Four U.S. senators recently sent a letter to the Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC), urging for stronger coordination of supply-chain risk management across the federal government.
FASC was established to reduce federal supply-chain risks by creating a “combined information-sharing environment” for individual agencies. It is responsible for facilitating information sharing within the federal government. It also is responsible for identifying and recommending supply-chain risk management standards, guidelines, and practices for federal agencies and entities and nonfederal organizations.
Neither Congress nor the judiciary has the resources or expertise needed to replicate FASC’s work, leaving them vulnerable to national security threats, the senators said.
“Americans may accept the principle of the separation of branches of government, but our adversaries don’t abide by that principle,” the letter said. “The 2018 National Cyber Strategy notes that ‘adversaries have increased the frequency and sophistication of their malicious cyber activities.’”
The letter requested a strategic plan that will incorporate information sharing with the judiciary and Congress be submitted by Oct. 23.
The letter was signed by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.