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$1.7T Omnibus Package Boosts Cybersecurity Spending  

Federal government funding for cybersecurity ramped up substantially as a result of the $1.7 trillion omnibus government spending package signed December 29 by President Joe Biden.

dollar 3706548 640smallAs FedScoop reports, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is due to receive $2.9 billion under the bipartisan fiscal 2023 omnibus spending deal. That’s up $313 million from the previous CISA budget. The agreement also includes $1.6 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a $397 million boost.

For CISA in particular, the omnibus package designates $1.3 billion for the agency’s cybersecurity initiatives. That’s up $230 million. But CISA would be fined $50,000 for each day of delay on quarterly congressional briefings. This unusual provision in the spending bill arrives as the agency is a year late in filing its key organizational document to Congress.

Elsewhere, the Department of Energy’s Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response receives $200 million under the omnibus. The Treasury Department’s Cybersecurity Enhancement Account is set for $100 million.

What’s more, the omnibus allocates $50 million for cybersecurity threats from foreign actors such as Russia. The Office of Personnel Management’s cybersecurity and hiring programs are due $422 million. The new White House Office of the National Cyber Director will also draw funding from an appropriations bill for the first time, to the tune of $22 million.

As NextGov reports, the 4,155-page bill also stipulates that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Chief Information Officer spend at least $77.4 million of its $92.3 million funding allocation on cybersecurity. And the bill includes $35 million for technology modernization and cybersecurity mitigation by the Department of Commerce’s Office of the Chief Information Officer.

As Roll Call reports, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) says further legislation updating the federal government’s cybersecurity efforts is at the top of his agenda for the new year.

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