Testimony of Scott Amey, General Counsel Project On Government Oversight (POGO) before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform “Examining the Costs of Overclassification on Transparency and Security” December 7, 2016. “…Thank you for inviting me to testify today about the state of the federal government’s classification system. I am Scott Amey, General Counsel… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Defense
Snowden interviewed by Yahoo News in Russia
“In an exclusive interview in Russia with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric, Edward Snowden, the fugitive whistleblower who leaked information about U.S. surveillance activities, says he is “kind of encouraged” by the idea that Russian President Vladimir Putin might return him to the U.S. to stand trial because that would show the world he’s… Continue Reading
WaPo reports on Pentagon study highlighting $125B in waste
Pentagon buries evidence of $125 billion in bureaucratic waste, Craig Whitlock and Bob Woodward: “The Pentagon has buried an internal study that exposed $125 billion in administrative waste in its business operations amid fears Congress would use the findings as an excuse to slash the defense budget, according to interviews and confidential memos obtained by… Continue Reading
The Terrorist Screening Database and Preventing Terrorist Travel
CRS – The Terrorist Screening Database and Preventing Terrorist Travel. Jerome P. Bjelopera, Specialist in Organized Crime and Terrorism; Bart Elias, Specialist in Aviation Policy; Alison Siskin, Specialist in Immigration Policy. November 7, 2016. “After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal government developed a unified regimen to identify and list known or… Continue Reading
The New Era of Secret Law
Brennan Center for Justice – New Report: “Secret Law” Governs Key Aspects of National Security Policy – “At least 74 opinions, memoranda, and letters issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) between 2002 and 2009 on core post-9/11 national security topics, including intelligence activities and the detention and interrogation of terrorist suspects,… Continue Reading
Senators Warren and Cummings Ask GAO to Review Trump Transition
News release: “United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, today sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a review of President-elect Donald Trump’s “chaotic” transition. The lawmakers asked GAO to examine conflicts of interest related to… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – Drug Compounding, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Hazardous Materials Rail Shipments, Youth with Autism
Certificated Expenditures: Executive Office of the President Fiscal Year 2015 Certificated Expenditures Were Spent for Authorized Purposes, GAO-17-116R: Published: Nov 17, 2016. Publicly Released: Nov 17, 2016. Drug Compounding: FDA Has Taken Steps to Implement Compounding Law, but Some States and Stakeholders Reported Challenges, GAO-17-64: Published: Nov 17, 2016. Publicly Released: Nov 17, 2016. Federal… Continue Reading
Prospects for DoD’s Budget Over the Next Decade
Presentation by David E. Mosher, Assistant Director for CBO’s National Security Division, at the Professional Services Council’s 2016 Vision Federal Market Forecast Conference.November 16, 2016. “Pressure on the Department of Defense’s budget in future years will come from external fiscal constraints as well as growth within the department in the costs of weapon systems, manpower,… Continue Reading
CRS – Intelligence Community Spending: Trends and Issues
Intelligence Community Spending: Trends and Issues, Anne Daugherty Miles, Analyst in Intelligence and National Security Policy. November 8, 2016. “This report examines Intelligence Community (IC) funding over the past several decades, with an emphasis on the period from 2007-2017—the period in which total national and military intelligence program (NIP and MIP) spending dollars have been publicly disclosed on an… Continue Reading
The Terrorist Screening Database and Preventing Terrorist Travel
CRS report via FAS – The Terrorist Screening Database and Preventing Terrorist Travel, Jerome P. Bjelopera, Specialist in Organized Crime and Terrorism, Bart Elias, Specialist in Aviation Policy, Alison Siskin, Specialist in Immigration Policy, November 7, 2016. “After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the federal government developed a unified regimen to identify and… Continue Reading
DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms
DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms as of 15 October 2016 “PREFACE – The DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (or DOD Dictionary) sets forth standard US military and associated terminology to encompass the joint activity of the Armed Forces of the United States. These military and associated terms, together with their definitions,… Continue Reading
National Security Archive – CIA Releases Controversial Bay of Pigs History
“The CIA today released the long-contested Volume V of its official history of the Bay of Pigs invasion, which it had successfully concealed until now by claiming that it was a “draft” and could be withheld from the public under the FOIA’s “deliberative process” privilege. The National Security Archive fought the agency for years in… Continue Reading
