Government
A new road for how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) interacts with Tribal nations may be in store, following the first in-person meeting of the Tribal Homeland Security Advisory Council (THSAC) and Tribal leaders’ recommendations on policies and practices that affect their... Read More »
On Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Bob Casey and Mark Kelly (both D-AZ) introduced legislation to address the fentanyl crisis by stopping it at the southern border.
The legislation, the Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act, would increase staffing capacity, as well as add technology to... Read More »
Criticizing a provision in the proposed national security supplemental funding bill, more than a dozen Senate Democrats sponsored a bill this week that would maintain Congressional oversight of military assistance funding for Israel.
Introduced by U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), the bill would... Read More »
In a new report, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said its 2023 was a significant year for improved transportation security.
On Friday, the TSA said the agency had made strides in its effectiveness, efficiency and enhanced passenger experience. Over 2023, TSA screened more than... Read More »
Ten Republican senators opened a new front last week with introduction of the Creating Obstructions Necessary to Address Illegal and Nefarious Entry Rapidly (CONTAINER) Act.
In theory, that bill draws on the Constitution’s provided right for states to defend themselves. It is untested legal... Read More »
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently chose the University of Alaska to head up a consortium of academic, industry, government, lab and community partners for a new ADAC-ARCTIC Center of Excellence, awarding it $46 million for the... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reported this week that it intercepted 6,737 firearms people attempted to take through airport security checkpoints and onto aircraft in 2023.
It is the highest total on record, topping 2022’s record 6,542 firearms, which was itself... Read More »
Using her 2024 State of the State address this week as a springboard, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced new initiatives on crime and public safety, including crackdowns on retail theft and gun violence, and support for both domestic violence and hate crime prosecution.
“If government... Read More »
For Law Enforcement Appreciation Day this week, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a 2024 Law Enforcement Resource Guide for state, local, tribal, territorial and campus law enforcement to check for training and resource support.
It was the third annual release of... Read More »
A service member in the U.S. Navy was sentenced this week to 27 months in prison and fined $5,500 for taking bribes and transmitting sensitive military information to an intelligence officer from the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The court named the sentenced as Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao... Read More »
In a ceremony held in conjunction with the annual Department of Defense Maintenance Symposium in San Diego California last month, the department handed out the Phoenix Award for Maintenance Excellence to the U.S. Air Force’s 18th Maintenance Group.
The award honored the Japan-based group for... Read More »
Since the 2022 implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that, as of December 2023, it had stopped more than 500 unlawful firearm purchases by people under 21 years old.
“In the 19 months since the passage of the Bipartisan... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) this week solicited the public for ideas on synthetic data generation.
This data would model and replicate the shape and patterns of real data, but in a more secure fashion the department could use to... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response (CESER) last week announced up to $70 million would be made available for projects working to improve the energy sector’s security.
The security improvements, addressing both physical and... Read More »
Through a new, up to $50 million agreement reached last week with the U.S. Army, BAE Systems will begin delivering M777 lightweight howitzer major structures as of 2025.
“This restart of production of the major structures for the U.S. Army’s M777s comes at a critical time, with howitzers... Read More »
Under a $400 million contract awarded this week, the defense contractor Raytheon will build and supply more than 1,500 StormBreaker air-to-surface, network enabled smart weapons for the United States Air Force.
Launched by air, the StormBreaker weapons can be mounted on the F-15E Strike Eagle... Read More »
With more than 32,000 migrant arrivals in the city of Denver alone as of December 2023, federal Democratic lawmakers from Colorado have called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to increase support for cities and nonprofits assisting those migrants.
In a letter, the lawmakers –... Read More »
In a letter to President Joe Biden at the beginning of this year, senators and representatives from Massachusetts called on President Joe Biden to strike Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism List, in a rebuke of Trump-era decisions.
While President Barack Obama removed Cuba from that list... Read More »
The Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act (S.229) passed its first legislative hurdle without trouble last month, advancing through the Senate with unanimous consent and setting up the possibility of expanded federal help to improve domestic semiconductor chip manufacturing.
The bill,... Read More »
With support from its allies wavering and a still-determined invader to deal with, Ukraine received a much-needed boost last week from the Biden administration, which provided additional security assistance and equipment for its war effort to the tune of up to $250 million.
The 54th round of... Read More »
Big changes could be underway for the constitutional clemency power granted to the president of the United States, as the Justice Department (DOJ) announced work last week to review, streamline and improve the clemency application process.
These reform efforts could be separated into three... Read More »
Under a three year, $31.3 million contract with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, RTX company Raytheon has been tasked with rolling out two high-power microwave antenna systems that will aid air defense by firing off directed energy.
All work on them will take place in Arizona,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) this week published a proposed rule for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program, designed to keep defense contractors compliant with information protection requirements and the protection of sensitive data.
Applicable to both contractors... Read More »
The owner and operator of Goines Towing & Recovery in North Carolina settled with the Justice Department this week to resolve allegations he violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) in towing and selling servicemembers’ vehicles without disclosing that fact to the court.
Billy Joe... Read More »
With the U.S. Senate voting unanimously last week to pass the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio Modernization Act (S.1416) and the National Weather Service Communications Improvement Act (S.1414), the House holds the future of the nation’s weather radio network... Read More »
Following up on a letter from June that requested additional support for tribal law enforcement agencies in South Dakota, federal lawmakers from the state last week urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to coordinate those resource issues with other federal departments.
U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds... Read More »
Following acceptance testing earlier this month, Boeing delivered the first of its new autonomous Orcas – extra large unscrewed undersea vehicles (XLUUV) – to the United States Navy this week, potentially pushing the boundaries of long duration missions.
The vehicles are capable of... Read More »
With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in-hand, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a second funding opportunity for its Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) to provide capitalization grants to disaster-vulnerable communities.
Meant to help... Read More »
With the introduction of the Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act this week, five senators sought to increase the information that can be supplied about anti-police attacks and explore their impacts on officers’ mental health.
According to the group, it would... Read More »
A new report released by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called out cumbersome traveler screening among federal agencies and insufficient oversight of discrimination.
The report was looking into the terrorist watchlist... Read More »
It has been a busy year for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which announced this week its 85th Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory approval for supported products – and brought its total approvals and clearances for the year to 20.
“BARDA has... Read More »
A report on the 2022 United States midterm election was declassified and released jointly by the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) this week, prominently stating that no foreign government-affiliated actor was found to have compromised the integrity of that... Read More »
In a first for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency joined an exercise in Canada with Amtrak and Transport Canada last week to address surface and critical infrastructure threats to cross border systems.
They held an exercise scenario developed by TSA’s Surface... Read More »
After significant lobbying by the Newsom administration, Congress last week authorized and hastened the transfer of seven United States Coast Guard-owned C-130 aircraft to CAL FIRE, for California’s use in fighting wildfires.
“These are aircraft that can mobilize quickly and attack... Read More »
In response to a report by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Malas Mañas transnational criminal organization (TCO) over its human smuggling and drug trafficking at the southwest border.
The action... Read More »
