Report proposes tougher chemical security regulations

From HSToday:
President-elect Obama’s most ambitious legislative initiative in the area of homeland security during his years in the US Senate was a bill co-sponsored with Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to toughen federal standards and oversight of security at US chemical plants. Though Obama’s 2006 bill, called the Chemical Safety and Security Act of 2006, [...]

Impact of auto maker bankruptcy on Homeland Security

If you’re wondering how an auto industry bailout – or lack thereof – might affect homeland security, you’re not alone.  I’m also trying to find some good answers.
I’ve seen many articles and an exponentially increasing number of blog posts on the Big 3 bailout plan and the arguments for and against letting them go bankrupt.  [...]

Reports of potential Bush administration “Burrowing” at DHS

There have been a number of articles and posts drawing attention to possible attempts at “burrowing” by the Bush administration, with DHS getting repeated special mentions.
“Burrowing” is a time-honored political tradition where the positions of political appointees are converted to career public service positions before the end of an administration, enabling those political appointees to [...]

Event: House Homeland Security Committee roundtables on privacy, civil rights, & civil liberties at DHS

When:  Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
Where: 311 Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C.
Time:  9:00 am – 4:00 pm

On Wednesday, December 3rd, the Majority Staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security will host a series of roundtable discussions on the future of privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties at DHS.  The event, entitled “A Path Forward: [...]

GAO report criticizes DHS procurement

From USA Today:
A GAO report scheduled for release today says DHS has done a poor job overseeing the purchase of billions of dollars of equipment and technology since the agency was created five years ago.  Senior department officials have “not provided the oversight needed” to ensure that purchases “with important national security objectives” function properly [...]

Emergency Managers endorse removing FEMA from DHS

From CQ Politics:
The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), a prominent association of emergency managers, is recommending that the Obama administration pull the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) out of the Homeland Security Department and restore its leader to cabinet level status.  Larry J. Gispert, president of IAEM said this has been the IAEM’s “informal [...]

Obama names DHS transition team

From CQ Politics:
President-elect Barack Obama ’s transition team named Clark Kent Ervin (DHS’s first Inspector General) and Robert R. Beers (former national security advisor to John Kerry in 2004) to lead the group that will review the Department of Homeland Security and make personnel and policy suggestions, .
The role of the Agency Review Teams [...]

GAO outlines 13 critical HS priorities for Obama administration

Defense readiness and spending; food safety; preparing for large-scale health emergencies; and homeland security are among a list of 13 “urgent issues” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) “has identified as among those needing the attention of President-elect [Barack] Obama and the 111th Congress during the transition and the first year of the new administration and [...]

GAO report on NAO disputes Chertoff claims of compliance

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released its full public report on the status of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Applications Office (NAO) compliance with current legal, privacy and civil liberties standards.
On April 9, 2008, in a letter to Members of Congress, DHS secretary Michael Chertoff certified that the NAO complies with [...]

DHS opens $3B in FY2009 grants with less restrictions

From the Washington Post:
The Department of Homeland Security announced plans yesterday to dole out $3 billion in counterterrorism grants next year to state and local agencies with far-fewer strings attached than in past years.
The DHS move marks a response to criticism from a Democratic Congress and increasingly restive state and local leaders. They have complained [...]