*** Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) are among at least a dozen lawmakers who will be bringing federal employees and contractors impacted by the shutdown to the State of the Union address on Feb. 5. Connolly is bringing Amer Al-Mudallal, a chemist at the Environmental Protection Agency. Van Hollen's guest is Lila Johnson, who works as a janitorial contractor at the Department of Agriculture. Kaine is bringing Paul Rinaldi, head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Other lawmakers bringing feds or contractors include Rep. Jennifer Wexler (D-Va.) .), Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
*** Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, is leading the charge to make sure defense contractors are safeguarding their IT systems. In keeping with new cybersecurity requirements in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, Lord issued a memo requiring the director of the Defense Contract Management Agency to validate contractor compliance with regulations covering the protection of controlled, unclassified information. The move is an effort to push the DFARS and National Institute of Standards and Practices standards on CUI into contractor purchasing systems to cover compliance with subcontractors and suppliers.