Government
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernest (R-IA) introduced legislation Wednesday that would require military and intelligence agencies to monitor the threat from terrorist organizations that could result from the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
Ernst, a combat veteran and member of the Senate Armed... Read More »
Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said the agencies have united with federal partners to launch a new website designed to combat ransomware attacks.
StopRansomware.gov serves as a hub for ransomware resources accessible to individuals,... Read More »
A bill seeking to prevent Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Reservists from losing full-time employment when aiding community disaster response advanced the U.S. Senate last week.
U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced the Civilian Reservist Emergency Workforce... Read More »
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently issued the first Surgeon General's Advisory of this administration warning of the urgent dangers posed by health misinformation and disinformation, threatening COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the United States.
The American public needs to be aware... Read More »
A new, joint effort between the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the nonprofit Beacon NGO will seek to build upon S&T’s Next-Generation Incident Command System (NICS) and pitch it to a larger emergency response community.
To achieve... Read More »
The U.S. Senate advanced this week legislation authored by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) designed to protect public and private networks from cyber threats.
Peters' two pieces of legislation - The K-12 Cybersecurity Act and the Supply Chain Security Training Act - passed unanimously in the... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced this week that it has partnered with several entities to evaluate the use of autonomous surface and underwater ocean surveillance technology.
The agency has teamed up with the University of Southern... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Gary Peters (D-MI) recently introduced legislation designed to offer disaster victims protections from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance clawbacks due to agency errors.
The senators commended the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental... Read More »
A total of $153 million was split between two projects under the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIMBL) this week, as awarded by the United States Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
“I am so pleased that... Read More »
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved the Defense Funding bill for FY 2022 on a 33-23 vote.
The bill provides $705.9 billion in defense spending, an increase of 1.4 percent over 2021’s budget. The increase reflects President Joe Biden’s budget... Read More »
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee announced this week the approval of the fiscal year 2022 Homeland Security funding bill, which invests in cyber and infrastructure security while combating domestic extremist violence.
The action also expands the Coast Guard's Arctic reach and the maritime... Read More »
Approximately $398 million was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as a means of helping 1,540 small rural hospitals address COVID-19 testing and mitigation.
“Our state-based SHIP grantees... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Michael Burgess (R-TX) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) recently introduced a bill to address defense budget transparency and accountability, ensuring the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) achieves a clean audit opinion on its financial statements.
The Audit the Pentagon Act of 2021 will seek to... Read More »
After an eight-month void in official leadership, the U.S. Senate this week confirmed former Obama-era senior National Security Agency official Jen Easterly to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) amid increasingly frequent digital attacks.
Easterly, who formerly... Read More »
The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense urged Congress to take action to protect the country’s critical infrastructure from biological threats on Wednesday.
In two recent reports, The Apollo Program for Biodefense: Winning the Race Against Biological Threats, and Biodefense in Crisis:... Read More »
BAE Systems has secured an Army contract worth up to $600 million for sustainment and support for the U.S. Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) over the next five years.
“The AMPV family of vehicles will bring unmatched capability to the battlefield and has demonstrated outstanding... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is encouraging Senate passage of his legislation, The Genomics Data Security Act (S.1744), which establishes protections addressing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) national security risks.
S.1744 was presented in the wake of a recent Office of... Read More »
Questions were spurred last week with news from Pfizer and BioNTech that progress was being made on a COVID-19 vaccine booster the companies indicated would likely be needed in the future -- a stance promptly contradicted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease... Read More »
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials have assessed the 2020 Privacy Technology Demonstration results.
The endeavor sought to advance efforts to protect the privacy of individuals appearing in photos and videos. Five privacy systems... Read More »
LightDeck Diagnostics, which produces both SARS-CoV-2 Ultra-Rapid Antigen and COVID-19 Total Antibody Tests, was awarded a $35.1 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) last week to increase production capacity for these speedy diagnostics.
Both tests are point-of-care tests... Read More »
A recent study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health suggests that one in every four COVID-19 deaths in the United States may be attributed to hospitals strained by surging caseloads.
Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the study looked at data from 150,000 COVID-19... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) introduced bipartisan legislation Wednesday to standardize opioid and substance abuse training for prescribers.
The Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act would require controlled substance providers to complete substance... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued the Department of Defense (DOD) a series of recommendations regarding F-35 aircraft fleet sustainment.
The GAO review stems from the DOD's plan to acquire nearly 2,500 F-35 aircraft for about $400 billion and project expenditures totaling an... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) recently applauded the inclusion of $2.42 billion for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the House's draft Homeland Security Appropriations bill.
Langevin and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) previously forwarded correspondence to appropriators... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week awarded $997,526 to SecureLogix, a San Antonio, Texas-based small business, for Next Generation 9-1-1 technology meant to help secure data during emergencies.
Data, in this case, refers to text, images, video, and traditional voice calls... Read More »
A chikungunya vaccine candidate created by Valneva SE is proceeding through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pipeline, having been awarded a breakthrough therapy designation this week after already gaining fast track designation.
A single shot therapy, the vaccine -- known as VLA1553... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) introduced legislation Tuesday that would prohibit Chinese scientists affiliated with the Chinese military from studying at American universities.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Visa Security Act would require the U.S. government... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced this week the launch of a new initiative to support noncitizen service members, veterans, and their immediate family members.
"It’s our responsibility to serve all veterans as well as they... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program announced last week that it is seeking information in three topic areas to support component technology needs.
“DHS SBIR is uniquely positioned to support DHS’s broad mission by finding ways to... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined several senators in introducing legislation calling on the Biden administration to end the mask mandate for fully vaccinated individuals on public transportation throughout the United States, including airports, commercial airplanes, buses, and rail systems.... Read More »
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently announced that it has joined law enforcement partners in releasing a Cybersecurity Advisory addressing Russian military intelligence cyber activities.
The FBI, along with the National Security Agency (NSA), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure... Read More »
House Committee on Homeland Security Democrats reintroduced last week legislation designed to initiate reform within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, recently joined Committee Democrats in... Read More »
As part of its Safe Return to School Diagnostic Testing Initiative, the National Institutes of Health funded five additional research projects last week to investigate ways of safely returning people to in-person learning in areas with vulnerable and underserved populations.
Up to $15 million... Read More »
In an effort to keep transportation safe without slowing the flow of traffic, the New York City subway system, together with a series of collaborators in the federal, academic, and private sectors, is rolling out a testbed and series of biosensors to scan for chemical and biological threats.... Read More »
DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced last week the agency's largest cybersecurity hiring initiative, noting the onboarding of nearly 300 cybersecurity professionals as well as the extension of an additional 500 tentative job offers.
In May, Mayorkas established a goal to hire 200 new... Read More »
