Cybersecurity

McConnell schedules Tuesday final vote on cyber bill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is teeing up the Senate to wrap up its work on a cybersecurity bill Tuesday. 

The Republican leader got unanimous consent Thursday to schedule a vote on final passage of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) for Tuesday afternoon. 
 
{mosads}But even with McConnell’s maneuvering, the legislation still has hurdles to overcome before senators can take a final vote on the legislation. 
 
The Republican leader also set up a final vote on a substitute package — which includes a slate of amendments — to the underlying bill, as well as separate votes on seven additional amendments. 
 
After that, lawmakers will need to agree to end debate on CISA, which will require the support of 60 senators. If that’s successful, they would move directly to a final vote. 
 
The long-stalled cyber bill is aimed at increasing information sharing between the government and business on cyber threats but has received pushback from privacy advocates.
 
McConnell, however, appeared optimistic earlier this week that the Senate would be able to pass the legislation next week. 
 
“This is legislation that we are confident that we can pass,” he told reporters Tuesday. “We intend to see it through completion hopefully next week.”