Four House lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill that seeks to enhance the ability of the Federal Acquisition Security Council, or FASC, to safeguard the federal supply chain from entities controlled or owned by a foreign adversary.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee said Tuesday the FASC Improvement Act of 2024 would move the council into the Executive Office of the President to strengthen its governing structure and authorize it to issue binding removal and exclusion orders when asked to do so by Congress.
Such orders would exclude or remove nefarious entities from the federal procurement system.
The bipartisan measure would expand FASC’s scope to include acquisition security, direct the council to proactively assess certain covered articles for risks and reallocate appropriations to set up a FASC program office within the Office of the National Cyber Director.
The legislation seeks to integrate best practices from national security exemptions, second-order prohibitions, case-by-case waiver processes and other governmentwide procurement prohibitions that have been made into law.
“This bipartisan bill provides the Federal Acquisition Security Council with the teeth and resources it needs to protect the federal supply chain from technology companies and products owned or controlled by a foreign adversary. We look forward to moving this bill through the Oversight Committee this week to ensure protections for the federal supply chain and agency information systems,” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House panel.
Comer proposed the bill with Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.