FITARA and Tech Modernization Fund champion Gerry Connolly dies at 75

Gerry Connolly, a member of the US House of Representatives from Virginia’s 11th district who was prominent in the field of technology legislature and IT modernization in the government, has died at the age of 75, leaving behind a massive legacy from his time in Congress.

Indeed, Representative Gerald E. Connolly has died following a battle with esophageal cancer, and his family shared that he “passed away peacefully at his home this morning surrounded by family,” in a public statement posted on his website on May 21.

As they wrote:

“Gerry lived his life to give back to others and make our community better. (…) He was a skilled statesman on the international stage, an accomplished legislator in Congress, a visionary executive on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, a fierce defender of democracy, an environmental champion, and a mentor to so many.”’

Gerry Connolly and his accomplishments in technology sector

Notably, the Northern Virginia congressman’s impressive work has laid the foundations for the future of federal IT modernization and cybersecurity, in line with his views that “technology is not a commodity to be managed” nor “a nice thing to invest in when you’ve got a lot of money left over” but “integral to the mission.

Specifically, during his leadership on the Oversight and Reform Committee, he made agency accountability for modernization and cybersecurity a critical matter and collaborated with other politicians to pass tech modernization legislation to improve the government’s capability in the sector.

More importantly, he worked with California Representative Darrell Issa, the Oversight Committee chief at the time, on passing the bipartisan Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) in 2014, turning it into the foundational statute for chief information officer authorities in the federal government.

Furthermore, Connolly introduced biannual FITARA Scorecard hearings and meetings to support the law’s implementation and make sure that federal agencies were accountable for compliance with the legislation. As he commented during a 2022 hearing on FITARA scores:

“The goal here is to incentivize progress, not get a gold star on our foreheads.”

Later, he worked with Texas Representative Will Hurd on passing the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law as part of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. Subsequently, it gave rise to the Technology Modernization Fund, which provides alternative funding for federal modernization projects.

In April 2025, the congressman announced that his cancer had returned despite the fact he had “initially beaten back” the disease and that he would step down from his Oversight membership, as well as from Congress at the end of his term.