The legislation, a revitalization of the Modernizing Government Technology Reform Act from 2017, calls on agencies to adhere to the original intent of the bill and require issued funds to be repaid or reimbursed to ensure TMF sustainability and solvency. With some new amendments, Congress struck down the act’s authorized appropriations amount requirements and extended the sunset date to December 2031.

There is not currently a companion bill in the Senate, but the House Oversight and Accountability Committee is in conversation with the chamber to support the legislation further.

A committee aide said the House bill was modified to “reflect the reality that the fund is a revolving fund, and therefore has different appropriating needs every appropriation cycle.”

“That doesn’t mean we don’t intend for the fund to be appropriated,” the aide continued. “We are taking out the stagnant annual appropriations amount and allowing for more dynamic appropriations to be decided by the appropriations committees each fiscal year.”

Significantly, the bill aims to impose additional constraints on reimbursements to provide agencies with flexibility for repaying the fund.

The new bill was marked up in September and passed out of committee unanimously — a precursor to the continued bipartisan support expected by the committee. The fiscal year 2024 spending package had rescinded $100 million from the TMF, drawing calls from board chair and federal CIO Clare Martorana for Congress to “please fund the TMF.” 

The aide shared that the committee has been in “a series of positive conversations” with the General Services Administration, which manages the TMF program office. 

“I think there’s a bipartisan interest on the Hill ensuring the TMF remains a successful tool to address legacy IT for the next several years and into the future,” the aide said. “I think GSA is aligned with our vision and approach for how we hope to see that done.”

In February, GSA updated its policy for agencies seeking financial assistance from the TMF that set the repayment floor at a minimum of 50%, with room for exceptions to be decided by the GSA administrator and the Office of Management and Budget director.

Both GSA and OMB declined to comment.  

“I think we have additional conversations to have on the Hill about how to appropriately fund the TMF while ensuring that it’s a revolving fund and those funds are being best used to support legacy IT projects,” the aide said. 

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. — who is co-sponsoring the bill with Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. — said in an email to FedScoop that he believes “the federal government is only as good as the IT [it] utilizes,” a principle that he said led him to author the legislation and drives his “critical oversight efforts” of programs like FITARA.

“With this bill, we can ensure the federal government is able to modernize its IT, move away from its reliance on legacy systems, and better serve the American people who rely on government technology to deliver for them,” Connolly said.

Mace did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

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During a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing that featured testimony from a New Jersey mother whose high school-aged daughter was the victim of deepfake pornographic content created and distributed by other students, lawmakers appeared sympathetic to pleas for legislative action at both the state and federal levels that would hold bad actors civilly and criminally accountable. 

Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., said he is working on legislation with state inspector generals to create a commission that would consider generative AI safeguards, assess current legislation and recommend revisions to strengthen law enforcement’s ability to prosecute AI-related CSAM crimes. 

Additionally, Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Mace, R-S.C., shared that she is co-sponsoring a bipartisan, bicameral bill introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., that deals with non-consensual, sexually explicit deepfake media.

Langworthy said during the hearing that while he strongly supports innovation and wants to ensure that the U.S. doesn’t lose its edge to China on AI, lawmakers “must hold accountable unethical creators, criminal actors and especially those who are creating child pornography and child sexual abuse material. Emerging technology should always be used in ethical ways and tech companies, alongside Congress, need to ensure that this happens.”

Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel for the technology trade association NetChoice, said during his testimony that laws that apply to offline crimes are applied online as well, pointing to more law enforcement and prosecutions of bad actors. Szabo argued that AI is “highly regulated today” and that the technology is not “an escape clause for criminals.”

In an interview after the hearing, Mace said Congress can fill in legislative gaps through technical changes in laws, noting that “small parts” can make a “big difference.”

“We need to change a word or two here to make it applicable to deepfakes in AI, non-consensual pornography,” she said. “You can’t go build a dirty bomb; that’s against the law, so AI can’t do it either. How are [existing laws] impacted by AI?”

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The Federal AI Governance and Transparency Act, introduced by House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., focuses on enhanced oversight, transparency and the implementation of responsible use of AI tools throughout federal agencies by codifying “federal governance of agency AI systems” and consolidating existing AI laws, according to a release. 

According to the bill’s text, the legislation would define federal standards for AI use, acquisition, management, development and oversight. The proposed bill looks to hold agencies accountable for ensuring that they are purposeful and performance-driven when utilizing the emerging technology. The bill specifies that AI use be consistent with the use cases that the tool was trained for, and “deployers of such application promote verifiably accurate, ethical, reliable and effective use.”

The bill also requires “appropriate training to all agency personnel” that are responsible for AI use. Hiring talent for AI has been an issue raised by White House officials and experts, in addition to problems retaining talent, even as the Biden administration moves to ease education requirements and ask agencies to prioritize AI. 

“Agencies have already begun to use artificial intelligence to improve oversight, save taxpayer dollars and increase government efficiency,” Comer said in the release. “The bipartisan Federal AI Governance and Transparency Act ensures that the federal government’s use of AI will improve government operations while protecting privacy, civil rights and civil liberties, and upholding American values.”

Raskin added that the new legislation would “create an oversight framework that will help Congress effectively meet the challenges of this powerful new technology over time.”

The legislation would notify individuals impacted by agency determinations made solely by AI, as well as cases where the technology meaningfully assisted, informed or augmented determinations. Agencies would also have to provide members of the public with information about agency-specific policies and procedures in place to govern federal AI systems that include the already required AI use case inventories. 

Co-sponsors on the bill include Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, and Nick Langworthy of New York,, as well as Democratic Reps. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Ro Khanna of California. 
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee is expected to markup the new legislation on Thursday.

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In an email acquired by FedScoop, GSA shared that it had updated the TMF’s repayment policy to reflect a new “consistent repayment floor with a minimum of 50% repayment,” with “rare exceptions” decided by the GSA administrator and OMB director.

An OMB spokesperson confirmed the update in an email to FedScoop. GSA didn’t respond to FedScoop’s request for comment.

The update is meant to continue allowing the fund to invest in technology and cybersecurity modernization for “years to come,” the email states, adding that it applies to all proposals submitted after Feb. 6.

The requirements reflect the Modernizing Government Technology Reform Act of 2023, introduced by Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Gerry Connolly, D-Va. in Sept. 2023. The bill would require agencies to adhere to the intent of the original bill that created the TMF in 2017 — the Modernizing Government Technology Act   — and hold agencies accountable for any funds issued to be “repaid or reimbursed to maintain solvency and ensure sustainability.”

“Due to the House Oversight Committee’s oversight and proposed legislation, the TMF has made structural changes that will limit wasteful spending, enhance efficiency and chart a path for a more successful and optimized future,” a House Oversight and Accountability Committee spokesman said in an email to FedScoop. “Congressional intent was to put money into this fund upfront and have it be a revolving fund that would be repayed [sic].”

The OMB spokesperson said the decision to relax repayment requirements was an important function to support the $1 billion in American Rescue Plan funds appropriated to the TMF meant to “address urgent IT modernization challenges, bolster cybersecurity defenses and improve delivery of COVID-19 relief.”

“To meet the urgency of the moment, the TMF adapted its repayment policy to consider flexible repayment levels for projects that met certain criteria, including investments that produced significant positive impact or addressed critical security or capability gaps,” the OMB spokesperson said. “As the TMF Board allocates the last of the ARP funding, we are looking to the future of the TMF in a post-ARP setting – balancing congressional intent and agency flexibility to deliver the most impact for the American people.”

While both Mace and Connolly were pleased with the move to update the repayment policy, they expressed differing perspectives on how the Biden administration came to this arrangement. 

Mace told FedScoop a statement about this update: “Due to our relentless oversight and legislative work, the Biden Administration has made overdue and necessary changes to the TMF to better align the program with Congressional intent. This is what proper oversight of the federal government looks like and we will continue in our mandate to root out waste, fraud, and abuse within federal programs on behalf of the American people.”

Connolly, however, pointed to the updated repayment requirements as an example of the White House’s “commitment to the long-term health and sustainability of the TMF,” according to a statement from Connolly shared with FedScoop. 

“It is consistent with our bipartisan TMF reauthorization legislation which would encourage greater repayment for TMF projects,” Connolly said. “The Administration should be proud to receive much-deserved praise from both sides of the aisle for their commitment to protecting and enhancing the TMF. I look forward to continuing to secure transformative federal IT investments.”

The TMF also announced last week that it will start to accept applications regarding AI projects from federal agencies to further the advancement of the government’s deployment of technology.

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Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said in an exclusive interview with FedScoop that both current TMF funding levels and a zeroed-out scenario are “not adequate” enough to modernize government legacy systems. Establishing legislative architecture technology investments could be a way for Congress to segue into a discussion and debate about the amount of funding for the TMF, Connolly said. 

But the primary focus should be about the need for investing in the modernization of technology now to avoid larger costs down the road, and address the vulnerabilities of government legacy IT services, he noted. 

“We’re really going to set the world on fire in terms of our cutting-edge technology investment,” Connolly said. “So at some point, we have to get serious. At least we have preserved the architecture for transformation, but unless it comes with meaningful funding, it’s not going to happen.”

Last month, the Office of Management and Budget released an administrative policy statement opposing the passage of House Republicans’ Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act 2024, which does not include funding for the TMF. 

The statement cited over 200 proposals from government agencies to the TMF board, totaling over $3.7 billion in requested funds. OMB requested Congress to provide, in full, $200 million for fiscal year 2024 to support the quick transition from government legacy systems and the adoption of secure, commercial technology. 

Connolly said he “knows” the $200 million that OMB has requested from Congress is not enough, and would even fall short as a reward to just one department.

“Even if we gave all $200 million to one agency, that alone wouldn’t be enough,” Connolly said. “It might catalyze them to make investments on top of that — but not necessarily — and no one agency is going to get the whole $200 million, assuming we appropriate [it].”

President Joe Biden’s original TMF request was roughly $9 billion but negotiated down to the $5 billion to $6 billion range, which Connolly said “got it right.”

“Congress, for some reason, has been very stingy about this,” Connolly said. “On the House side, for example, a couple of years ago, they actually zeroed out this account. We had a fight, and they gave us a messy $25 million a year, even in the reauthorization bill. … The most I could get the Republicans to agree to have an annual authorization was $50 million. Divide that by 24 federal agencies to get a little over $2 million an agency. Are you kidding me?”

In light of recent calls to action for federal entities to protect national security from cyber attacks and bad actors, Connolly asked how the government might protect research and development findings and emerging tech implementation for the public, alongside defense secrets and the nation’s assets. 

“It’s in our self-interest to make this investment, and this investment will have returns on it across the board in terms of productivity, in terms of breakthrough research, in terms of new capabilities and capacity and in terms of cyber protection,” Connolly said. “All those are important goals for the American” people.

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There was bipartisan agreement during the “Advances in Deepfake Technology” hearing that the government should play a role in regulating deceptive, AI-generated deepfake photos and videos that could harm people, particularly related to fake pornographic material. 

Approximately 96 percent of deepfake videos online are nonconsensual pornography, and most of them depict women, according to a study by the Dutch AI company Sensity.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., ranking member of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, IT, and Government Innovation, said additional funding for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation is “critical” to creating advanced and effective deepfake detection tools. 

Dr. David Doermann, the interim chair of computer science and engineering at SUNY Buffalo, said during the hearing that DARPA was taking the lead within the federal government to tackle deepfakes, but highlighted that there was more that the agency could do.

“I think the explainability issues of AI are things that DARPA is looking at now,” Doermann said. “But we need to have the trust and safety aspects explored at the grassroots level for all of these things” within DARPA.

Connolly noted that the Biden administration’s recent AI executive order included productive steps to tackle deepfakes, leaning “on tools like watermarking that can help people identify whether what they’re looking at online is authentic as a government document or tool of disinformation.” 

“The order instructs the Secretary of Commerce to work enterprise-wide to develop standards and best practices for detecting fake content and tracking the providence of authentic information,” Connolly added.

Legislation to tackle deepfakes was introduced in May by Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y. The “Preventing Deepfakes of Intimate Images Act” would make the sharing of nonconsensual deepfake pornography illegal. 

The proposed bill includes provisions to ensure that giving consent to create an AI image does not equate to consent to share the image. The bill also seeks to protect the anonymity of plaintiffs that sue to protect themselves from deepfake content.

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The Modernizing the Acquisition of Cybersecurity Experts Act, or MACE Act, (H.R. 4502) is aimed at addressing shortages in federal cybersecurity positions by expanding the pool of eligible applicants and passed easily in a 394-1 vote. It’s sponsored by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif.

Under the legislation, agencies would be allowed to consider an applicant’s education only if their education directly reflects the competencies required for the position. The bill would also require the Office of Personnel Management to publish annual reports detailing changes to minimum qualifications for cybersecurity positions and data on the education level of people in those positions.

It comes as the Biden administration has also prioritized bolstering cyber talent. In July, the administration released its National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy, which included goals to strengthen the federal cyber workforce through things like skills-based hiring, scholarships, and reducing barriers for cyber workers transitioning between public and private service.

The website CyberSeek, which receives funding from the Commerce Department, said there were roughly 8,376 cybersecurity job openings in the federal government based on online job postings related to cybersecurity between May 2022 and April 2023.

In a July statement following a Committee on Oversight and Accountability markup of the bill, Mace said it would help the federal government be a leader in cyber hiring.

“We often hear from the other side of the aisle that the federal government should be a ‘model employer’ and the elimination of unnecessary degree barriers ensures the federal government is such an employer,” said Mace, who chairs House Oversight’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation

Porter, in the same release, said: “Prospective employees who prove their qualifications and competency shouldn’t be disqualified from a federal job on the basis of one type of educational credential.”

The bill moves next to the Senate for consideration.

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