Department of Homeland Security

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Homeland Security Chief: 'Absurd' Congress Is Flirting With Shutdown

Says shutdown would hurt ability to respond to ISIS

(Newser) - Count Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson as no great fan of the United States Congress: With his department facing a possible shutdown if Congress doesn't vote to fund it by Friday, Johnson said that could hamper his ability to respond to everything from winter weather to ISIS, reports the...

Boehner: I'll 'Certainly' Allow Homeland Security Shutdown

It will be fault of Senate Dems, he says

(Newser) - If the Department of Homeland Security is forced to shut down at the end of this month because of a lack of funding, John Boehner says he's ready to let that happen and it won't be his fault. In an interview with Fox News Sunday, the House speaker...

House Dumps Key Obama Immigration Reforms

Bill would expose 'DREAMers' to deportation, has little chance in Senate

(Newser) - In an assault on one of President Obama's top domestic priorities, House Republicans approved measures today that would overturn his immigration actions and remove protections for immigrants brought illegally to the country as children. Despite a White House veto threat, Republicans attached language blocking Obama's immigration initiatives to...

On Deck for GOP in 2015: A Long Series of Showdowns

Republican leaders to face immigration, debt ceiling, Medicare issues

(Newser) - John Boehner and Mitch McConnell penned a Wall Street Journal editorial in November that promised they would prove wrong "the skeptics [who] say nothing will be accomplished in the next two years." But even with both House and Senate firmly under GOP control when Congress convenes tomorrow , the...

How US Border Patrol Got 'Out of Control'

Agency grew without oversight after 9/11, officials say

(Newser) - The US Border Patrol has ballooned into a massive agency where employee misconduct is reportedly rampant, but figuring out who to blame—or how to fix it—is no easy job, Politico reports via Vox . Driven by security fears after 9/11, federal officials threw billions of dollars at Border Patrol...

Report: Prostitution Investigator Tied to Prostitute

David Nieland quietly stepped down from Homeland Security in August

(Newser) - The man tasked with heading the probe into the Secret Service sex scandal has been tied to a prostitution scandal of his own. Current and former Department of Homeland Security officials tell the New York Times that David Nieland stepped down after stonewalling the department's inspector general about an...

More Security for Our Buildings Over 'World Events'

Homeland Security cites Canada attack

(Newser) - Security has been beefed up at federal buildings across the country—not because of any specific threat, but because of "world events," the Department of Homeland Security says. The Federal Protective Service, which guards more than 9,500 federal courthouses and other buildings nationwide, boosted security measures over...

Dallas Ebola Patient Is Dead
 Dallas Ebola Patient Is Dead 
UPDATED

Dallas Ebola Patient Is Dead

Thomas Eric Duncan was first Ebola patient diagnosed in US

(Newser) - The first Ebola patient diagnosed in the US has died, a Dallas hospital confirms. Thomas Eric Duncan , who has been kept in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital since Sept. 28, died at 7:51am, per a Facebook post made with "profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment" by the hospital....

Secret Service Chief Resigns
 Secret Service Chief Resigns 

Secret Service Chief Resigns

Julia Pierson steps down amid gaffes, criticism

(Newser) - In a not-so-shocking development, Secret Service chief Julia Pierson has resigned, reports CNBC . The move comes amid withering criticism in the wake of high-profile security lapses involving President Obama. Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson announced the resignation and said he was appointing Joseph Clancy to be interim director of the...

Homeland Security's Big Problem: Staff Keep Quitting

Department grapples with morale problems

(Newser) - One of the biggest challenges faced by the Department of Homeland Security is an internal one: Top staff members keep quitting, and it's hampering officials in their efforts to fight external dangers. In the past four years, the rate of departure from the department has been almost double the...

US to Yahoo: Hand Over Data or Pay $250K a Day

Court documents show government pressure in 2008

(Newser) - Just how badly did the federal government want data about Yahoo users for its now-notorious PRISM surveillance program ? It threatened to fine the company $250,000 a day in 2008 if it didn't comply, reports the Washington Post . The revelation comes from newly declassified court documents detailing the...

Pols Demand Missile Defenses on Airliners

Thousands of surface-to-air missiles believed owned by terrorists

(Newser) - A pair of prominent legislators are reviving a decade-old measure that would outfit passenger planes with anti-missile technology, at a cost of up to $2 million per $200 million plane, the New York Post reports. Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Steve Israel want on-board lasers, warning systems, flares, and infrared...

Chinese Hack Data of Feds With Top-Secret Clearance

'NYT': Office of Personnel Management was hit in March

(Newser) - Hackers gained access to the Office of Personnel Management, which houses the personal data of all federal employees, and an official tells the New York Times that the hit was traced to China—though it's not clear whether Beijing sanctioned it. The March breach appeared to target the files...

Firm That Vetted Snowden Gets New $190M Contract

US Investigations Services has been accused of massive fraud

(Newser) - You might think that giving a green light to Edward Snowden and Aaron Alexis and allegedly fraudulently submitting 660,000 other background checks without actually completing them would prevent you from getting future government contracts. But you'd be wrong, because the Department of Homeland Security has awarded a $190...

US to Build Big Processing Facility for Migrant Kids

Site in McAllen, Texas, will hold 1K children

(Newser) - With the number of child immigrants from Central America overwhelming Border Patrol stations , the US plans to convert a giant warehouse into a processing facility for the kids in Texas, reports AP . The facility in McAllen will accommodate about 1,000 children, who will have access to an "interaction/play"...

Planned Homeland Security HQ a Total Fiasco

It's running a decade behind schedule, $1.5B over budget

(Newser) - What America was supposed to have as soon as this year, at a cost of $3 billion: a sprawling headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security, a complex of more than 50 buildings that would allow easier coordination of the department's agencies. The plan, announced by former DHS Secretary...

Homeland Security: Avoid Internet Explorer

Feds suggest switching browsers until flaw is fixed

(Newser) - A security flaw uncovered in Internet Explorer is so serious that users should consider switching to a different browser for now, the Department of Homeland Security yesterday warned. "We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem," said the department's Computer Readiness Team, which recommends...

Senate Report: Homeland Security Watchdog Was Anything But

Charles Edwards accused of altering reports to favor administration

(Newser) - As acting inspector general of Homeland Security, Charles Edwards was supposed to serve as an impartial watchdog over the department. But a bipartisan Senate report says he was more like a puppy dog anxious to please his superiors in the White House, reports the Washington Post and Fox News . The...

Nigella Lawson's New Humiliation: Barred From US

Could be due to drug confessions

(Newser) - As if it's not bad enough to have your ex-assistants publicly brand you a cokehead , now Nigella Lawson's admitted drug use may have gotten the celebrity chef barred from the US. Lawson was forbidden to board a Heathrow flight to Los Angeles on Sunday, the Department of Homeland...

US Makes Significant Child Porn Bust

'Never before ... have we identified and located this many minor victims'

(Newser) - US police have taken down a secret, members-only child porn ring, and with it achieved quite the feat: "Never before in the history of this agency have we identified and located this many minor victims in the course of a single child-exploitation investigation," one official told Reuters . The...

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