The anti-leak procedures announced last week by the Director of National Intelligence apply specifically to intelligence community employees. But the DNI is also responsible more broadly for security policies that affect almost everyone who holds a security clearance for access to classified information, whether or not it pertains to intelligence, as well as other government […]
Persistent questions about the U.S. intelligence community’s reliance on contractors to perform or support core mission functions were explored in a partially closed hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee last year. A redacted transcript of the classified session of the hearing was included in a hearing volume which was recently published. Among other things, […]
Some members of Congress are having second thoughts about the future use of unmanned aerial systems in U.S. airspace, judging from a colloquy on the House floor last week. When Congress passed the FAA reauthorization bill, recalled Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), it included “this very simple language allowing for the expansion of unmanned aerial vehicles […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that has Congress has not authorized CRS to release to the public include the following. Hydropower: Federal and Nonfederal Investment, June 26, 2012 The Development of High Speed Rail in the United States: Issues and Recent Events, June 28, 2012 Haiti Under President Martelly: Current Conditions […]
The procedures by which the Food and Drug Administration approves drugs and medical devices for use in the United States were addressed in a cluster of reports from the Congressional Research Service. How FDA Approves Drugs and Regulates Their Safety and Effectiveness, June 25, 2012 FDA’s Authority to Ensure That Drugs Prescribed to Children Are […]
Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who is charged with unauthorized disclosure of a covert officer’s identity and other classified information, says that the case against him is driven by government animosity, and that he is a target of selective prosecution. “When White House aides leaked stories about the heroes who killed Osama Bin Laden, they […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service obtained by Secrecy News include the following. Rio+20: The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, June 2012, June 18, 2012 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): A Legal Analysis, June 7, 2012 (published June 20) Job Creation in the Manufacturing Revival, June 20, 2012 Double-Dip Recession: […]
A bill “to provide safe, fair, and responsible procedures and standards for resolving claims of state secrets privilege” was introduced in the House of Representatives this week by Rep. Jerrold Nadler and several Democratic colleagues. Essentially, the bill (HR 5956) would require courts to render an independent assessment of the validity of a government assertion […]
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper issued a directive earlier this month to improve the protection of intelligence information and to help prevent unauthorized disclosures. The newly revised Intelligence Community Directive 700 requires a new degree of collaboration between counterintelligence and security activities. While counterintelligence (CI) was scarcely mentioned in the previous version of […]
A 2008 report by the Congressional Research Service discussed the history of claims of executive privilege, including various unresolved questions surrounding its use. The Obama Administration asserted executive privilege today in connection with records sought by a House Committee. See Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice and Recent Developments, updated August 21, 2008. […]
An updated report from the Congressional Research Service proposes a series of questions to help inform and guide congressional debate on the future of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and its aftermath. See In Brief: Next Steps in the War in Afghanistan? Issues for Congress, June 15, 2012. Other new and (mostly) updated CRS reports […]
The Department of Defense has identified 110 sites in the United States that could serve as bases for military unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones. A new report to Congress lists each of the 110 sites “and the UAS likely to fly at that location.” See “Report to Congress on Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, […]