GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Budget stalemate hurting services, Pentagon official says

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Federal Times

03March2011 8:27amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Despite Defense Department warnings that troops, their families and overall military readiness are being hurt by the lack of a formal 2011 Pentagon budget, key Senate leaders said Tuesday that no quick end is in sight for the budgetary standoff.

"Unless cooler heads prevail, and both houses of Congress begin to make progress on passing this year's budget, there remains the possibility that the whole government could be funded through a full-year" continuing resolution, said Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

A continuing resolution is a temporary funding measure that keeps the government operating at a reduced level when a permanent appropriations bill has not been approved by the start of the fiscal year, Oct. 1. In most cases, the Defense Department is limited to spending at 2010 levels — which would be about $23 billion less than the department expected to get for the current year.

Defense funding is not a key element of the disagreement on government funding, but it is tied up in the battle over a strong push by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to cut $100 billion from the overall 2011 federal budget, something the Democrat-controlled Senate opposes.

Unable to reach agreement on a permanent funding bill, House and Senate leaders are preparing to pass another temporary funding bill this week that would keep the government operating until mid-March. It is expected to include a modest $4 billion in cuts based on deficit reduction proposals from the White House.

"We have a hill to climb," said Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, ranking Republican on the appropriations committee.

Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said operating under such temporary funding "is not a workable approach" because it restricts spending.

"Serious problems are already occurring," he said. "If the current CR continues throughout the year, it will cause significantly more harm." (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY BRIEFING: Pentagon investing $500 million in cyber-security

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: SF Gate

16February2011 12:11pmEST

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY UPDATE: The U.S. Defense Department is planning to spend $500 million to research new cyber-security technologies, including cloud computing and encrypted data processing, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said Tuesday at a security conference in San Francisco.

The Pentagon will also provide "seed capital for companies to develop dual-use technologies that serve our cyber-security needs," Lynn said in remarks delivered at the RSA Conference.

"Cyber-defense is not a military mission, like defending our airspace, where the sole responsibility lies with the military," Lynn said. "The overwhelming percentage of our nation's critical infrastructure - including the Internet itself - is largely in private hands. It is going to take a public-private partnership to secure our networks."
 

The $500 million is part of the Pentagon's 2012 budget request of $2.3 billion to improve the Defense Department's cyber-capabilities. At a Pentagon news conference Monday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called the research money, to be spent through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, "big investment dollars, looking to the future."

The military is reaching out to commercial companies for the latest technologies and technical experts to safeguard the Pentagon's computer networks from attacks and espionage, Lynn said. The effort is part of a "comprehensive cyber-strategy called Cyber 3.0," he said. (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Office of Director of National Intelligence to be Downsized

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Secrecy News

14February2011 11:34amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) will be “reduced in its size and budget,” DNI James R. Clapper Jr. told the House Intelligence Committee last week (pdf).

“We, I think, all understand that we’re going to be in for some belt-tightening. And given, you know, the funding that we have been given over the last 10 years since 9/11, that’s probably appropriate,” DNI Clapper said on February 10.

“Shortly after I became DNI, exactly six months ago today, I began a thorough review of the organization. I examined the intelligence reform law, other statutes and executive orders, and the activities that they direct the DNI to execute,” he said.

“Upon review, I decided to reduce or eliminate functions not required by law or executive order that are not core missions of the DNI. I also identified elements that should transfer out of the ODNI to another agency who would serve as the executive agent on my behalf and carry out these services of [common] concern on behalf of the ODNI. In other words, we don’t need to do everything on the DNI staff itself.”

“Based on this efficiencies review, the Office of the DNI is being reduced in size and budget,” DNI Clapper said.  The details of the reduction remain to be spelled out. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Obama's Pentagon cuts not what they seem

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: CNN Money

11February2011 8:22amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: For those of us who believe the U.S. government is spending more on defense than it needs to, President Obama's budget on Monday will bring what sounds like welcome news: The administration is expected to propose a $78 billion reduction in defense spending over the next five years.

Unfortunately, there's a lot more to the story.

First of all, the cuts might prove illusory. The federal government appropriates money one year at a time, and the vast majority of that $78 billion reduction would take place in 2014 and 2015, when there will be a new Secretary of Defense and possibly a new president.

In fact, Obama's expected 2012 request of $553 billion would be 5% higher than what the Defense Department plans to spend this year. In inflation-adjusted dollars, this figure is higher than at any time during the Bush years or during the Cold War. (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: House Appropriations To Consider Budget Caps For DHS, Other Agencies

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: HS Today

09February2011 6:32pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The House Appropriations Committee will convene Tuesday to consider budget allocations for a fiscal 2011 continuing resolution bill, which could fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with $42.5 billion in discretionary spending for this year.

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), chair of the Appropriations Committee, unveiled spending limits for the federal government in a report on Feb. 3. The budget cuts contained in the report, Revised Suballocation of Budget Allocations for Fiscal Year 2011, would trim the entire White House budget request for the year -- submitted to Congress more than one year ago -- by $74 billion.

The proposal would cut about $1.2 billion from the fiscal 2011 DHS budget requested by President Barack Obama in February 2010. Under the plan, DHS would receive about $17 million less than allocated to it in fiscal 2010.

The budget allocation to be considered by the Appropriations Committee would fulfill a Republican promise "to meet our commitment outlined in the Pledge to America to reduce non-security discretionary spending to the pre-stimulus and pre-bailout non-security funding levels of 2008," Rogers said in a statement Feb. 3.

The Republicans opted to preserve security funding in their pledge. A blueprint released by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chair of the House Budget Committee, last week would hold total federal security spending to about $635 billion, up about $8 billion compared to fiscal 2010. Total security spending includes DHS, the Defense Department, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs. (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.