At a glance.
- Telework in the US House of Representatives.
- Staggered shifts in the US Intelligence Community.
- Alternatives to suspect foreign vendors.
Telework for Solons (or at least Solons' staffers).
Staff members serving the House of Representatives are as of today no longer required to submit "floor documents" (that is bills, resolutions, co-sponsorship documents, extensions of remarks, etc.) by delivering hard copies to the Speaker's Lobby or to the Parties' Cloakrooms. In fact, they'll be required to use a “dedicated and secure email system,” at least for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency. Speaker of the House Pelosi (Democrat, California 12th) explained the measure in a "Dear colleagues" letter yesterday, saying that the email system will be in place through April 19th, subject to extension should the emergency need for social distancing persist beyond that date.
And the spooks get socially distant staggered shifts.
The Wall Street Journal points out that telework from home is impossible for many who work in the US Intelligence Community, since classified material can't as a general (and entirely sensible rule) be accessed from home. So while some functions not involving classified information might be carried out remotely, most of the Intelligence Community's core work has to be performed from regular secure facilities. To accommodate social distancing as much as possible, intelligence agencies have moved to staggered shifts the better to provide a measure of physical separation among their workers.
Alternatives to suspect foreign vendors, for 5G and elsewhere.
The US strategy for securing 5G ("rolled out with surprisingly little fanfare," as CSO observes) will require the US to assume leadership in the development and deployment of secure, affordable technologies for the new infrastructure. The Council on Foreign Relations argues that the strategy will require extensive investment in research and development, and that the Department of Defense should undertake to support a great deal of such R&D.
Other measures enjoined by a US Executive Order issued Saturday include a requirement that a committee of executive agencies the Order established will have one-hundred-twenty days to complete the national security reviews the Federal Communications Commission will require as it considers what foreign technology to allow into US communications infrastructure. Nextgov says FCC Commissioners welcome the deadline and the transparency that accompanies it.