White House

To the Senate of the United States, I nominate:

I hereby direct the following individuals to perform the functions and duties of the indicated positions in an acting capacity until the position is filled by appointment: Gary Washington, Department of Agriculture. Gary Washington was selected as the USDA Chief Information Officer (CIO) in February 2018. Formerly the CIO for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Washington also has served as CIO and Director of the Information Technology Division for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

I hereby direct the following individuals to perform the functions and duties of the indicated positions in an acting capacity until the position is filled by appointment: Jeremy Pelter, Secretary of Commerce. Pelter currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration.

I hereby designate the following: Brendan Carr, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and Andrew Ferguson, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission.

President Biden made a commitment to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet by 2030. We are on track to meet that goal. In the coming years, the work started by the Biden Administration is expected to deliver the following benefits and milestones:

I am ordering additional actions to improve our Nation’s cybersecurity, focusing on defending our digital infrastructure, securing the services and capabilities most vital to the digital domain, and building our capability to address key threats, including those from the People’s Republic of China.  Improving accountability for software and cloud service providers, strengthening the security of Federal communications and identity management systems, and promoting innovative developments and the use of emerging technologies for cybersecurity across executive departments and agencies (agencie