House approves new hiring powers for cyber czar, sending bill to Biden
The House on Monday easily passed legislation that would allow the Office of the National Cyber Director to staff up by accepting “non-reimbursable detailees” from other federal government agencies.
Lawmakers approved the bipartisan bill by voice vote. The Senate passed the measure late last month, but the lower chamber failed to take it up before adjourning for August recess.
The legislation now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
Despite the augmented hiring powers, Congress has yet to appropriate any funding for the newly-established office, which was created to coordinate the U.S. government's cybersecurity mission.
The White House has tapped an “unanticipated needs fund” to pay NCD Chris Inglis and his nascent team.
The Senate’s massive, bipartisan infrastructure bill would provide $21 million for the office.
A White House spokesperson did not respond to an email asking how many employees Inglis has hired since being sworn into office in June or how much money remained available from the emergency fund.
Martin Matishak
is the senior cybersecurity reporter for The Record. Prior to joining Recorded Future News in 2021, he spent more than five years at Politico, where he covered digital and national security developments across Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community. He previously was a reporter at The Hill, National Journal Group and Inside Washington Publishers.