Cyber Hunt Team Provisions in HR 1865

When the Senate passed (by a vote of 71 to 23) HR 1865, the second half of the two-part FY 2020 spending bill, last week and the President signed the bill into law, Title L (pg 556), the DHS Cyber Hunt and Incident Response Teams, was included in that bill. The provisions were the same language that had been adopted by the Senate in their consideration of the original version of HR 1158, a bill of the same name as Title L.

Title L authorizes the current US-CERT and ICSCERT action teams and provides for the use of private sector contractors on those teams. No additional funding was authorized in the Title L and no specific funding (too small to be listed) was provided in the general increase in the  Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) funding provisions in Division F of HR 1158, the first half of the two-part FY 2020 spending bill.

FY 2020 Spending Bills Passed in the House

This afternoon the House took up HR 1158 and HR 1865 the two FY 2020 spending bills. HR 1158, the DOD, CJS, FS and DHS spending bill passed by a bipartisan vote of 280 to 138; 150 Democrats and 130 Republicans voted for the bill; 75 Democrats, 62 Democrats and 1 Independent voted against. The final vote for HR 1865, the remaining spending bills lumped into one bill, was a more partisan vote of 297 to 120; 218 Democrats and 79 Republicans voting Aye; 7 Democrats, 112 Republicans and 1 Independent voting Nay.

Two big questions remain. Will the bills come to a vote in the Senate? Current betting is yes. Will the President sign the two bills? White House indicates yes, but the President’s spending decisions have been a tad bit fickle over the last three years. We will have to wait and see.

Two FY 2020 Spending Bills to be Considered Today in House

Last night the House Rules Committee adopted a rule for the consideration of two bill that had previously passed in the House and were subsequently amended and passed in the Senate and turned them into two separate FY 2020 Spending bills.

HR 1158, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, will be the spending bill for:

• Department of Defense (Division A);

• Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (Division B);

• Financial Services And General Government (Division C); and

• Department of Homeland Security (Division D)

HR 1865, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, will be the spending bill for:

• Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (Division A);

•Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Division B);

• Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies (Division C);

• Department of The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (Division D);

• Legislative Branch (Division E);

• Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (Division F);

• Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Division G); and

• Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (Division H);

HR 1865 also includes a number of added measures including:

• Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Extension (Division I, Title V); and

• DHS Cyber Hunt and Incident Response Teams (Division L)

As with all spending bills the details of interest (beyond the $) will be found in the explanatory statements for each of the spending bills. I will be looking at those throughout the day.

Both bills are scheduled to be considered today. The Rule developed last night provides for limited debate on both bills (1 hour each) without amendments. Each bill will then be voted upon with a simple majority being required for passage. HR 1158 will be considered first and HR 1856 second.

It is interesting that the spending is being broken up into two bills. It looks like there may be some concern about HR 1158 passing in either the House or Senate. Keeping the controversial DOD and DHS spending in one bill would limit a potential shut down if enough votes are not available to pass these more controversial bills. And there would still technically be time for a CR to be passed to keep those agencies open.