Classified Budgets and Congressional Corruption
Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nevada) helped to direct millions of dollars of classified contracts to one of his major campaign contributors, according to an astonishing account in the Wall Street Journal. (“Congressman’s Favors for Friend Include Help in Secret Budget,” by John R. Wilke, Wall Street Journal, November 1, sub. req’d.).
Coming in the wake of the bribery scandal involving Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA), the latest report underscores the potential for corruption in classified defense and intelligence budgeting.
Yet Congressional leaders have stubbornly resisted efforts to reduce budget secrecy.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal followed up on this aspect of the Gibbons story in a report yesterday.
See “Experts critical of secret defense budgeting system” by Aaron Sadler, Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 2.
With summer 2025 in the rearview mirror, we’re taking a look back to see how federal actions impacted heat preparedness and response on the ground, what’s still changing, and what the road ahead looks like for heat resilience.
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.