Why the House Homeland Security Committee is on the cybersecurity sidelines

As the House considers as many as four cybersecurity bills later this week, the House Homeland Security Committee will be playing only a supporting role in what could be considered one of its signature issues. Conspicuously absent from the House's "Cyber Week" agenda is the Homeland Security Committee's Precise Act, which cleared a subcommittee by voice vote in February. Now, what was once a bipartisan bill is bogged down and on hold and the committee has been sidelined.

The committee will hold at least two hearings this week to highlight cyberthreats, but for a panel that oversees the agency deemed central to the government's civilian cybersecurity efforts, it is a significantly diminished role. House leaders have tapped lawmakers from the chamber's Intelligence and Armed Services committees to lead the efforts. According to House Homeland Security members, House GOP leadership pressed the sponsors of the Precise Act to remove sections that conflicted with other committees' work, or that were too similar to proposals disliked by Senate Republicans. But the changes sparked Democrats to drop their support, and now House leaders appear to be blocking the Precise Act from floor consideration until Democrats support it again.