The Obama Administration has taken several initial steps to modernize the national security classification system and to combat overclassification. But those halting efforts are being undermined by the Department of Defense, which is not implementing the President’s policy. DoD, which is the government’s largest producer of classified information, has failed to update its internal regulation […]
The implications of a shutdown of the federal government due to funding gaps are discussed in a newly updated report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. “Failure of the President and Congress to reach agreement on interim or full-year funding measures occasionally has caused government shutdowns, the longest of which lasted 21 days, from December […]
“The Indian social media scene represents a fast-emerging and influential domain of information exchange involving nearly 60% of the 83 million Internet users in the country,” according to a recent report (pdf) from the DNI Open Source Center. Indian public attention to social media was galvanized by the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, “when citizens became […]
The academic journal “Research in Social Problems and Public Policy” has devoted its latest issue to the topic of “Government Secrecy.” The special issue was edited by Susan L. Maret. The table of contents may be found here (pdf). Two probing congressional examinations of the Espionage Act, its application and its possible reform have recently […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The January 2011 issue of Air Force Magazine has a nice spread on the Chart Page where they reproduce a chart I produced of U.S. and Russian nuclear warhead inventories. The chart is the product of the research and public education I do about the status of nuclear forces in collaboration […]
Last week the Senate confirmed Stephanie O’Sullivan to be the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI), the number two position in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Ms. O’Sullivan, a longtime CIA employee who is currently Associate Deputy Director of CIA, will be the fourth person to hold that office. A […]
Newly updated reports of interest from the Congressional Research Service include the following (all pdf). “Egypt: The January 25 Revolution and Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy,” February 11, 2011. “Amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Set to Expire February 28, 2011,” February 10, 2011 (a three month extension until May 27, 2011 was passed […]
Former Congressman Steve Horn (R-CA), who was a leading congressional defender of the Freedom of Information Act and of public access to government information generally, died last week at age 79. Rep. Horn was a primary sponsor, along with Sen. Patrick Leahy, of the Electronic Freedom of Information Act of 1996, which formally extended the […]
Legislation introduced in the Senate this week would broadly criminalize leaks of classified information. The bill (S. 355) sponsored by Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) would make it a felony for a government employee or contractor who has authorized access to classified information to disclose such information to an unauthorized person in violation of his or […]
New reports from the Congressional Research Service on natural gas and miscellaneous other topics include the following (all pdf). “Implication’s of Egypt’s Turmoil on Global Oil and Natural Gas Supply,” February 11, 2011. “Israel’s Offshore Natural Gas Discoveries Enhance Its Economic and Energy Outlook,” January 31, 2011. “Global Natural Gas: A Growing Resource,” December 22, […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The Obama administration has published its budget request for Fiscal Year 2012, which includes its plans for maintaining and modernizing its nuclear weapons arsenal. Due to the extensive debate about the New START treaty last year a great deal of the nuclear plans were already known. And the budget request demonstrates […]
The Director of National Intelligence on Monday did what has never been done before: He disclosed the size of the coming year’s budget request for the National Intelligence Program. For Fiscal Year 2012, “The aggregate amount of appropriations requested for the National Intelligence Program is $55 billion,” according to a February 14 ODNI news release […]