The Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel (SAC-D) approved a $675-billion fiscal year 2019 defense appropriations bill June 26 that would fund 89 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, 12 more than the Trump administration requested. The Marine Corps and Navy would get a total of 41 F-35Bs and F-35Cs, up from the request for 29 jets, according […]
The House on Monday night passed seven homeland security bills dealing with transportation security, cyber security, immigration and identity management. The bipartisan bills passed by voice vote. “In today’s dynamic threat environment, we must continually evaluate and improve our readiness and response to any threat to our homeland,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland […]
The U.S. Commerce Department, which the Trump administration recently tapped to replace the Department of Defense in providing space object tracking information to industry, expects to finish taking over its new role in about a year, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said June 22. Commerce plans to send “initial delegations” to Vandenberg Air Force Base in […]
Legislation to implement President Donald Trump’s proposed Space Force will likely be considered as part of the fiscal year 2020 defense authorization bill that Congress will take up next year, a key House member said June 21. Two congressionally mandated reports that the Department of Defense owes Congress later this year will guide lawmakers as […]
The House on Thursday afternoon voted down the first of two Republican bills under consideration for bolstering border security and introducing immigration reforms as enough Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the measure. After the defeat of the first bill, House Republican leaders postponed a vote until at least Friday on similar legislation that was […]
The full U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up its version of the fiscal year 2019 defense appropriations bill the week of June 25-29. The debate on the $674.6-billion measure will likely occur June 27, according to a spokeswoman for the House Appropriations Committee (HAC). The House Rules Committee has set a deadline […]
Amid concerns that software and telecommunications products provided by companies in Russia and China could be used to spy on the U.S. government and industry, two Senators have introduced a bill that would create a federal council to assess national security threats to the supply chain from information technology and provide guidance to agencies to […]
The U.S. Senate passed its version of the fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill late June 19, sending the $716 billion measure to a conference committee with the House. The Senate approved the legislation by an 85-10 vote, capping almost two weeks of floor debate. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who steered the bill through the […]
President Trump announced June 18 that he has told the Department of Defense to start forming a space force to ensure U.S. space dominance, but a key lawmaker insisted that DoD cannot proceed without congressional approval. “Very importantly, I’m hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish […]
Honeywell [HON], which makes brake components for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in South Bend, Ind., plans to move that work to Turkey this summer, drawing criticism from the state’s senior U.S. senator. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) said on the Senate floor late June 13 that if U.S.-Turkish relations continue to deteriorate, he is concerned […]
