Joe Lieberman has signaled he can introduce a new cybersecurity measure. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Signs of life for cybersecurity bill

Key lawmakers are racing to broker a compromise on a Senate cybersecurity bill, insisting that floor action is still possible as early as next week.

The major players recognize they aren’t likely to find a deal that will resolve all lawmakers’ concerns before the real debate begins. But with limited time until the August recess, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) signaled he could introduce a new cybersecurity measure that includes a middle-of-the-road compromise on critical infrastructure while he and others reiterated a hope that members could work out remaining disagreements while a bill is on the floor.


Lieberman also told POLITICO on Monday that the message from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) during a closed-door meeting of some lawmakers last week was that members shouldn’t count out tackling cybersecurity reform in the coming days.

“The main message we had is we’re going to [do] this bill … and that the president very much wanted it, but we had to work together across party lines to get this done,” Lieberman said.

A spokesman for Reid declined to comment to POLITICO.

“I think things are moving, yes, and I think things are generally moving well — and they’ll have to because we have to get it to the floor in the next 10 days,” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), one of the original sponsors of Lieberman’s effort. “I think once it’s brought to the floor, everything will get resolved.”

Lieberman has a lot of work to do to get enough votes to overcome opposition in the Senate. Chief among the obstacles is finding a compromise on provisions related to critical infrastructure — the sort of reforms that could shape security procedures at power plants, water systems and other essential entities — that will be backed by a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority.

Other lawmakers are working to add more privacy protections to information-sharing provisions in the bill. Both policy questions are without easy answers and could push Senate action on cybersecurity into September.

On critical infrastructure, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) are leading the way. Earlier this month, the duo revealed a new version of their compromise — one that drops controversial language boosting federal authority to cover some critical infrastructure with key risks to national security.

Whitehouse touted the importance of new critical infrastructure protections on the Senate floor last week, just as Kyl huddled with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the revisions.

Those two members, however, are keeping their work close to the vest.

“People have been working in goodwill to try to reach a point where we can move forward with the legislation,” Kyl told POLITICO on Tuesday, declining to comment on the status or timing. “I wish we were closer, but we’re working pretty hard.”

For now, Lieberman suggested this week that some elements of Kyl and Whitehouse’s work could become part of the Senate’s forthcoming cybersecurity base text.

Still more lawmakers are hard at work with Lieberman and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on language that would allow the government and private companies to share information about emerging cyberthreats. Many are Democrats who feel Lieberman’s original approach does not adequately address consumer privacy concerns.

Two Democrats in that effort — Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut — touted progress in separate interviews Monday but gave no indication as to what their potential tweaks might contain.

“I would say, at least from my standpoint, the discussions are continuing,” Wyden said.