How DHS plans to use stimulus funds

Out of a total of roughly $3.5 billion in stimulus funds for DHS, here are some spending totals by component: TSA: $1 billion, CBP: $980 million, New DHS HQ: $650 million, FEMA: $615 million+, USCG: $240 million, and ICE: $20 million. But note that $750 million of the money for CBP and the new DHS HQ will go to GSA, not do DHS directly.

Event: PS-Prep Public Meeting #2

The second of 2 public meetings on PS-Prep, a new DHS voluntary preparedness accreditation and certification program for the private sector, will be held on Monday February 23. I plan to attend this meeting, and I’ll post an entry after the meeting.

Napolitano sails through confirmation hearing

Janet Napolitano completed her confirmation before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Thursday, drawing praise and vows of support from every member of the committee, including both Republican members. Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-) said that he will move to have Napolitano confirmed by the full Senate as soon as possible after President-elect Obama’s inauguration next week.

FEMA’s relationship to DHS drawing attention and debate

One of the big decisions President-elect Obama will face when his administration takes over DHS is whether to leave FEMA as a part of DHS, or remove it from DHS and make it a cabinet-level agency, as it was before DHS was formed. Members of Congress, stakeholders, and prominent organizations are taking sides on the issue, but it’s not clear yet what stancethe Obama administration will take.

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 [...]

House Homeland Security chair faults DHS for unfinished scenarios

From HSToday:
In a letter to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff on Oct 9., Congressman Bennie Thompson, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, charged that DHS has failed to draft national planning scenarios for specific threats as ordered in a presidential directive nearly five years ago.
The letter states that Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 ordered DHS [...]

House bill would authorize new FEMA grants and protect S&R teams

The Disaster Response, Recovery and Mitigation Enhancement Act of 2008 (HR 6658) would fund a number of grant activities, including modernization of emergency warning systems to make them multi-modal, establishment of a national network of standard search and rescue resources to augment urban response capabilities, extension of health benefits for temporary FEMA employees, and payment [...]