The White House threatened to veto House and Senate funding bills for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, claiming they do not provide enough funding for one of the agency’s cybersecurity programs, FierceGovernment IT reports.
House and Senate appropriations committees both passed bills for NIST’s fiscal 2013 budget, allotting differing amounts for NIST’s National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace program.
Under the House version, NSTIC would receive no new funds and NIST would not be able to obligate funding to NSTIC pilots until the end of fiscal 2012.
The Senate appropriated the full $24 million request for NSTIC.
According to a Monday White House statement, NSTIC needs funding to demonstrate and test its identity management solutions that aim to protect agencies, businesses and individuals from cyber crimes.
Both funding bills require appropriators to lower spending levels on other bills related to healthcare, education, research and development and job training, according to the report.
