The mid-term election results are expected to have a key impact on congressional cyber efforts, with the House retaining two of its largest digital policy proponents and the Senate losing two Democrats known for pushing cyber operations and supply chain security reform.
Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) handily beat Republican Salvatore Caiozzo and, with Democrats reclaiming the House, will become the chairman of the House Armed Services – Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee.
Langevin, who has called for the Pentagon to address long-standing cyber vulnerability risks, will now lead the panel’s effort to oversee the Defense Department’s information technology programs.
Following the GAO’s release of a recent report detailing the large-scale cyber risks in currently fielded weapons systems (Defense Daily, Oct. 9), Langevin cited a need for the Pentagon to follow through on Congress’ previously mandated cyber vulnerability assessments.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who also won her election on Tuesday, currently leads the subcommittee.
Langevin is also a member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection and is co-chair of the congressional cyber security caucus.
Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), who won a very close rose against Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, is considered among the top congressional cyber policy proponents known for pushing legislation to reform federal IT modernization efforts.
Hurd ushered in the Modernizing Government Technology Act in 2017 to create a fund for agencies to spend on projects to improve IT security, and has been vocal in criticizing the federal government’s slow effort to address known network security vulnerabilities (Defense Daily, July 25) and the DoD’s recent “F” grade for technology acquisition (Defense Daily, May 23).
The Texas lawmaker currently serves as the chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Information Technology.
Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), the top Democrat on the Homeland Security committee, and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), ranking member on the Armed Services cyber subcommittee, both lost their races on Tuesday setting up a vacancy for senior cyber policy leadership.
McCaskill recently sponsored a supply chain security bill (S.3085) to establish a council that would oversee the risks of purchasing IT products from certain companies, including international software firms.
Shei is also a member of the Senate Armed Services Cybersecurity Subcommittee.
Nelson, who lost a close race to current Florida Governor Rick Scott, had been a vocal proponent for fully resourcing U.S. Cyber Command to improve responses to growing cyber threats from foreign adversaries.
At a hearing earlier this year, Nelson pressed the leaders of the service cyber components on the slow pace of equipping units with the latest technology and urged DoD leadership to look at utilizing its cyber mission forces to better protect critical infrastructure (Defense Daily, March 13).
The Pentagon’s recently announced cyber strategy included a provision that cyber forces could be utilized for protecting non-military critical infrastructure from digital attacks.
Nelson has called for a recount in his race after falling to Scott by .04 percent of the vote.