Quick Hits

*** The FBI Agents Association released a 72-page report with feedback from agents on how the partial government shutdown has affected a range of FBI missions.

The report, which quotes agent anonymously, captures a handful of cyber and tech-related impacts. For instance, multiple agents relayed that due to the lapse in appropriations, they are unable to pay their confidential informants.

"In my situation, I have two sources that support our national security cyber mission that no longer have funding," said one agent. "They are critical sources providing tripwires and intelligence that protect the United States against our foreign adversaries."

Another agent said the bureau is currently unable to schedule interagency meetings to collaborate on cyber matters due to the shutdown, while another said Joint Terrorism Task Force officers from affected agencies are being locked out of FBI systems because their security clearance renewals aren't being passed on to FBI headquarters.

Earlier this month, the association expressed concern about the impact of accumulated debt taken on during shutdown, and some former national security officials have worried that the resulting financial instability may make some agents more susceptible to foreign compromise.

*** The House of Representatives passed a bill to use bug bounties to weed out vulnerabilities in State Department IT systems. The Hack Your State Department Act, from Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) passed the House 377-3. The bill tracks with a similar measure already signed into law that lets ethical hackers probe Department of Homeland Security systems for vulnerabilities.

*** The House Oversight and Reform committee announced a new crop of Democratic additions, including some of the most-watched progressive freshman lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is joining Oversight, along with Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Radisha Tlaib (D-Mich.), according to multiple press reports. Second-term California Democrat Ro Khanna, who sponsored the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act, also is joining the panel.