Review - HR 3435 Introduced – Federal Cyber Workforce Training

Back in May Rep Fallon (R,TX) introduced HR 3435, the Federal Cyber Workforce Training Act of 2025. The bill would require the National Cyber Director to formulate a plan for the establishment of a federal cyber training institute. It does not authorize the actual establishment of the institute, that would require subsequent legislation. The bill specifically does not authorize new spending.

This bill is essentially the same as to HR 9520 that was introduced by Fallon in September 2024. No other action was taken on HR 9520 in the 118^th Congress.

Moving Forward

Fallon is a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. With new spending being prohibited, I see nothing in this bill that would engender any organized opposition. I suspect that the bill would receive some level of bipartisan support, perhaps enough that it could be considered under the suspension of the rules process.

Commentary

While the proposed institute is not a cybersecurity institute, all cyber work roles should include some level of cybersecurity responsibilities. I think it would be helpful to delineate a responsibility for the institute to establish a minimum level of cybersecurity training for all cyber personnel. To that end, I would like to suggest the insertion of a new §2(b)(2)(C):

“(C) establish a common skill level cybersecurity curriculum for all entry level positions and a more advanced cybersecurity training program for personnel transitioning to mid-career level positions;”

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-3435-introduced-federal-cyber - subscription required.

Review - HR 9520 Introduced – Federal Cyber Workforce Training

Earlier this month, Rep Fallon (R,TX) introduced HR 9520, the Federal Cyber Workforce Training Act of 2024. The bill would require the National Cyber Director to formulate a plan for the establishment of a federal cyber training institute. It does not authorize the actual establishment of the institute, that would require subsequent legislation. The bill specifically does not authorize new spending. This is a companion measure to S 4715 [removed from paywall], which was introduced in July when it was ordered reported favorably with substitute language. That report (and the revised version) has not yet been printed.

Moving Forward

Fallon is a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. With new spending being prohibited, I see nothing in this bill that would engender any organized opposition. I suspect that the bill would receive some level of bipartisan support, perhaps enough that it could be considered under the suspension of the rules process.

Commentary

While the proposed institute is not a cybersecurity institute, all cyber work roles should include some level of cybersecurity responsibilities. I think it would be helpful to delineate a responsibility for the institute to establish a minimum level of cybersecurity training for all cyber personnel. To that end, I would like to suggest the insertion of a new §2(b)(2)(C):

“(C) establish a common skill level cybersecurity curriculum for all entry level positions and a more advanced cybersecurity training program for personnel transitioning to mid-career level positions;”

 

For more information about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-9520-introduced - subscription required. 

Bills Introduced – 9-10-24

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were 52 bills introduced. Of those, four may receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 9520 To require the National Cyber Director to submit to Congress a plan to establish an institute within the Federal Government to serve as a centralized resource and training center for Federal cyber workforce development. Fallon, Pat [Rep.-R-TX-4]

HR 9523 To provide for the hiring and training of certain personnel at the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. Lee, Laurel M. [Rep.-R-FL-15]

HR 9532 To provide for the hiring and training of certain personnel at the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [Rep.-D-FL-25] 

S 5015 A bill to provide for the hiring and training of certain personnel at the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. Cornyn, John [Sen.-R-TX]

I will be covering HR 9520.

I will be watching HR 9523, HR 9532, and S 5015 for language and definitions that would indicate that the ‘certain personnel’ referred to in the bill description refer to cybersecurity personnel and/or chemical security personnel.