Ideas

Trump Pushes Army Corps of Engineers to Hire a Favored Firm

The president should not be pressing military leaders to award a contract to a company controlled by a political ally that has failed to meet standards.

Ideas

I Wrote to John Walker Lindh. He Wrote Back.

The American jihadist thanked me for my interest in the Islamic State.

Science & Tech

ICE Wants To Track Electronic Devices — Through Time

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is soliciting for a cloud-based system that can geolocate devices using multiple sources, including apps.

Science & Tech

The Bay Area’s Spy Camera Ban Is Only the Beginning

San Francisco just became the first city to ban use of facial recognition technology by government entities. Oakland may be next.

Science & Tech

Engineers Pitch Clean-Energy Plants Along Border

A proposal imagines how building solar panels and wind turbines along the U.S.-Mexico border could unite calls for a Green New Deal and a border wall.

Science & Tech

The Push to ‘Predict’ Police Shootings

Tracking officers’ stress exposure and body-camera practices could help keep them from pulling the trigger.

Threats

The FBI Has 850 Open Domestic Terrorism Investigations

Homegrown extremism is rising, one year after the Trump administration cut funding to programs that counter hate groups.

Ideas

How Much Will It Cost to Protect America's Electrical Grid? Who Will Pay?

The answers are: Likely tens of billions of dollars, and probably us, the electricity customers.

Ideas

Ep. 43: Nuclear weapons awareness in the 20th and 21st centuries

We explore the public’s changing awareness of nuclear weapons, and efforts to get young people to engage.

Ideas

Trump’s Border Obsession Is Courting Disaster

The president’s single-minded focus on immigration is shortchanging Homeland Security’s other crucial functions, from election security to emergency response.

Policy

Trump Removes Top DHS Staff

The slew of departures, apparently without plan or precedent, drew bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill.

Policy

Shakeup at Homeland Security as Border Pressures Mount

President Trump pledged to go in a "tougher" direction after withdrawing his nomination to lead ICE on Friday and accepting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's resignation on Sunday.

Threats

One in Five TSA Screeners Quits Within Six Months

TSA administrator says low pay is to blame and promises new compensation system soon.

Science & Tech

DEA Never Checked If Its Massive Surveillance Operations Are Legal, Watchdog Says

The administration “failed to conduct a comprehensive legal analysis” of three NSA-style bulk data collection programs, according to the Justice Department Inspector General.

Threats

Inside the Energy Dept.'s New $96M Infrastructure-Security Office

The new Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response aims to deflect cyber, manmade and natural security hazards.

Threats

Cyber Threats Are Emerging Faster Than DHS Can Identify and Confront Them

Secretary Nielsen: “The discipline of understanding what is emerging is where I find we are lacking."

Ideas

Americans Are Seeing Threats in the Wrong Places

Security means teaching the public which dangers are real and which are not. Trump’s rhetoric isn’t helping.

Threats

No Military Threat on Southern US Border, Says NORTHCOM Commander

But the head of Northern Command says barriers have “some ramifications” for national security.

Science & Tech

Trump Calls For More Biometric Scans, Data Sharing To Stop Terrorism

International travelers can expect to see more facial recognition and other biometric technologies per the latest national security strategy document.

Threats

White House Orders Agencies to Defend the Skies From Cyberattacks

In its National Strategy for Aviation Security, the Trump administration called on the government to be more proactive in spotting threats to U.S. airspace.