Roughly 115 cybersecurity-related bills are working their way through the legislative process, in many cases with bipartisan support.

The Biden Administration has been thrown into a thicket of cybersecurity troubles in its first six months, forcing the White House to issue complex cybersecurity executive orders, directives and policy changes in rapid succession. Congress, meanwhile, is teeing up an ambitious cybersecurity agenda of its own, sparking hopes that the recent spate of cybersecurity crises might break through the partisan logjam that has increasingly blocked meaningful legislative action.

Last week, Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) initiated a review of recent high-profile ransomware attacks in the run-up to new legislation. Then, Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH), chair and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee sent a letter to national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, asking the two officials to spell out within 30 days the legal authorities they think federal agencies need to combat ransomware attacks. Their responses could serve as the basis for new legislation to rein in ransomware.

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