House Approves FedRAMP Authorization Act

The House of Representatives has approved a bill that would codify and introduce reforms to the General Services Administration’s Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program.

If passed into law, the FedRAMP Authorization Act, initially introduced as part of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, would address concerns raised by industry and federal stakeholders, including speeding up the authorization process for cloud solutions.

One of the proponents of the bill, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., expressed dismay over the various agency-specific processes implemented across the federal government, which he believes hinders agencies from issuing an authorization to operate for cloud services even when a cloud service provider has already been authorized for use at other agencies, Nextgov reported Tuesday.  

The bill would facilitate the automation of FedRAMP processes to promote reciprocity for security validations from one agency to another. It would also authorize a $20M annual budget for the FedRAMP program office and introduce a committee to ensure dialog between the GSA, cyber and procurement officials and industry.

Besides addressing issues in cloud adoption, Connolly added that the bill gives FedRAMP the program flexibility to grow and adapt to myriad future changes in cloud technologies.

Reps. James Comer, R-Ken., and Jody Hice, R-Ga., co-sponsored the bill with Connolly. 

FedRAMP was established in 2011 as a government-wide program that standardizes the approach to security assessments, authorization and continuous monitoring of cloud-based services.