The Public Eye with Eric Chabrow

Does Susan Collins Have Tom Carper's Back?

Does Susan Collins Have Tom Carper's Back?

Elements of Susan Collins' plan to shift the role of coordinating administration cybersecurity policy to the Department of Homeland Security from the White House seems similar to a bill being offered by her Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs colleague Tom Carper.

In a speech Monday, Collins, R.-Maine, called for the establishment of a cybersecurity center in DHS, headed by a Senate-confirmed director who also would serve as the president's chief cybersecurity adviser. Her plan also proposes having DHS review but not approve cybersecurity budgets and IT acquisition plans of civilian departments and agencies.

Carper, the Delaware Democrat who chairs the committee's Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Service and International Security, last spring introduced legislation to reform the Federal Information Security Management Act that included a White House Office of Cyberspace. But over the summer, the subcommittee revised the bill, known as the U.S. Information and Communications Enforcement Act, or U.S. ICE Act, and that provision was eliminated. The Carper-led panel also added a provision authorizing DHS to review departmental/agency cybersecurity budgets.

Does Collins have Carper's back as he tries to gain support for the U.S. ICE Act?

Collins and Carper appear more in sync with one another on how federal government cybersecurity should be governed than they do with the full committee's chairman, Joseph Lieberman, the Independent Democrat from Connecticut. Last week, Lieberman outlined his vision on federal cybersecurity, calling for a Senate-confirmed White House cybersecurity adviser. Lieberman's position parallels that of the highly regarded Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, which last December proposed establishing a high-raking cybersecurity adviser in the White House.

Where does the White House stand on all this? Even the best tealeaf reader would have a hard time figuring out this one. In late May, as part of his cybersecurity plan, President Obama said he would name a White House cybersecurity coordinator, who would not report directly to the president, but would have access to him from time to time. That post, which doesn't require Senate confirmation, remains vacant.

Meanwhile, DHS has been very visible in most matters cybersecurity, suggesting the president is comfortable with an increased IT security role for the department. Could Collins have the president's back as well?



About the Author

Eric Chabrow

Eric Chabrow

Retired Executive Editor, GovInfoSecurity

Chabrow, who retired at the end of 2017, hosted and produced the semi-weekly podcast ISMG Security Report and oversaw ISMG's GovInfoSecurity and InfoRiskToday. He's a veteran multimedia journalist who has covered information technology, government and business.




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