Government & Communications

Reps Ro Khanna (D-CA) and John Ratcliffe (R-TX) introduced legislation to improve citizens’ interaction with the federal government online, while reducing the cost of assistance from federal agencies.  The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) will lower federal costs and increase efficiency by digitizing government processes and establishing minimum standards for federal websites, including mobile-friendly interfaces in compliance with the latest security protocols.

In December 2014, Congress gave government chief information officers (CIOs) new powers and authority to manage the IT enterprise at their departments and component agencies under the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA). Three and a half years later, CIOs don’t have the authority they need, administration officials said. President Trump signed an executive order giving presidential weight to mandates of FITARA, specifically the parts that give department CIOs authority over hiring, budgets and setting the IT agenda for the entire department enterprise.

May 15 is the deadline for President Trump to file his financial disclosure form for 2017. 

[Commentary] It is clear the questions surrounding online consumer protection and data privacy go well beyond Facebook. My committee and the American people need to hear directly from the major players in the tech industry. Consumers deserve a deliberative and exhaustive examination of the digital ecosystem that has become a part of our lives. The House Commerce Committee extends an open invitation to Silicon Valley CEOs. Come and testify before our committee, explain your business model, and enlighten consumers about how your industry affects their daily lives.

White House leaks come in all shapes and sizes: small leaks, real-time leaks, weaponized leaks, historical leaks. Sensitive Oval Office conversations have leaked, and so have talks in cabinet meetings and the Situation Room. You name it, they leak it. Why does this White House leak like it’s going out of style?

"Why doesn’t the Fake News Media state that the Trump Administration’s Anti-Trust Division has been, and is, opposed to the AT&T purchase of Time Warner in a currently ongoing Trial. Such a disgrace in reporting!" President Trump tweeted on May 11.

State, county and local governments are working to modernize their information technology systems, but officials in Illinois say they must also update how they communicate with one another. Agency leaders at all levels discussed the paradigm during the inaugural Chicago Digital Government Summit May 9.

Essential Consultants, a shell company owned by Michael Cohen, has no other known employees or directors. It was incorporated in Delaware on October 17, 2016, 10 days after the Access Hollywood tape went public and a couple weeks before the 2016 election. If AT&T paid a monthly fee of $50,000, Essential Consultants would have received more money in the year than AT&T’s highest-paid lobbying firms, Mayer Brown and Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, and Feld, which were paid $420,000 and $400,000 respectively.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the Trump administration is “committed to a free press” after the president threatened to strip reporters of their credentials. Sanders said during her daily press briefing that “this is one of the most accessible White Houses,” a sentiment she insisted reporters share. “We are committed to a free press. We demonstrate that every single day,” she said. But Sanders chastised news organizations for what she said were false reports. “At the same time, the press has the responsibility to put out accurate information.”

[Speech] Something here is not right—and what is wrong is not confined to the Federal Communications Commission. Because fake comments and stolen identities are pouring into proceedings across Washington. They’ve been uncovered at the Department of Labor, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The civic infrastructure we have for accepting public comment in the rulemaking process is not built for the digital age.