Quick Hits

*** Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) pressed the case for a national cybersecurity director at a Sept. 17 hearing of the House Homeland Security committee on worldwide threats. Langevin questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray about the leadership on different aspects of election threats. Wray explained that different agencies had different roles in managing threat assessment and response.

"Well, we all work together, just as we do against the terrorist threat. It's an interagency process. [FBI takes] the lead on the malign foreign influence threat. DHS takes the lead on the election infrastructure hardening. ODNI takes the lead in terms of coordinating the intelligence analysis that comes out of it."

Langevin said that, "this really underscores the need for a national cyber director.… I highly supported collaborative environment, but also having someone in charge is essential."

*** The Defense Department's $10 billion cloud acquisition dubbed JEDI is likely to remain on ice for five more months while Amazon Web Services continues a lawsuit against the award to Microsoft, alleging political interference. Washington Technology takes a look at what's next in the ongoing saga of the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure procurement.

*** The Science Applications International Corp (SAIC) announced a reorganization and the retirement of Jim Scanlon, the executive vice president and general manager of the company's defense systems group. As of Oct. 31, SAIC will operate with a defense and civilian line of business and a national security and space line, each led by a sector president. "This structure will enable SAIC to accelerate strategic growth priorities in areas such as digital engineering, digital transformation, and space," the company said in a release.