Rep. Gerry Connolly Leaves Lasting Mark on Federal Tech

Rep. Gerry Connolly, who died Wednesday at 75, laid the ground work for the future of federal IT modernization, accountability and cybersecurity during his time in Congress.

Connolly represented federal employees as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s 11th district since 2009. Over his decade-plus tenure, he was a vocal advocate for government IT reform, oversight and efficiency. As a member of the House Oversight Committee, he pushed for improvements like enhanced agency scorecards, streamlined procurement processes and significant progress in cybersecurity and data center consolidation.

“Technology is not a commodity to be managed. It’s not a nice thing to invest in when you’ve got a lot of money left over. It is integral to the mission,” said Connolly at a GovCIO Media & Research virtual event in 2021. “It’s absolutely embedded into the mission, and you need, therefore, to be making the necessary investments to maintain that integral capability and to build on it.”

Laying the Groundwork with FITARA

Connolly was a pivotal figure in the passage and oversight of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA). As a co-author – with Rep. Darrell Issa – of the original 2014 bipartisan bill, he was instrumental in crafting the law to overhaul federal IT management and acquisition practices.

Beyond its initial passage in 2014, Connolly supported FITARA’s implementation through regular biannual FITARA Scorecard hearings and meetings, holding federal agencies accountable for their progress in modernizing systems, consolidating data centers and improving cybersecurity.

“The goal here is to incentivize progress, not to get a gold star on our foreheads,” Connolly said during a 2022 hearing on FITARA scores.

FITARA aimed to rebalance decision-making power by giving CIOs authority over technology budgets and operations — a move that would later help agencies consolidate data centers, adopt cloud-based solutions and prioritize cybersecurity measures.

“We’re making sure that we have a CIO that’s the primary CIO who directly reports to the boss is to immediately infuse that position with authority, accountability and responsibility, and those are really important,” Connolly told CyberCast in 2019.  “We think, basic management reforms … should help with personnel issues all the way down.”

Empowering CIOs

In 2021, Connolly and Rep. Jody Hice introduced the bipartisan Performance Enhancement Reform Act, which integrates CIOs and other agency tech leaders into the federal government’s performance planning. The bill, enacted into law in 2022, amended existing regulations to ensure that agency performance plans explicitly include details on technology modernization investments, workforce technology skills and stakeholder feedback.

“It’s among the duties of the CIO to plan for agency IT needs, including the resources required to accomplish the mission,” Connolly said in 2021. “Outdated legacy systems, software and hardware, however, continually prevent agencies from providing the services the American public expects and demands and deserves to determine the scope and feasibility of IT modernization. CIOs must be more involved in the agency performance planning.”

Modernizing Government Technology in Changing Times

Connolly was an original cosponsor of the 2017 Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, a companion effort to FITARA that created the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). In 2020, Connolly secured a significant infusion of $1 billion for the fund through the American Rescue Plan as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s shift toward remote work and an increased government dependance on digital services.

“We have to prepare ourselves for the fact that we’re going to be living with changed circumstances in the workplace, in our personal lives, for a while,” Connolly said. “I don’t consider that a distraction from what we’re doing in response to the pandemic. I consider it a lesson learned that is absolutely essential because you have to see IT as integral to the mission.”

During a the GovCIO Media & Research Infrastructure Series: IT Modernization virtual event in 2021, Connolly highlighted the importance of funding in enhancing government operations throughout agencies.

“[Technology] is absolutely embedded into the mission, and you need, therefore, to be making the necessary investments to maintain that integral capability and to build on it,” said Connolly.

Enhancing Cybersecurity

In his role as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation, Connolly pushed for enhanced cybersecurity at agencies and throughout civil society. He has emphasized the importance of secure federal systems and critical infrastructure as threats from nation-state actors and criminal groups rise.

“We have to create an architecture for cyber hygiene and cyber protection as we move forward, because the sophistication of cyberattacks and probes is only going to grow, and there are lots of people out there of malign intent,” Connolly said in 2021. “There are hundreds of millions of cyber probes and cyberattacks on the CDC, on the FDA, and on private sector pharmaceutical companies developing vaccines. [Cybercriminals want to] steal the intellectual property, to skip the steps and the expenses and to be able to steal someone else’s hard work.”

Connolly was also prominent advocate for bolstering the nation’s cybersecurity workforce. One of his signature initiatives was the bipartisan effort to reform the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program. Connolly helped introduce legislation — later known as the CyberCorps Enhancement Act — that sought to extend the scholarship support period from three to five years.

“The federal government has a lot of work to do when it comes to recruiting and retaining the next generation of the federal workforce, especially in critical fields like cybersecurity and emerging technologies,” said Connolly in 2024. “This bipartisan legislation will go a long way toward strengthening our nation’s cybersecurity posture by ensuring we can attract the best of the best to serve our country.”