How Congress is struggling to get smart on tech

Increasingly, members of Congress are confronting a wide array of complex policy debates posed by inventions like artificial intelligence and problems like the rise of Russian propaganda online. And policymakers themselves admit they aren’t fully prepared to deal with the issues. To address that digital knowledge gap, some in Washington are now angling to revive the Capitol’s old science-and-tech think tank, the Office of Technology Assessment, which lawmakers disbanded amid partisan squabbles in the 1990s. Its foremost advocates, emboldened by recent tech mishaps, say it could aid the U.S. government at a moment when objective advice seems to be in short supply.

Not everyone believes that new institutions are the solution. “I wholly agree that Congress can better its game on technology issues but initiative, much more than resources or a dedicated office, is the biggest factor limiting expertise,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD)