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.

DHS IG Report: DHS’ role in fusion centers

The DHS Office of Inspector General issued a report last week on “DHS’ Role in
State and Local Fusion Centers”, in response to a request from U.S. Representative Bennie G. Thompson. Here’s a summary of the 7 recommendations made in the report.

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.

DHS IG report recommends greater HSIN responsiveness

The information-sharing network of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must do a better job of meeting its customers needs, concluded a report from the department’s inspector general (IG) released December 5th.

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 [...]

Obama and McCain representatives on DHS and transition

From Government Security News:
Representatives of both presidential campaigns participated in an interesting seminar on the DHS transition program in Washington last Wednesday, hosted by Clark Kent Ervin, the director of the homeland security program at the nonprofit Aspen Institute and the former (and first) inspector general at DHS.
Rachana “Ruchi” Bhowmik, who covers the Senate Homeland [...]

DHS Inspector General cites lapses in TSA badge and uniform security

From USA Today:
The TSA lacked centralized controls over the secure passes issued to some of its employees, according to DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner. The passes grant people access to the most sensitive areas of an airport, such as where baggage is screened or planes are parked.
Investigators found numerous cases in which former employees retained [...]