House Passes HR 1766 – NTIA Cybersecurity Office

This afternoon the House took up HR 1766, the NTIA Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act, under the suspension of the rules process. After five minutes of debate the House passed the bill by a voice vote.

The bill would transform the current NTIA Office of Policy Analysis and Development (OPAD) into the Office of Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination.

The bill now moves to the Senate where its future is uncertain at best. While there should also be bipartisan support in that body, the bill is not politically important enough to be considered under regular order, a time-consuming process at best. This leaves two paths to passage in the Senate; considering under the unanimous consent process (but that process is fraught with potential opposition due to political issues unrelated to this bill) or adding the language of the bill to another bill that would be important enough to take up under regular order.