Review – HR 2980 Introduced – Energy Cybersecurity Research

Back in April Rep Ross (D,NC) introduced HR 2980, the Energy Cybersecurity University Leadership Act of 2025. After finding that integrating “cybersecurity considerations into the research, design, and development of energy infrastructure represents a cost-effective approach to enhancing the security, resilience, and reliability”, this bill would require DOE to establish an “Energy Cybersecurity University Leadership Program”. No money is authorized by this bill for the program.

HR 2980 is essentially the same as HR 302 which was introduced by Ross in January of 2023. The bill was considered by the full House on February 6^th, 2023, under the suspension of the rules process. HR 302 passed by a vote of 357 to 56. No action was taken on that bill in the Senate.

Moving Forward

The House is scheduled to consider HR 302 on Monday under the suspension of the rules process. That process provides for limited debate, allows for no floor amendments, and requires a super-majority for passage. Scheduling a bill for consideration under this procedure indicates that the leadership expects the bill to receive substantial bipartisan support.

Commentary

Two separate sessions of Congress have had this bill passed in the House, only to have it die in the Senate without consideration. Part of this is procedural. The House has the ‘suspension of the rules’ process that allows bills to pass after abbreviated (40 minutes of debate) consideration with a 2/3rds ‘super majority’. While the Senate only requires a 3/5ths majority for passage, that is only after a lengthy (typically multiple days) debate process requiring as many as three procedural votes before the final vote on the bill. This means that only politically important bills generally get considered in the Senate. Minor bills may pass under the unanimous consent process, but a single voice ‘objecting’ to the bill stops that process. There is no requirement that the objection has anything to do with the bill being considered, frequently it is a political ploy looking to trade removing the objection for considering something else entirely.

 

For more information on the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-2980-introduced-energy-cybersecurity - subscription required.