Review - S 1425 Reported in Senate – Satellite Cybersecurity

Last month, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee published their Report on S 1425 [removed from paywall], the Satellite Cybersecurity Act. The Committee held a business meeting of May 17^th, 2023, where the bill was considered. They approved substitute language for the bill and in a unanimous vote, recommended the amended bill favorably.

The bill would require the GAO to publish a report on government actions to support cybersecurity of commercial satellite systems. It also outlines new responsibilities for CISA on satellite cybersecurity. No new funding is authorized by this legislation. Nothing in the revised language would change those requirements.

Moving Forward

The strong bipartisan support for this bill in Committee would certainly be reflected in a vote in the Senate if this bill were considered in regular order. Unfortunately, the bill is not politically important enough for the Senate to take up its limited time in that consideration process. This bill could be a candidate for consideration under the Senate’s unanimous consent process, but that is an iffy process at best, with bills being offered under those provisions frequently being stymied by a lone Senator making a point often having nothing to do with the bill. There is a possibility of the language being included in a piece of ‘must pass’ legislation like a spending or authorization bill.

 

For more details about the revisions made to the bill and the information included in the Committee Report, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-1425-reported-in-senate - subscription required.