Bipartisan Policy Center

The non-profit Bipartisan Policy Center recently hosted Cyber ShockWave – a live, mock cyber attack against the nation. The exercise simulated the government’s response to a cyber crisis with former Cabinet and national security experts acting as presidential advisors in the fictional drill. The exercise highlighted the dangers of cyber-terrorism and the government’s preparedness to respond to such an attack.

Jay Powell is a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center and former Treasury undersecretary for President George H.W. Bush.

The Senate passed a continuing resolution to extend spending six weeks beyond the current fiscal year, ending on Friday. The House plans to vote Monday on the bill which funds government until Nov. 18. But on Nov. 23 is another important budget date — the joint select committee on deficit reduction must submit its recommendations to Congress on ways to reduce $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion in cuts over the next decade.

Steve Bell, the senior director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Amy Morris to provide an update into how the supercommittee is coming along and what it all means for the federal budget and federal employees.

Between ongoing 2012 budget negotiations and the automatic cuts triggered by the supercommittee, Steve Bell, senior director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Economic Policy Project, says this is as good as it’s going to get for federal employees for the foreseeable future.

Congress returns to session this week with a few short months to reach a budget resolution for the new fiscal year starting Oct. 1 and agree on how to avoid the automatic spending cuts of $1.2 trillion over the next decade that will be triggered Jan. 2, 2013, under the Budget Control Act debt limit deal. But don’t expect much to get accomplished before the election, say budget experts.

Budget analyst Steve Bell says there is “no chance” Congress will be able to pass a plan to avoid sequestration — the automatic, across-the-board cuts that would go into effect Jan. 2, 2013, as part of last summer’s deficit deal.

Victims need to speak up and report cyber attacks. That’s the message from the Bipartisan Policy Center and top security officials, who say only a fraction of attacks are reported each year.

Rob Strayer of the Bipartisan Policy Center discusses the compromise cybersecurity bill. Daniel Schuman talks about the Congressional Research Service. Dick Gregg fills us in on the Treasury’s annual fiscal report.

The militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has taken over parts of the country and threatens Baghdad. That has forced Washington’s national security apparatus into overdrive. The United States is sending some diplomats away from Baghdad. It has moved some military in to help with security. Blaise Misztal, director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Foreign Policy Project, joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the rise of ISIS and alliances in the Middle East.