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Recommendations to Strengthen GAO’s Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics Program

April 15, 2021 | Zach Graves

This post was co-authored by Zach Graves and Dan Lips. The FY2022 appropriations process is underway. While it represents a small fraction of overall spending, one of the most important challenges on Congress’s agenda is meeting the funding needs for the Legislative Branch, and providing resources for key support agencies like the Government Accountability Office

April 12, 2021 | Dan Lips

An Interview with Deloitte Analysts William Eggers and Steve Berman The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office issues more than a thousand recommendations to Congress and executive agencies each year to improve operations and increase fiscal efficiency. According to the Comptroller General’s annual estimates, the Congressional watchdog agency routinely achieves a return-on-investment of more than $100

April 1, 2021 | Joe Kane

Click here to download a full PDF of this Lincoln Policy Short. If you are tired of Zoom calls, spend too much time on TikTok, or are reading this on your computer screen, we have good news: The Internet still works. For most Americans, this is unsurprising. But three years ago there was an uproar

March 29, 2021 | Dan Lips

President Joe Biden’s announcement that he is open to reforming the Senate’s filibuster has energized calls from progressives to eliminate the Senate minority’s most powerful procedural tactic to block legislation or force compromise. But in his new memoir, Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate, former Michigan Senator Carl Levin

March 26, 2021 | Zach Graves

Click here to download a PDF of the letter Chairman Kilmer, Vice Chairman Timmons, and esteemed members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to testify. My organization, Lincoln Network, works to bridge the gap between Silicon Valley and DC. This work entails building up and future-proofing our institutions with the capacity they need

March 26, 2021 | Alexiaa Jordan

Click here to download a PDF of the letter Good morning, my name is Alexiaa Jordan. I am a Next Generation National Security Fellow with the Center for New American Security, a Policy Analyst with the Lincoln Network; and I am a former staffer in the Illinois state legislature. Thank you for allowing me to

March 19, 2021 | Dan Lips

Days before Congress passed the $1.9 trillion emergency spending package, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a grim snapshot of the nation’s fiscal condition. CBO warned that the “growing debt burden could increase the risk of a fiscal crisis and higher inflation as well as undermine confidence in the U.S. dollar, making it more costly to finance public and private

March 16, 2021 | Joel Thayer

In 2003, Tim Wu first coined the phrase “net neutrality” in his paper “Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination.” He defined a neutral network as “internet that does not favor one application over another.” Today, the Federal Communications Commission faces a choice: either regulate the entire internet ecosystem as a public utility or do not. The agency

March 16, 2021 | Dan Lips

The Biden administration has an opportunity to curb the ongoing opioid epidemic in a unique area: the postal system. This opportunity is the result of a 2018 federal law that required the U.S. Postal Service and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin turning away international packages that lack advance electronic data (AED) in order

March 4, 2021 | Zach Graves

Majorities of both Republicans and Democrats now support increased regulation of the tech industry. Responding to this pressure, policymakers on both sides of the aisle have become increasingly critical of big tech, and are looking to advance new legislation. However, because their underlying grievances are different—with the right focusing on anti-conservative bias, and the left

March 4, 2021 | Dan Lips

The global technology competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China becomes more evident by the day. President Xi Jinping is expected to call for a new 5-year plan this week for the PRC to achieve technology independence from the West at an annual meeting of the legislature. On Monday, the Biden

February 26, 2021 | Zach Graves

Dear Honorable Majority Leader Schumer, Honorable Minority Leader McConnell, Honorable Chairwoman Klobuchar, and Honorable Ranking Member Blunt: The COVID-19 pandemic, growing economic hardship for many American families, a national reckoning over racial injustice, and the January 6 siege of the Capitol have strained our democracy, underscoring the need for a strong, well-prepared Congress. While democratic

February 24, 2021 | Zach Graves

Smartphone app store policies have come into focus recently, following a series of recent conflicts between app makers and app store operators (principally Apple and Google). These include the removal of conservative-oriented social media platforms Parler and Gab, and the ensuing debate about balancing free speech and harmful content. There have also been numerous conflicts

February 24, 2021 | Dan Lips

On Tuesday, Dr. Eric Schmidt testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The former Google CEO and current chair of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence offered a sobering message to Congress about China’s technology strategy: [R]ight now, the United States is not playing to win. It is the Chinese who are competing to

February 22, 2021 | Jordan McGillis

With a population of just 1.3 million, Estoxnia may seem an unlikely adversary to the People’s Republic of China, but a report published Wednesday by its intelligence service has established the Baltic country as a vocal opponent of Chinese sharp power. The report’s final section is devoted to reproaching China for its “increasingly confrontational foreign

February 19, 2021 | Garrett Johnson

Lincoln Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded in 2014 with a mission to help bridge the gap between Silicon Valley and DC from a pro-market, pro-innovation perspective. Lincoln’s founders recognized that the government needs, and the people it serves deserve, new ideas and technologies to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness. We founded

February 17, 2021 | Zach Graves

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, House Republican Leader McCarthy, and Senate Republican Leader McConnell: We write in firm opposition to the proposed enclosure of the U.S. Capitol with permanent security fencing. The Capitol and surrounding buildings must remain open to all engaged in the business of our democracy. Congress should be the shining

February 17, 2021 | Jordan McGillis

Twelve months from now, two thousand athletes representing almost 100 countries are slated to march under their national flags into Beijing National Stadium to mark the opening of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Beijing National Stadium—the Bird’s Nest—was the focal point of the 2008 Summer Games and hosted that year’s opening ceremony, an awe-inducing tribute to

February 16, 2021 | Joe Kane

Behind all those Super Bowl commercials about “5G” has been a years-long push to get the wireless frequencies needed for the next generation of wireless service ready for widespread use. One of the biggest recent steps in that direction is the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of licenses to operate in the lower portion of the

February 16, 2021 | Zach Graves

The following letter was sent to the Hill on February 16, 2021. To discuss this issue further, please contact: Charlotte Slaiman, Competition Policy Director at Public Knowledge at charlotte@publicknowledge.org; Chris Riley, Senior Fellow at the R Street Institute at criley@rstreet.org; and Zach Graves, Head of Policy for Lincoln Network at zach.graves@joinlincoln.org. Hon. Chris Van Hollen,

February 11, 2021 | Joel Thayer

Click here to download a PDF of the letter Lincoln Network (“Lincoln”) writes to the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) to provide its comments in the above-captioned proceeding. Lincoln is a non-profit organization that seeks to bridge the often-siloed discussions between policymakers in Washington, D.C., and technologists in Silicon Valley so as to advance

February 8, 2021 | Zach Graves

Click here to download a PDF of the letter Dear Chair DeLauro, Chair Leahy, Ranking Member Granger, and Vice-Chair Shelby: On behalf of the undersigned individuals, civil society organizations, and industry groups, we urge you to increase the share of discretionary funding available for the Legislative branch both to address the historically diminished resources available

February 8, 2021 | Dan Lips

Click here to download a PDF of the letter Dear Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, and Leader McCarthy: On behalf of the undersigned organizations, members of the Power of the Purse Coalition, we write requesting your support for advancing a number of initiatives in the 117th Congress to strengthen the legislative branch’s constitutional authority

February 4, 2021 | Dan Lips

On Tuesday, Ohio Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown led thirteen of their colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to National Economic Council Director Brian Deese. The lawmakers urged the Biden administration to help auto manufacturers address the current semiconductor shortage which has forced companies to curb production despite growing demand. The Senators urged the

January 28, 2021 | Zach Graves

The shuttering of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in 1996, along with contemporaneous cuts to Congress’s policy capacity, created a deep institutional gap in the formation of science and technology (S&T) policy in the United States. A quarter century later, in the wake of a middling response to the COVID-19 pandemic, eroding military superiority,

January 28, 2021 | Alexiaa Jordan

Over the past four years, the semiconductor industry has focused on U.S. trade policy with China. Congress and the Trump Administration strengthened federal laws to restrict foreign investment, control technology transfer, and established new federal research incentives. This pattern looks to be continuing as President Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Commerce committed to

January 27, 2021 | Garrett Johnson

Lincoln is excited to announce a new program at the intersection of technology, criminal justice, and civil liberties. This new program will be led by Arthur Rizer, who is joining Lincoln Network’s policy team as Vice President for Technology, Criminal Justice, and Civil Liberties. Arthur brings considerable experience in this policy area, having been a

January 26, 2021 | Dan Lips

President Biden’s nominee for Commerce Secretary testified to Congress today that the new administration will be firm in responding to China’s unfair trade practices. Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo told the Senate said the administration will “take aggressive trade enforcement actions to combat unfair trade practices from China and other nations that undercut American manufacturing.”

January 20, 2021 | Dan Lips

Alejandro Mayorkas, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to be secretary of homeland security, brings significant experience to the role, having worked as deputy secretary during the Obama administration after serving as director of Citizenship and Immigration Services. But his confirmation to that office came while he was under inspector general investigation for allegations of preferential treatment

January 20, 2021 | Dan Lips

The inauguration will culminate in a transfer of power in Congress. For the first time in six years, Democrats will control the upper chamber when Vice President Kamala Harris takes office to break the 50-50 tie in the Senate. With Democratic leaders calling for the end of the Senate’s legislative filibuster, the Senate as an

December 17, 2020 | Dan Lips

Click here to download a PDF version of this paper. Five years ago, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) announced a decade-long campaign dubbed “Made in 2025,” designed to secure for itself global dominance in ten key economic and national security sectors, including the crucial semiconductor industry, where an investment of more than $150 billion

December 16, 2020 | Dan Lips

5 Questions National Policymakers Should Be Asking This week, IT-firm SolarWinds announced that it had likely suffered “a highly sophisticated, targeted and manual supply chain attack by an outside nation state,” which put the information systems of 18,000 of its customers, including federal agencies, at risk. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at DHS issued

December 16, 2020 | Dan Lips

Click here to download a PDF version of the paper. State and local governments have purchased commercial off-the-shelf technologies with known vulnerabilities that federal agencies have banned. Five years after Congress passed bipartisan legislation to strengthen information sharing between the federal government and its partners, federal agencies could do more to support state and local

December 8, 2020 | Joel Thayer

The United States’ success in the race to 5G is critical, but enabling the Internet of things (IoT) ecosystem is equally important. This Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) in particular has made considerable efforts to expedite the deployment of 5G networks, either through reducing barriers to building infrastructure or through opening up key spectrum

Why GAO is Congress’s Best Investment

December 7, 2020 | Dan Lips

A new report examines the Congressional watchdog’s return-on-investment Facing a December 11 deadline to fund the federal government, Congress must finalize its annual spending bills or punt those negotiations into the new year. As lawmakers negotiate on Capitol Hill, taxpayers should keep an eye on one small line item in the federal budget. Last year,