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Daily Archives: January 6, 2017

Statutory Restrictions on the Position of Secretary of Defense: Issues for Congress

CRS report via FAS – Statutory Restrictions on the Position of Secretary of Defense: Issues for Congress. Kathleen J. McInnis, Analyst in International Security. January 5, 2017.
“The proposed nomination of General (Ret.) James Mattis, United States Marine Corps (hereafter referred to as “General Mattis”), who retired from the military in 2013, to be Secretary of Defense requires both houses of Congress to consider whether and how to suspend—or remove—a provision contained in Title 10 U.S.C. §113 that states, A person may not be appointed as Secretary of Defense within seven years after relief from active duty as a commissioned officer of a regular component of an armed force. This provision was originally contained in the 1947 National Security Act (P.L. 80-253), which mandated that 10years pass between the time an officer is relieved from active duty and when he or she could be appointed to the office of the Secretary of Defense. Only one exception to this provision has been made. Enacted on September 18, 1950, at the special request of President Truman during a time of conflict, P.L. 81-788 authorized the suspension of statutory requirements otherwise prohibiting General of the Army George C. Marshall from serving as Secretary of Defense. In 2007, Section 903 of the FY2008 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 110-181), Congress changed the period of time that must elapse between relief from active duty and appointment to the position of Secretary of Defense to seven years.”

Obama releases redacted report on Russian hacking and US elections

Follow up to previous posting, WaPo reports US intel documents Russian geopol jubilation at Trump win, which included a wide ranging resources on this issue – see today Via Politico: “The Obama administration on Friday officially blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for directing a massive cyber assault against the U.S. election in an attempt to… Continue Reading

GOP Congress now has power to slash individual civil servant salaries

NYMag: “This week, congressional Republicans gave themselves the power to slash the annual salary of any individual federal worker to as low as $1 — and the budget of any individual federal program right down to zero. They executed this attack on the independence of the civil service by reviving an obscure provision enacted by… Continue Reading

Quadrennial Energy Review Task Force report January 2017

“On January 6, 2017, the Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) Task Force released the second installment of the Quadrennial Energy Review report titled “Transforming the Nation’s Electricity System.” The second installment (QER 1.2) finds the electricity system is a critical and essential national asset, and it is a strategic imperative to protect and enhance the value of the electricity… Continue Reading

Mobile carriers boost internet for U.S. inauguration events and demonstrations

Via AccessNow: “The largest mobile carriers in the U.S. have responded to a joint letter from Access Now and WITNESS asking them to provide adequate internet connectivity during the weekend of the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. The responses — from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular — indicate that the companies will boost capacity… Continue Reading