Month: June 2020

FCC Moves to Ban Huawei and ZTE from Receiving Federal Subsidies—But More Action Is Needed

June 30, 2020 | Alexiaa Jordan

Today the Federal Communications Commission formally designated Chinese telecommunication firms Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation—and their parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries—as posing national security threats. This move prohibits the use of the $8.3 billion Universal Service Fund, to acquire or maintain equipment from these companies. The FCC’s move to finalize this designation is an important

June 29, 2020 | Alexiaa Jordan

This Lincoln Policy Paper, co-authored by policy analyst Alexiaa Jordan and chief technologist Sean Roberts, provides a technical and policy analysis of absentee voting and vote by mail. Its purpose is to inform the current national debate with an accurate understanding of how vote by mail works and a fair analysis of the benefits and

June 25, 2020 | Dan Lips

In January 2017, former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson designated election infrastructure to be critical infrastructure. At the time, he was focused on preventing cyber threats from disrupting the electoral process. But three years later, the most critical infrastructure for holding the 2020 election may be one of the nation’s oldest institutions: the U.S. Postal Service.

June 24, 2020 | Dan Lips

On Thursday, Senator Chuck Grassley and nine bipartisan co-sponsors introduced legislation to protect federal watchdogs’ independence. The “Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 2020” comes at a critical time of declining public confidence in government and demonstrates Congressional commitment to independent oversight. in a recent article for The Hill, my former colleague Keith Ashdown and

June 22, 2020 | Zach Graves

40+ Organizations Ask Appropriators to Shift Funding from the Executive Branch to the Legislative Branch The following letter can be downloaded here The Honorable Nita Lowy Chair Committee on AppropriationsUnited States House of Representatives The Honorable Richard ShelbyChair Committee on Appropriations United States Senate The Honorable Kay Granger Ranking Member Committee on AppropriationsUnited States House

How Coronavirus is Minifying Education

June 19, 2020 | Ian Patterson

Parents of school-aged children are rapidly warming to alternative forms of education in light of the coronavirus and distancing measures, new research by Lincoln reveals. As a result, the future is unexpectedly bright for smaller approaches like homeschooling, hybrid models, and micro-schools, while traditional public and private schools appear headed for severe setbacks. Lincoln Studio

June 16, 2020 | Joel Thayer

To ensure that I am behaving responsibly during this COVID-19 pandemic these past few months, I have mostly positioned myself on my couch where my live-in girlfriend and I exhaust all that online streaming services have to offer. Don’t believe me? Well, we are currently streaming ABC’s “Once Upon A Time.” For the unfamiliar, the

June 15, 2020 | Garrett Johnson

Lincoln Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2014 with a mission to help bridge the gap between Silicon Valley and DC from a pro-market, pro-innovation perspective. Since our policy and programming team’s founding in July 2018, we’ve expanded from a team of two to a staff of seven, expanding our projects to new

Congress Must Protect Federal Watchdogs

June 15, 2020 | Dan Lips

By Keith Ashdown, former Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee staff director and Dan Lips, Director of Cyber and National Security Policy President Trump recently fired several of the federal government’s most respected inspectors general–prompting a rare outcry of bipartisan criticism of the White House. Congressional Democrats were instinctively quick to condemn the president’s actions.

June 12, 2020 | Sean Roberts

Communication on the Vote by Mail Process is Required For The Public Trust Across the county vote by mail elections are being ramped up to protect people from having to make the choice of getting sick or doing their civic duty by voting. There has been a rush to accommodate the demand for vote by

June 10, 2020 | Zach Graves

The following letter can be downloaded here June 10, 2020 The Honorable James E. Risch U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee United States Senate 423 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-6225 Re: Committee Proceedings Should Be Open and Transparent Dear Chairman Risch: We, the undersigned transparency and accountability organizations, write to express our deep concerns regarding a