The Big Story 

A law allowing private companies to share information about cybersecurity threats with the government expired Wednesday after Congress failed to reauthorize the legislation amid a wider shutdown fight. 

© Getty Images

The Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Act (CISA) of 2015, which initially appeared poised to be extended as part of a temporary stopgap measure, lapsed as lawmakers failed to avert a shutdown — a pause that lawmakers and experts warn could restrict a key pipeline of threat intelligence. 

“If we don’t extend these critical authorities, we will lose one of our most effective defenses against cyberattacks, as our adversaries’ attacks continue to grow more aggressive and more sophisticated,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) warned Tuesday on the Senate floor. 

CISA provided companies with various protections for sharing cyber information. It shielded them from legal liability for monitoring information systems and providing cyberthreat indicators to the federal government. 

It also protected companies from antitrust lawsuits for exchanging information or providing assistance related to countering cyberthreats.

“This law has protected our economy, it has protected our infrastructure, and it has protected our government for more than a decade,” Peters added.  

“It allows private companies and federal agencies to share real-time threat information before attacks spread, before systems are compromised and before damage becomes irreversible,” he continued. 

Peters and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced legislation in April to extend the law for another 10 years.

However, its reauthorization has become increasingly complicated as Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has sought changes to the measure, according to Axios. 

Peters took aim at Paul on Tuesday, suggesting “there is only one person, one person standing in the way” of reauthorization efforts. 

As the Tuesday deadline quickly approached with limited movement on a full reauthorization, a temporary extension was added to stopgap measure that sought to keep the government open through Nov. 21.

The continuing resolution ultimately passed the House on Sept. 19 but failed in the Senate as Democrats refused to support the GOP-led measure. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) lined up Senate votes Tuesday on competing Democratic and Republican proposals to fund the government, but both proposals failed, sending Washington into a shutdown.

Check out the full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, I’m Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Essential Reads 

How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:

Musk says xAI building ‘Grokipedia’ after criticizing Wikipedia

Cuomo uses AI ad to depict himself driving subway, on floor of NYSE

Trump mocks Jeffries with new AI video after Democrats deem first as racist

The Refresh 

News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:

Crypto Corner 

White House pulls CFTC chair nominee

©  Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Trump administration has withdrawn its nominee to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), an agency poised to play a key role in crypto regulation.

Brian Quintenz, global head of policy at a16z crypto and a former CFTC commissioner, was tapped by President Trump in February to lead the agency.

Quintenz initially appeared poised for an easy confirmation process. However, after his progress stalled in the Senate Agriculture Committee, he accused crypto billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of impeding his confirmation. 

He shared a series of private messages between himself and the Winklevoss twins earlier this month, suggesting that Trump “might have been misled.” 

“I believe these texts make it clear what they were after from me, and what I refused to promise,” Quintenz wrote on the social platform X.

“It’s my understanding that after this exchange they contacted the President and asked that my confirmation be paused for reasons other than what is reflected in these texts.” 

The White House has reportedly been vetting other candidates. Former senior CFTC official Josh Sterling is under consideration for the job, according to Semafor.  

Bloomberg reported that Michael Selig, chief counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto task force, and Tyler Williams, counselor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on digital asset policy, are also candidates. 

Crypto Corner is a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

Op-eds in The Hill

Opinion related to tech submitted to The Hill: