The recent revelation that President Obama ordered sophisticated cyberattacks against Iran is starting to sink in, but the results are probably not what the White House was hoping for. Rather than focusing on the president's personal involvement in the decisions to use high-tech weapons such as drones and the Stuxnet virus, most of the coverage has been centered on whether the White House authorized the leaking of classified information to New York Times reporter David Sanger for his upcoming book. Sanger cites a number of administration officials on background, including descriptions of classified conversations from inside the Situation Room.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the FBI has opened an investigation into the leaks, while Roll Call's Meredith Shiner reports that members of the Senate are calling for a special prosecutor and a hearing on the issue. John McCain, R-Ariz., drew a comparison between the administration's aggressive prosecution of Army private Bradley Manning, accused of leaking documents to WikiLeaks, and what he believes are sanctioned leaks of classified material by high-ranking officials. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she plans to include a provision in this year's intelligence authorization bill that would require timely notification to Congress for authorized disclosures and stronger investigations of unauthorized leaks.
The Manning comparison has popped up elsewhere, as critics have charged the administration with hypocrisy for looking the other way with regard to leaks that portray the administration in a positive light. There is debate whether the White House authorized the leaks to Sanger or simply didn't object to a story they thought would cast the president in a positive light. Regardless, the news hasn't given the White House any boost and may prove a political liability if the leaks were found to be authorized. Notably, no lawmakers have objected to the existence of the classified cyberweapon program, although several have voiced outrage that officials would discuss it with journalists. After all, the first rule of classified weapons programs is: You don't talk about classified weapons programs.
NASA Narrows Scope of Commercial Crew Program: CQ's Ambreen Ali reports NASA has reached an agreement with the head of the relevant House Appropriations panel to narrow the scope of its commercial spaceflight crew program. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden now say the program should focus on transporting astronauts to the International Space Station, not on nurturing a commercial space industry. To that end, NASA will reduce the number of fully funded private space contractors from four to two, with one partially funded award. The news is likely a coup for SpaceX, which has positioned itself as the leading commercial space carrier by successfully docking a capsule at the space station last month.Some observers were concerned that reducing the number of contractors could result in one or two private companies monopolizing the commercial space industry and eliminating the benefits of competition that were supposed to arise from the outsourcing of NASA's human spaceflight program. Whichever company joins SpaceX will be similarly well positioned to win hundreds of millions of dollars in federal space contracts in coming years. But if either fails to keep their promise, America's space program could be crippled for a generation or more.
FEMA Prepping National Mobile Phone Warning System: CQ Homeland Security's Rob Margetta reports that FEMA is preparing for the national rollout of a system that sends localized emergency alerts to cell phones. The Commercial Mobile Alert System was deployed on a limited basis in Washington and New York last year, with FEMA now looking to take the system nationwide. But the text message alerts sent to individuals will remain localized and only be used for life-threatening events. Initially the 90-character messages will only be available to users with newer phones. Expect the topic to come up today at a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on disaster preparedness. CRS Report on Employment Verification: Congress is debating making the E-Verify employment eligibility system mandatory for all employers, a move supported by many Republicans and opposed by agriculture groups and civil liberties groups such as the ACLU that claim the system amounts to a de facto blacklist for workers. The ACLU has said in the past that almost any error rate in such a system is unacceptable, as it could prevent eligible workers from earning a living. DHS, which maintains the system, has worked steadily to reduce that error rate in recent years. This Congressional Research Service report (PDF) has more for those interested in the debate. Lawmaker Unveils Call Center Bill: The call center has become a symbol of outsourcing in recent years, evidence of how easily companies can transfer some of their operations to countries such as India, where English-speaking workers come cheap. Now Rep. Carolyn McCarthy is introducing a bill aimed at encouraging companies to keep those call centers and the jobs that come with them in the U.S. The bill would ban companies that send call centers overseas from receiving any federal grants, loans or loan guarantees for five years after the outsourcing. It would also require call center employees to disclose their location to U.S. customers and give those customers the option to speak to a domestic call center upon request. The legislation will likely draw support from Communications Workers of America, but faces an uphill climb in the House.