Congress Seeks to Secure Federal IT Systems

Congress is readying legislation to grant the Secretary of Homeland Security authority to exclude (a) an information technology product, service or item of equipment, (b) telecommunication equipment, and (c) telecommunication services from certain national security sensitive procurements if the source presents significant supply chain risk. If the Securing the Homeland Security Supply Chain Act of 2018 legislation becomes law, the contractor would receive notice of their pending exclusion (with the existence of notice and details depending on national security and law enforcement interests rather than due process concerns), and have 30 days to convince the DHS Secretary that exclusion is unwarranted. The proposed legislation would also exempt these decisions from bid protest jurisdiction.