HR 5000 Adopted in Committee – Cybersecurity Hiring

Yesterday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a markup hearing that considered 12 bills, including HR 5000, the Cybersecurity Hiring Modernization Act. An amendment in the form of a substitute was offered by Rep Comer (R,KY). That alternative language was approved by a vote of 44 to 0. The bill will now be cleared to move to the floor of the House, probably under the suspension of the rules process. Bipartisan support is expected.

The bill would limit the ability of federal agencies to require minimum educational requirements in the hiring of personnel to fill cybersecurity positions in the competitive service. No funding is authorized in this legislation.

The substitute language included a minor change in the proposed language to be added to 5 USC 3308. It added a new subparagraph (C) to the proposed §3308(b)(2), requiring the Office of Personnel Management to post regular updates to the Federal Cyber Workforce Dashboard maintained on the Office’s website.

With the bill being favorably reported by the Committee, it is now cleared for consideration by the full House; technically the Committee Report is supposed to be published first. I would expect the bill to be taken up under the suspension of the rules process; limited debate, no floor amendments, and a super majority required for passage. A similar bill,  HR 4502, the Modernizing the Acquisition of Cybersecurity Experts Act, passed in the 118^th Congress by a vote of 394 to 1.