Review - HR 4357 Introduced – DHS Reform

Last month Rep Thompson (D,MS) introduced HR 4357, the DHS Reform Act of 2021. The bill makes a number of changes to DHS management and operations, including changes to State and local government coordination, reporting requirements for the cyber talent management system, and the status of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. The bill also includes five cybersecurity mentions in passing.

Moving Forward

Thompson is the Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, the committee to which this bill was referred for consideration, so he certainly has the influence necessary to have this bill considered in Committee. Unfortunately, the fact that all 15 of his cosponsors are Democrats would indicate that there is significant oppositions by the Republicans in the Committee for provisions in this bill (though probably not the ones discussed above). That is not surprising since this bill is Thompson’s effort to counteract what he considers to be many of the excesses of the Trump Administration’s DHS.

This bill would certainly be able to pass in Committee on a strictly party-line vote. This would, in turn, require that the bill be considered under regular order in the House. Again, a party-line vote would result in the bill’s passage. And the bill would die there, it would not be able to muster the 60-votes for a cloture vote in the Senate.

For more details about the bills provisions, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-4357-introduced  - subscription required.