Quick Hits

*** The Senate Armed Services Committee reported favorably on Christine Wormuth's nomination to serve as Army secretary. If confirmed, Wormuth will be the first woman to hold the Army secretary post. She previously served during the Obama administration as the Defense Department's policy chief and is now the director for RAND's International Security and Defense Policy Center.

*** The Professional Services Council, a trade group that represents government contractors, is urging lawmakers and the Biden administration to consider adding IT modernization and cybersecurity funds to an infrastructure package currently being negotiated on Capitol Hill.

"Given recent cyberattacks—including the Solar Winds breach of government infrastructure and the recent attacks on energy pipelines and water treatment facilities—and the President’s May 12, 2021 Executive Order on cybersecurity, the need for resources to adapt and operate securely in the continuously changing threat environment continues to grow," David Broome, PSC's executive vice president for government relations, said in the May 21 letter.

*** A bipartisan group of House lawmakers led by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) reintroduced legislation to prohibit state and local governments from altering or seeking to change encryption measure in technology products and services.

"Having a patchwork of 50 different mandatory state-level encryption standards creates cyber vulnerabilities, threatens individual privacy and undermines the competitiveness of American innovators," Lieu said in a statement.