulations); and HR 4795, the Promoting New Manufacturing Act (changes requirements on EPA air regulations). The Senate passed S 1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014, sending it to the President for his signature. The Senate then took up S 2280, a bill to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, but failed to get the 60 votes needed for passage as the final vote was 59 to 41. The Senate also fell short of the 60 needed votes for S 2685, the USA Freedom Act.

Immigration Reform

President Obama unveiled his Immigration Accountability Executive Actions last night. The actions will extend the “surge of resources” to protect the border and expand the existing deferred action program for undocumented immigrants. More specifically, the Executive Actions are as follows:

Strengthen Border Security

DHS will implement a Southern Border and Approaches Campaign Strategy that will employ three task forces of various law enforcement agencies. The first will focus on the southern maritime border. The second will be responsible for the southern land border and the West Coast. The third will focus on investigations to support the other two task forces. In addition, DHS will continue the surge of resources including additional Border Patrol agents, ICE personnel, criminal investigators, additional monitors, and working with DOJ to reorder dockets in immigration courts, along with reforms in these courts.

Link to Executive Action: http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_southern_border_campaign_plan.pdf

Revise Removal Priorities

DHS will implement a new department-wide enforcement and removal policy that places top priority on national security threats, convicted felons, gang members, and illegal entrants apprehended at the border; the second-tier priority on those convicted of significant or multiple misdemeanors and those who are not apprehended at the border, but who entered or reentered this country unlawfully after January 1, 2014; and the third priority on those who are non-criminals but who have failed to abide by a final order of removal issued on or after January 1, 2014. Under this revised policy, those who entered illegally prior to January 1, 2014, who never disobeyed a prior order of removal, and were never convicted of a serious offense, will not be priorities for removal. This policy also provides clear guidance on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

Link to Executive Action:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_prosecutorial_discretion.pdf

End Secure Communities and Replace it with New Priority Enforcement Program

DHS will end the Secure Communities program, and replace it with the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP). The program will continue to rely on fingerprint-based biometric data submitted during bookings by state and local law enforcement agencies and will identify to law enforcement agencies the specific criteria for which DHS will seek an individual in their custody. The list of largely criminal offenses is taken from Priorities 1 and 2 of DHS’ new enforcement priorities. In addition, DHS will formulate plans to engage state and local governments on enforcement priorities and will enhance Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) ability to arrest, detain, and remove individuals deemed threats to national security, border security, or public safety.

Link to Executive Action:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_secure_communities.pdf

Personnel Reform for ICE Officers

Related to these enforcement and removal reforms, DHS will support job series realignment and premium ability pay coverage for ICE ERO officers engaged in removal operations bringing ICE agents and officers pay in line with other law enforcement personnel.

Link to Executive Action:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_pay_reform_ice_officers.pdf

Expand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program

DHS will expand eligibility for DACA to encompass a broader class of children. DACA eligibility was limited to those who were under 31 years of age on June 15, 2012, who entered the U.S. before June 15, 2007, and who were under 16 years old when they entered. DACA eligibility will be expanded to cover all undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. before the age of 16, and not just those born after June 15, 1981. They will also adjust the entry date from June 15, 2007 to January 1, 2010. The relief (including work authorization) will now last for three years rather than two.

Link to Executive Action:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_deferred_action.pdf

Extend Deferred Action to Parents of U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents

DHS will extend eligibility for deferred action to individuals who (i) are not removal priorities under their new policy, (ii) have been in this country at least 5 years, (iii) have children who on the date of this announcement are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, and (iv) present no other factors that would make a grant of deferred action inappropriate. These individuals will be assessed for eligibility for deferred action on a case-by-case basis, and then be permitted to apply for work authorization, provided they pay a fee. Each individual will undergo a thorough background check of all relevant national security and criminal databases, including DHS and FBI databases. With work-authorization, these individuals will pay taxes and contribute to the economy.

Link to Executive Action:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_deferred_action.pdf

Expand Provisional Waivers to Spouses and Children of Lawful Permanent Residents

The provisional waiver program DHS announced in January 2013 for undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens will be expanded to include the spouses and children of lawful permanent residents, as well as the adult children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. At the same time, DHS will further clarify the “extreme hardship” standard that must be met to obtain the waiver.

Link to Executive Action:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_i601a_waiver.pdf

Revise Parole Rules

DHS will begin rulemaking to identify the conditions under which talented entrepreneurs should be paroled into the United States, on the ground that their entry would yield a significant public economic benefit. DHS will also support the military and its recruitment efforts by working with the Department of Defense to address the availability of parole-in-place and deferred action to spouses, parents, and children of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents who seek to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces. DHS will also issue guidance to clarify that when anyone is given “advance parole” to leave the country – including those who obtain deferred action – they will not be considered to have departed. Undocumented aliens generally trigger a 3- or 10-year bar to returning to the United States when they depart.

Link to Executive Actions:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_business_actions.pdf

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_parole_in_place.pdf

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_arrabally.pdf

Promote the Naturalization Process

To promote access to U.S. citizenship, DHS will permit the use of credit cards as a payment option for the naturalization fee, and expand citizenship public awareness. The naturalization fee is $680, currently payable only by cash, check or money order. DHS will also explore the feasibility of expanding fee waiver options.

Link to Executive Action:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_naturalization.pdf

Support High-skilled Business and Workers

DHS will take a number of administrative actions to enable U.S. businesses to hire and retain highly skilled foreign-born workers and strengthen and expand opportunities for students to gain on-the-job training. They will amend current regulations and make other administrative changes to provide flexibility to workers with approved employment-based green card petitions.

Link to Executive Action:

http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_business_actions.pdf

CBO Scores Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2014

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released their scoring analysis of S 2588, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) of 2014. CBO estimates that implementing the bill would have a discretionary cost of about $20 million over the 2015-2019 period. Their official cost estimate on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s information sharing bill largely comes from personnel costs. The staffing needed to administer the program and manage the exchange of information between government and the private sector would cost about $4 million annually. The CBO analysis can be found at: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49791

National Defense Authorization Act

The FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is considered must-pass legislation, however there are a few remaining outstanding issues that could affect the timing of its consideration. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) said that it is his hope that a conference report can be finalized and passed by both chambers during the first week of December.

The first outstanding issue is the disagreement over whether to increase pharmacy copays for the non-active duty beneficiaries of TRICARE. The language originated as a proposal from DOD to help control the costs of their defense health care spending. The proposal would raise the copays for generics next year from $6 to $7 and then to $9 by 2017. The SASC included a provision in its bill to allow for the increase, but the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) bill doesn’t address the issue at all. HASC Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) opposes the inclusion of this provision in the final NDAA conference report while SASC Chairman Levin insists on its inclusion as well as a provision to reduce troop housing benefits. SASC republicans are siding with their chairman on this issue.

Another issue to be resolved is the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), which was included in the HASC NDAA. The Senate doesn’t like FITARA the way it is currently written, and the Department of Defense (DOD) wants to be exempted from the requirements in FITARA as they claim they are already doing many of these things administratively such as data center consolidation. The SASC bill includes a provision to change the role of the DOD Deputy Chief Management Officer to improve the way DOD purchases IT systems and services, which could possibly conflict with the House FITARA language. While the FITARA provision may not make it into the final bill, there could be some final language on IT acquisition reform.

There are also a few unresolved issues around contracting, including language that extends the test program for negotiation of comprehensive small business subcontracting plans. The final conference report may extend the current requirement for two years rather than three as proposed by the House, and add some reporting requirements. And there is some House language that would increase small business participation goals from 23% to 25%. There is no language in the Senate on this issue.

And finally, they’ll have to work out language from the House bill that would require a cost comparison of services from contractors vs. in-house. Congress could use this information to say that DOD is using contractors too often for inherently governmental functions.

House Democratic Leadership Elections

House democrats held their leadership elections this week reelecting Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as Minority Leader for another two years. Pelosi was unopposed in the election. Democrats also reelected Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) as Minority Whip, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) as Democratic Caucus chairman, Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY) as caucus vice chairman, and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) as assistant to the leader. Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Donna Edwards (D-MD) were appointed as co-chairwomen of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. Minority Leader Pelosi also named Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) to serve as the next Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair.

House Committee Chairs

The House Republican Steering Committee made its official recommendations for House committee chairmanships for the 114^th Congress and the whole House Republican conference ratified the recommendations this week. The House democratic caucus also approved their ranking democrats for the next Congress. The committee chairmen and ranking democrats for the 114^th Congress are as follows:

Over in the Senate, decisions on chairmen and ranking democrats will wait until after the Dec. 6 runoff in Louisiana.

House Appropriations Cardinals and New Republican Members

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) announced this week that the Republican Steering Committee approved the 12 Appropriations Subcommittee Chairs (or “Cardinals”) for the 114th Congress.

The Subcommittee Chairs are as follows:

Agriculture and Rural Development – Robert Aderholt, AL

Commerce, Justice, and Science – John Culberson, TX

Defense – Rodney Frelinghuysen, NJ

Energy and Water Development – Mike Simpson, ID

Financial Services – Ander Crenshaw, FL

Homeland Security – John Carter, TX

Interior, Environment – Ken Calvert, CA

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education – Tom Cole, OK

Legislative Branch – Tom Graves, GA

Military Construction, Veterans Affairs – Charles Dent, PA

State, Foreign Operations – Kay Granger, TX

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development – Mario Diaz-Balart, FL

The House Republican Steering Committee also approved four new Republican Members to serve on the House Appropriations Committee in the 114th Congress:

Rep. David Jolly (FL-13)

Rep. Scott Rigell (VA-02)

Rep. Evan Jenkins (WV-03)

Rep. David Young (IA-03)

2015 Schedules

The House and Senate have released their schedules for the first session of the 114^th Congress. Both convene on January 6 and have target adjournment dates of December 18.

The Senate calendar can be found at:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Senate-Schedule-2015.pdf

The House calendar can be found at:

http://www.majorityleader.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/114thCongressFirstSession.pdf

Next Week

The House and Senate are both in recess next week and will reconvene on December 1.

November 14, 2014 

The House and Senate returned to DC after the mid-term election recess. The House passed HR 4194, the Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014 and HR 5682, a bill approving the Keystone XL Pipeline. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that the House will convene for the 114^th Congress on January 6, 2015. And he confirmed that the targeted adjournment date for the 113^th Congress is Dec. 11. The Senate approved a few judicial nominations and voted to invoke cloture on S1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2013.

Leadership Elections

This week Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was elected Senate majority leader and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) was elected Senate minority leader for the 114^th Congress, which convenes in January. McConnell was elected as GOP leader without dissent, while Reid received several no votes including Sens. McCaskill (D-MO), Warner (D-VA), Manchin (D-WV), and Kaine (D-VA). Republican senators chose Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2016 cycle while democrats chose Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was appointed as Senior Policy Advisor to the Democratic Policy and Communications Center, a newly created Senate leadership post. And Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-WI) was elected as chairwoman of Steering and Outreach.

The House Republican Conference voted to keep Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) as speaker of the House (his third term), and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was re-elected as majority leader. The votes came in as a secret ballot of the GOP caucus on Thursday. The full House must approve the GOP’s choice by a majority vote in January. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) won a full-term as Republican Whip in the next Congress and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) won her second term as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. House Republicans also selected Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN) as Republican Policy Committee chairman. And Speaker Boehner announced today that he selected Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) to remain as chairman in the House Rules Committee in the next Congress. House Republicans also passed a party rule that a chairman must give up their gavel if they announce their intention to run for another office.

FY15 Appropriations

House and Senate Appropriations Chairmen Harold Rogers (R-KY) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) have directed their staffs to have a detailed, line-by-line omnibus spending plan ready for floor action by the week of Dec. 8. While some more conservative republicans may be pushing for a shorter-term spending deal, appropriations staff insist that a continuing resolution (CR) is not part of the leadership discussions. The current CR epxires on Dec. 11, so Congress needs to take action before then in order to avoid a government shutdown. House Republicans may wait on moving the omnibus bill potentially using it as a vehicle to limit any executive orders from President Obama on immigration reform. Sen. Mikulski has warned that any immigration provisions would be a deal-breaker for an omnibus. If the Senate opposes an omnibus with immigration riders attached, the House may then opt for a clean, short-term continuing resolution funding the government into the new Congress when republicans have the majority in the Senate.

The Obama Administration requested an additional $5.6 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) activities for Operation Inherent Resolve, the military campaign focused on defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The request includes $1.6 billion to establish an Iraq Train and Equip Fund (ITEF) to train and support approximately 12 Iraqi and Kurdish brigades, as well as an additional $520 million for State Department-related operations. This proposed OCO funding is in addition to the $58.6 billion Department of Defense OCO request sent to the Congress in June as these activities and operations were not anticipated at the time that request was submitted. Some Republicans were critical of the request questioning if it was large enough and whether all of it should be considered emergency funding, but stopped short of opposing it. The details of the request can be found at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/budget_amendments/amendment_11_10_14.pdf

Department of Defense Nuclear Enterprise Review

Today Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced a comprehensive action plan to reform the nuclear enterprise and called for additional investments in sustainment as well as measures to address longstanding cultural issues. This announcement follows a series of missteps involving the nation’s nuclear forces and their leadership after which Secretary Hagel called for both an internal and external review of the entire Department of Defense nuclear enterprise. Together, the two reviews identified more than 100 recommendations to improve the nuclear deterrent forces. They focus on several key areas, including: oversight, investment, and personnel and training. Their recommendations range from acquisition investments that will cost several billion dollars over the five-year defense spending program. The Department will prioritize funding on actions that improve the security and sustainment of the current force, ensure that modernization of the force remains on track, and address shortfalls that are undermining the morale of the force.

Link to External Independent Review:

http://www.defense.gov/pubs/Independent-Nuclear-Enterprise-Review-Report-30-June-2014.pdf

Link to Summary of Internal Nuclear Enterprise Review:

http://www.defense.gov/pubs/Summary-Internal-NER.pdf

Link to DOD Fact Sheet on Implementation:

http://www.defense.gov/pubs/NER-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Veterans Affairs Reorganization

The Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald announced a major restructuring of the department this week including creating a new VA-wide customer service office led by a Chief Customer Service Officer who will report directly to the Secretary. The reforms also include establishing new partnerships with a national network of Community Veteran Advisory Councils to coordinate better service delivery with local, state and community partners, and identifying opportunities for VA to realign its internal business processes into a shared services model in which organizations across VA leverage the same support services, to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase productivity across VA. McDonald also confirmed that the department has taken disciplinary action against 5,600 employees and has plans to hire about 28,000 medical professionals around the country, including about 2,500 mental health professionals.

Senate Armed Services Committee

This week Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the expected next chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) said that he plans to shake up the committee when he takes over as chairman in the 114^th Congress. McCain is considering establishing one or two new subcommittees to better deal with cybersecurity and launch oversight investigations. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) is poised to take over as the ranking democrat on the committee.

National Defense Authorization Act

Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees met this week to negotiate the most contentious issues (which includes transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners, retiring 11 Navy cruisers, and retiring the A-10 Warthog attack jet) of the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act. Committee staff have been preparing an informal conference report that irons out the differences between the House passed bill and the Senate committee passed version. The conference report will be passed as stand-alone legislation in the House and Senate without amendments.

Political Updates

While Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) has not yet conceded, the Associated Press has called the race for Republican Dan Sullivan. Sullivan’s win would make the new 114^th Congress majority in the Senate 53 republicans to 46 democrats. One more race will be decided in Louisiana after the runoff on Dec. 6.

The race between Rep. Ron Barber (D-AZ) and republican challenger Martha McSally is heading towards a recount. One legal challenge has already been filed over provisional ballots. A full recount will take weeks. McSally currently has a 133 vote lead.

The House swore-in three newly elected members who were filling current vacancies – Congresswoman-Elect Alma Adams (D-NC), Congressman-Elect Donald Norcross (D-NJ), and Congressman-Elect David Brat (R-VA).

The President nominated Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken to become the next deputy secretary of state. If confirmed by the Senate, Blinken would replace William Burns who retired earlier this year. Previously, Blinken was Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In the Clinton Administration, he served on the National Security Council staff as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs and as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Strategic Planning and Speechwriting. He also served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs at the Department of State.

The President also nominated Nicholas Rasmussen to be the director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), succeeding Matthew Olsen who stepped down this summer. Rasmussen is currently the Deputy Director of the NCTC, a position he has held since 2012. Rasmussen has also served on the National Security Council (NSC) staff, held senior policy and planning positions at NCTC, and served as Director for Regional Affairs in the Office of Combating Terrorism on the NSC staff. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper strongly endorsed the President’s nomination of Rasmussen.

Jeffery Baran, a current member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), was renominated for the position. Prior to becoming a member of the NRC, he served as Staff Director for Energy and Environment on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. Baran is serving out the term of Commissioner William Magwood IV, who stepped down in August to become director-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency. The Senate confirmed Baran on a 56-44 vote in September.

Elissa Slotkin was nominated for Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Slotkin is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, a position she has held since 2012. She has also held the position of Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, and Senior Advisor for Middle East Transition at the Department of Defense. Slotkin has also worked at the Central Intelligence Agency and in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The President nominated Antonio Weiss to be Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the Department of the Treasury. Weiss is the Global Head of Investment Banking for Lazard and is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Advisory Council of the Center for American Progress. He is Publisher of The Paris Review. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said that she would oppose Weiss’ nomination because of his past work with corporate inversions as he advised on Burger King’s acquisition of Canadian doughnut chain Tim Hortons.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced that Susan Gordon will become deputy director upon the retirement of current NGA deputy director Mike Rodrigue on December 31. Gordon, a 34-year veteran of the intelligence community, is currently the director of the CIA information operations center.

President Barack Obama has renominated Jeffery Baran to the NRC. Baran, a former aide to outgoing Rep. Henry Waxman, was confirmed by the Senate in September to fill in the remaining months of the term vacated by William Magwood. Baran’s current term expires June 30, 2015. He’s been nominated to fill in the remainder of NRC Chairwoman Allison Macfarlane’s term, which expires June 30, 2018 – not the seat he now occupies, which will become vacant on July 1 and would’ve expired in 2020 if he were reconfirmed to it.

And the White House finally withdrew the nomination of Jo Ann Rooney nomination to be Undersecretary of the Navy undersecretary. Rooney was nominated 14 months ago, but faced opposition from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) after Rooney said that rape and sexual assault should be prosecuted in the militarys chain of command. Rooney also clashed with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) who said he would not support her nomination. Rooney is a two-time college president who served as principal deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness in 2011 and 2012. A new nominee for the Navy undersecretary position was not immediately announced.

Brendan Goode, the director of the Network Security Deployment division in the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C) is leaving for the private sector. HIs last day will be Nov. 21. Danny Toler, the deputy director of the Federal Network Resilience division is being promoted to replace Goode.

Confirmation hearings for attorney general nomineee Loretta Lynch will likely wait until next year appeasing republicans who want to wait unitl they have the majority and freeing up the Senate Judiciary Committee to pursue enactment of the USA Freedom Act during the lame duck session. Overhaul of the domestic surveillance programs has been a priority for Senate Judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

Next Week

The House will take up HR 1422, the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2013; HR 4012, the Secret Science Reform Act of 2014; and HR 4795, the Promoting New Manufacturing Act. The Senate will resume consideration of S1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2013. The Senate will also take up S2280, authorizing the Keystone XL Pipeline and S2685, the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2014. Finally, the Senate could take up the USA Freedom Act as soon as next week, but the bill is still facing opposition from Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Senate Republican Whip.

November 7, 2014

Both the House and Senate were in recess this week.

Ebola Supplemental Funding Request

The World Health Organization reported this week that the number of suspected Ebola cases was at 13,042 and deaths were at 4,818. President Obama submitted to Congress a request for an additional $6.18 billion to contain and end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and speed the development of treatments and vaccinations. This request will be a test of how Republicans will work with the Administration after making significant gains in the midterm elections and winning control of the Senate in the 114^th Congress.

The request includes $4.64 billion for immediate needs, which is broken down as follows:

• $2.43 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
  • $1.83 billion is for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • $333 million is for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund
  • $283 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  • $25 million for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• $1.98 billion for the US Agency for International Development (USAID)
• $127 million for the Department of State
• $112 million for the Department of Defense (DOD)

The administration also requested $1.54 billion in contingency funding of which $751 million is for HHS and $792 million is for USAID and the Department of State. Given the changing nature of the Ebola epidemic the Contingency Fund is requested to ensure that there are resources available to respond to the evolving situation.

The President requested that all of the funding be designated as emergency spending not requiring an offset, which may draw some opposition from conservative budget hawks during consideration. One potential vehicle for this funding is an FY15 omnibus appropriations bill that will be considered during the lame duck session.

More details on the Administration’s request can be found at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/05/fact-sheet-emergency-funding-request-enhance-us-government-s-response-eb

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Use-of-Force Authorization and Emergency Funding Request

President Obama said that he would seek Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from Congress. The President will begin discussions on the topic with congressional leaders when they visit the White House today. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) has said that he would like the new 114th Congress to address this issue rather than the current Congress, so it is unclear if the AUMF will be considered during the lame duck session.

The president also plans to request an additional $3.2 billion in war funding for the fight against ISIL. The request will come as an amendment to the administration’s $58.6 billion request for FY15 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding for the military. The funding will be used to replace munitions used in operations against ISIL extremists in Iraq and Syria, pay for the 12 teams of US military advisers that are working with Iraqi forces, and provide flying hours for intelligence and surveillance aircraft. US Central Command released an information sheet last month stating the cost of Navy munitions at $62 million, including $53 million for 47 Tomahawk cruise missiles. The emergency funding request may also provide at least $500 million to train and equip Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting the Sunni militants.

Political Updates

Vantage Point Strategies’ in-depth coverage of the 2014 midterm elections can be found at:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?attachment_id=295

President Obama will replace departing Attorney General Eric Holder with Loretta Lynch the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Lynch was confirmed by the Senate in 2000 and 2010 for her current position. She has also been a partner at Hogan & Hartson, and a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. Lynch earned both her BA and JD at Harvard. If confirmed as Attorney General, she will be the first African-American woman to hold the position, and it will be the first time in nearly 200 years that a president has nominated a US attorney general for Attorney General. While the President as asked that Lynch be confirmed as soon as possible, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the nomination should be considered in the new Congress.

The President nominated David Berteau to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness. Berteau is currently Senior Vice President and Director of the National Security Program on Industry and Resources at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a position he has held since 2013. Berteau has also served as a Director at Clark & Weinstock, director of the National Security Studies Program at Syracuse University, Senior Vice President at SAIC, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Production and Logistics, and Chairman for the Defense Conversion Commission.

The President also nominated Leigh Bradley to be General Counsel at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Bradley is currently Director of the Standards of Conduct Office in the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Defense (DOD), a position she has held since 2008. Since July 2014, she has served on detail from DOD to the Department of Veterans Affairs as Special Counsel to the Secretary. Previously, Bradley was at the American Red Cross, a Partner at Holland & Knight, LLP, and General Counsel at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She served as Principal Deputy General Counsel for the Department of the Navy and as a senior attorney in the Office of the Deputy General Counsel at DOD. A veteran, she also served on active duty as a Judge Advocate for the US Air Force.

Howard Harary has been appointed director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Engineering Laboratory, which develops the measurement tools and standards needed to support technology-intensive manufacturing, construction and cyber-physical systems. The laboratory also conducts research to reduce the risks of fire, earthquakes and other hazards. Harary became the Engineering Laboratory’s acting director in 2013. The Department of Commerce approved Harary’s appointment, effective November 3, 2014.

Next Week

The House and Senate return from recess next Wednesday November 12. Newly elected members of Congress arrive for orientation and leadership elections for both the House and Senate. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that the House will take up three EPA-related bills the week of 11/17 – HR 4102, the Secret Science Reform Act, HR 1422, the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act, and HR 4795, the Promoting New Manufacturing Act. These bills have little chance of passing the Senate before the end of the 113^th Congress.

October 31, 2014

Both the House and Senate were in recess this week.

Armed Services Committees Chairmen

Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) announced this week that he will challenge Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) for the chairmanship of the House Armed Services Committee. The current chairman, Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) is retiring at the end of this Congress. While Thornberry has seniority over Forbes, is favored by Republican leaders, has given the National Republican Congressional Committee significantly more than Forbes, and has the endorsement of McKeon, Forbes said that he would make his case to the Republican Steering Committee after the midterm elections. The Steering Committee is the group of 30 House leadership-aligned members who decide by vote who will chair committees with House Speaker John Boehner having weighted votes.

And on the Senate side, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) was presumed to be the successor to retiring Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI). However, this week his spokesman stated that Reed hasn’t made a decision about which committee he would helm, and that he wouldn’t make the decision until after the election. Reed will be the most senior Democrat on SASC and Banking. If Reed opts for Banking, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) could be the most senior Democrat on SASC.

Cybersecurity

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) at a conference this week said that they are in the process of developing their new 2015 examination priorities and will publish them in January 2015. The new priorities are expected to include a more intense scrutiny of brokerage firms’ cybersecurity practices. FINRA is also hiring examiners with technology expertise to assist in reviewing firms’ practices. The new examiners will be looking for measures that firms have in place for securing clients’ data and testing the integrity of firms’ technology. FINRA is an independent, not-for-profit organization authorized by Congress to write and enforce rules governing the activities of securities firms and brokers, and to examine those firms for compliance with those rules. They are increasing their cybersecurity efforts in light of recent hacking events that compromised clients’ personal information and other data.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released their Draft Special Publication (SP) 800-150, Guide to Cyber Threat Information Sharing this week. The purpose of this publication is to assist organizations in establishing, participating in, and maintaining information sharing relationships throughout the incident response life cycle. It explores the benefits and challenges of coordination and sharing, presents the strengths and weaknesses of various information sharing architectures, clarifies the importance of trust, and introduces specific data handling considerations.  The goal of the publication is to provide guidance that improves the efficiency and effectiveness of defensive cyber operations and incident response activities, by introducing safe and effective information sharing practices, examining the value of standard data formats and transport protocols to foster greater interoperability, and providing guidance on the planning, implementation, and maintenance of information sharing programs.

The publication recommends implementing the following recommendation, which will enable organizations to make more efficient and effective use of information sharing and collaboration capabilities throughout the incident response life cycle:

1. Organizations should perform an inventory that catalogues the information an organization currently possesses, the information that it is capable of producing, and document the circumstances under which this information may be shared.
2. Organizations should exchange threat intelligence, tools, and techniques with sharing partners.
3. Organizations should employ open, standard data formats and transport protocols to facilitate the efficient and effective exchange of information.
4. Organizations should enhance their cybersecurity posture and maturity by augmenting local data collection, analysis, and management functions using information from external sources.
5. Organizations should define an approach for adaptive cybersecurity that addresses the full cyber-attack life cycle.
6. Organizations should ensure that the resources required for ongoing participation in a sharing community are available.
7. Organizations should protect sensitive information by maintaining an ongoing awareness of information security, vulnerabilities, and threats.
8. Organizations should establish the foundational infrastructure necessary to maintain its cybersecurity posture and clearly identify the roles and responsibilities for installing, operating, and maintaining these capabilities.

A copy of the draft publication can be found at:

http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts/800-150/sp800_150_draft.pdf

Department of Defense Directives

In the past week Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work released three DoD directives, which are broad policy documents used to establish policy, assign responsibilities, and delegate authority to those working in and with the military. The recently released directives focus on the responsibilities of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, the management of serious security incidents involving classified information, and DoD’s privacy program.

Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD(I))

Last Friday, the Pentagon issued an updated version (attached) of DoD Directive 5143.01 defining the role of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. The position was established in the FY03 NDAA to improve management and coordination of defense intelligence programs. This update replaces the version issued in 2005 and reflects changes in the global environment as well as changes in the intelligence mission. Cybersecurity, insider threats, unauthorized disclosures of classified information, and biometrics are all new terms included in the expanded portfolio of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

A copy of this directive can be found at:

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/514301p.pdf

Management of Serious Security Incidents Involving Classified Information

The Management of Serious Security Incidents Involving Classified Information directive released on Monday now designates unauthorized disclosures of classified information, leaks to the news media, acts of espionage, and certain other information security offenses as “serious security incidents.” The new terminology was adopted to standardize procedures for preventing, identifying, investigating, and reporting such violations when they occur. It replaces a previous directive from 2005. While not every case of mishandling classified information qualifies as a “serious security incident,” the term applies whenever there is an unauthorized disclosure. And the new directive says that “DoD personnel responsible for serious security incidents may be held accountable, as appropriate, in a criminal proceeding, civil judicial action, disciplinary or adverse administrative action, or other administrative action authorized by federal law or regulations.”

A copy of this directive can be found at:

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/521050p.pdf

DoD Privacy Program

Finally, the DoD Privacy Program delegates authorities and responsibilities for the effective administration of the DoD Privacy Program.

A copy of this directive can be found at:

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/540011p.pdf

Military Intelligence Program (MIP) FY14 Budget

The Department of Defense released the Military Intelligence Program (MIP) appropriated top line budget for FY2014. The total FY14 MIP budget, which included both the base budget and Overseas Contingency Operations appropriations, was $17.4B billion. The MIP budget has decreased by $10 billion over the past five years. It hit its high point in FY10 with $27 billion, FY11 $24 billion, FY12 $21.5 billion, and FY13 $19.2 billion (but reduced by sequester to $18.6 billion). The department determined that releasing this top line figure does not jeopardize any classified activities within the MIP. No other MIP budget figures or program details will be released, as they remain classified for national security reasons.

Department of Defense Acquisition Reform Weekend Meeting

Frank Kendall, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics is scheduled to meet with members of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) this weekend to discuss Better Buying Power (BBP) 3.0. Kendall released the latest acquisition reform initiative last month. Mary Margaret Evans, who has been tapped as Kendall’s point person on the rollout and industry outreach for the Better Buying Power 3.0 initiative, will also attend the meeting.

The BBP initiative seeks to improve the Department of Defense’s procurement process by providing more incentives for contractors to meet cost and schedule goals, remove some barriers to buying commercial products, incorporate more input from the intelligence community into requirements for future weapons, expanding the Superior Supplier Incentive Program, and getting draft requirements out earlier and incorporating industry feedback into final solicitations. After the rollout, Undersecretary Kendall said his office would collect comments from stakeholders and then release a final product in early 2015.

A copy of the interim release of BBP 3.0 can be found at:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?attachment_id=268

DHS Employee Morale Task Force

A Federal Register notice this week announced that DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson tasked his Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) with establishing a DHS Employee Morale Task Force. The HSAC is comprised of leaders of local law enforcement, first responders, state and local government, the private sector, and academia. The new The DHS Employee Morale Task Force will provide findings and recommendations on how to improve employee morale throughout the DHS enterprise. They will address, among other closely related topics, the following questions: (1) What are the core or root causes of continued low morale in the Department of Homeland Security? (2) How can DHS strengthen its leadership cadre, in order to both enhance mission effectiveness and also increase employee morale? (3) How can DHS work as a whole, across the agencies and recognizing their distinct cultures, to build a greater sense of belonging and improve employee morale? (4) Referencing the 2007 HSAC DHS Morale Assessment: which of those recommendations were successfully implemented? For those items that were not but still remain relevant, what changes should be made to increase the likelihood of successful implementation and organizational adoption? The task force’s findings and recommendations will be submitted to the HSAC no later than nine months from Oct 21, 2014 (date of publication). HSAC will then deliberate and vote on the recommendations during a public meeting. Once approved, the report will be sent to the Secretary for his review and acceptance.

Political Updates

Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner (CBP) Gil Kerlikowske and DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson announced the selection of Kevin McAleenan as the Deputy Commissioner of CBP. McAleenan has served as the Acting Deputy Commissioner of CBP since April 1, 2013. Previously, McAleenan served as the acting assistant commissioner of the CBP Office of Field Operations, and as deputy assistant commissioner, Office of Field Operations. Prior to assuming these positions with CBP Field Operations, McAleenan served in several leadership capacities at CBP and the former US Customs Service. From 2006 to 2008, McAleenan served as the area port director, Los Angeles International Airport. Prior to his government service, McAleenan practiced law in California. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School after earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree, cum laude, from Amherst College.

Next Week

The House and Senate are in recess until November 12.

October 24, 2014

Both the House and Senate were in recess this week.

House Republican Strategy Memo

On Wednesday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) sent a memo to House Republicans in which he wrote that the party’s central policy goal of “restoring economic growth and job creation” will include a focus on “restoring competency in government.” Restoring competency requires both “shrinking government to its appropriate scope and mission and reforming how government operates in its core sphere.” So a portion of their legislative agenda for the 114th Congress will focus on reforming and streamlining federal agencies. McCarthy mentioned three examples of this type of legislation that passed the House in this Congress – pipeline permitting reforms, federal mining permit reforms, and FDA reforms – and asked his Republican members to think about areas of government reform they would like to focus on during the next Congress. McCarthy also wrote that their party “must legislate differently in order to restore trust in government.” He offered suggestions of sunsetting new agency reports and including basic regulatory reforms in any legislation that authorizes or requires new regulations. And he ends with asking members again for their suggestions, “if you have any legislative ideas or process reforms you would like considered as we formulate next year’s legislative agenda and revise on our internal protocols, please email or call me or have your staff reach out to mine.”

A copy of his memo can be found at:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?attachment_id=288

DHS Science & Technology Directorate Visionary Goals

The Department of Homeland Security unveiled new visionary goals this week for its Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate. The long-term goals (20-30 years out) were finalized after collecting input from stakeholders in government, academia, and the private sector industrial base. The new visionary goals that will drive S&T’s strategic plan are:

• Screening at Speed: Security that Matches the Pace of Life.

Noninvasive, unobtrusive screening of people, baggage or cargo at speed while respecting privacy.

• A Trusted Cyber Future: Protecting Privacy, Commerce, and Community.

Underlying digital infrastructure that is self-detecting, self-protecting and self-healing protecting information is protected, ensuring privacy, and deterring illegal use.

• Enable the Decision Maker: Actionable Information at the Speed of Thought.

Predictive analytics, risk analysis and modeling-and-simulation systems to enable critical and proactive decisions made based on the most relevant information, transforming data into actionable information.

• Responder of the Future: Protected, Connected, and Fully Aware.

Responders of the future will be armed with comprehensive physical protection, interoperable tools, and networked threat detection and mitigation capabilities.

• Resilient Communities: Disaster-Proofing Society.

Critical infrastructure of the future will be designed, built and maintained to withstand naturally-occurring and man-made disasters. Rapidly-deployable countermeasures will shield communities from negative consequences.

Political Updates

Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia started as the new CIO of the Treasury Department and deputy assistant secretary of information systems this week. Bhagowalia was most recently Hawaii’s CIO and adviser to the governor. Prior to that he was deputy associate administrator in GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, CIO of the Interior Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs, and a program management executive at the FBI. Prior to joining the federal government, he spent 14 years at Boeing as chief engineer of business development and systems integration. The Treasury CIO position has been vacant since the June retirement of Robyn East, with Deputy CIO Mike Parker filling in during the interim. As Treasury CIO, Bhagowalia will be in charge of a $3.5 billion IT/IRM portfolio and will be responsible for the department’s IT strategy, managing its IT investments and leading new technology initiatives.

Chris Chris Cummiskey, Under Secretary for Management (acting) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced last week that after six years at DHS and 24 years in public service that he would be leaving Oct 31 to pursue opportunities in the public sector.

Andrew Marshall, the 93-year old Director of the Department of Defense’s Office of Net Assessment (ONA) announced this week that he will retire in January. ONA was created in 1973 by President Richard Nixon to serve as the Pentagon’s internal think tank. Marshall has been at the helm of this internal think tank for 41 years, which was tasked with looking 20 to 30 years into the military’s future. During that time Marshall was seen as being able to keep the office independent of political or bureaucratic influence. Funding for ONA was sustained this year amid a restructuring of the Office of the Secretary of Defense when it was decided that it would begin reporting to the undersecretary of defense for policy. Prior to the restructuring the office was independent and reported directly to the Secretary of Defense. There is much speculation over the future of the office and who will run it.

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Allison Macfarlane announced this week that she plans to resign at the end of the year. The White House could appoint one of the four current commissioners as chairman, or it may appoint a new nominee as chairman. The nominee requires Senate confirmation, so Macfarlane’s departure could keep the agency evenly divided if Republican’s retake the Senate in the November elections. Macfarlane was appointed by President Obama after a period of tumult on the commission. She became chairman in July 2012 after the previous chairman, Gregory Jaczko, resigned after clashes with the agency’s four other commissioners over a variety of issues. Macfarlane is expected to join George Washington University as director of the school’s Center for International Science and Technology Policy.

Dr. Robert Griffin was appointed as the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate’s Deputy Under Secretary. Griffin has been serving in an acting capacity in the position since May 2014. Prior to this appointment, Griffin served as the Director of S&T’s First Responders Group. He has also served as the first director of the Arlington County Office of Emergency Management, the Director of Environmental Services for Arlington County, and the Assistant County Administrator and Chief of Fire and Rescue in Loudoun County. Griffin also is currently on the faculty of Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute where he teaches graduate-level courses in state and local governance.

Deputy Secretary of State and “Diplomatic Legend” Bill Burns retired this week after a 32-year career as a Foreign Service officer. Burns is only the second career diplomat to rise to the deputy position. Burns also has served as under secretary of state for political affairs and as assistant secretary for the Middle East. In addition, he has been an ambassador to Russia and to Jordan and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the National Security Council. There is speculation that he could be replaced by Wendy Sherman, undersecretary for political affairs or Tony Blinken, deputy national security advisor.

Next Week

The House and Senate are in recess until November 12.