The O’Toole Budget Hearing – Steady as She Goes…
In one of her first appearances on Capitol Hill since becoming DHS’ Under Secretary for Science & Technology, Tara O’Toole showed herself to be in complete comfort with the issues and challenges that face her. Her demeanor and...
DetailsLessons from the Napolitano Budget Hearings
Someone needs to buy Janet Napolitano a beer. Or at least give her a double of whatever she wants. After two consecutive days on Capitol Hill testifying in front of four different Congressional Committees, she’s earned it....
DetailsAn “Astounding” Problem – DHS Civil Service and Contractors
Amidst the news today are reports that DHS employs more contractors than career civil servants. Lawmakers, notably Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), have described this situation as "unacceptable, untenable and unsustainable." The other...
DetailsCalling Obama’s Cards – TSA and Collective Bargaining Rights
Yesterday’s actions by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to represent TSA’s 40,000 screeners has upped the ante in the high stakes poker game the Obama Administration seems to have avoided playing. On one side of the...
DetailsThe Airport Security Process: Learning the Hard Way
Last week, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers at the Philadelphia airport grossly mistreated Ryan Thomas, a 4-year-old boy who has intellectual and physical disabilities, and his parents. Headed for an Orlando-bound flight to celebrate Ryan’s birthday at Disney World,...
Details1M Fewer Illegal Immigrants: DHS Secure Border Initiative Ended Catch and Release
CBS News recently reported the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is down by about one million from 2008 to 2009. The DHS report CBS cited also shows a striking difference in the number of illegal immigrants entering...
DetailsLessons in Blizzard Resilience – Part II
If you talk to any parent in the National Capital Region, odds are they are at their wits end with having their children stuck at home for nearly a week and a half. After two large snowstorms and a...
DetailsLessons in Blizzard Resilience – Part 1
Like most people of the Mid-Atlantic region, I’ve spent almost a week hunkered down at home with my family watching the piles and piles of global warming stack outside my home. For as unprecedented as this weather pattern has...
DetailsHouse Science Committee hearing on passenger screening technology begins bizarrely
Well, it was just weird. The House Science subcommittee on Technology and Innovation held a hearing today on next generation passenger screening technologies, or at least, I thought that was its purpose from the title of the hearing. From...
DetailsReid Roars But Will He Act?
On Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) lashed out at Senate Republicans for their on-going procedural holds on a number of the Obama Administration’s nominees for critical positions at the Pentagon, DHS and elsewhere. While the Senate...
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