Category Archives: Kirstjen Nielsen

Senate Dems want second confirmation hearing for DHS secretary nominee Nielsen

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Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are calling for a second hearing for Homeland Security secretary nominee Kirstjen Nielsen after revelations of political interference in immigration decisions and resignation threats from the acting DHS secretary. In a letter to committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Democratic members cite a Washington Post story saying that John Kelly, the former DHS secretary and current White House chief of staff, tried to bully acting secretary Elaine Duke into ending a special immigration status called TPS — designed to protect undocumented migrants from being deported to countries torn apart by wars or natural disasters. Duke, a highly experienced Senate-confirmed official who is well-liked within the department, threatened to resign, the Post reported. The confirmation process is being closely watched in the cybersecurity policy circles because of the departments key role in defending federal IT networks and America’s vital industries from online attack […]

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Senators postpone quick vote on Nielsen

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A Senate committee vote on Kirstjen Nielsen’s nomination to become the next secretary of Homeland Security was postponed until at least next week after members submitted nearly 200 questions for the record Thursday. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee had been scheduled to hold a vote on the nomination just 24 hours after Nielsen’s confirmation hearing — a breathtakingly fast turnaround for the Senate. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., told a business meeting of the committee Thursday that the vote would be delayed until at least Monday, as Nielsen, who is currently White House deputy chief of staff, drafts answers to 197 follow-up questions that she received from committee members after Wednesday’s hearing. “To put things into perspective, about the only comparable secretary nomination mid-cycle was [President Obama’s second DHS secretary] Jeh Johnson,” said the chairman. There were 42 questions for the record after that nomination hearing, he added. “Nobody was doing anything on our side to […]

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Here’s how cybersecurity was dealt with in Kirstjen Nielsen’s confirmation hearing

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Kirstjen Nielsen, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Homeland Security Secretary, said during her confirmation hearing Wednesday that securing the nation’s computer networks against hackers, spies and online crooks was one of the key missions of the sprawling federal department. Lawmakers with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee mostly agreed with that sentiment. Then everyone proceeded to largely ignore the subject for the rest of the hearing. Wednesday was instead dominated by the political lightning rods of border security, immigration enforcement and even climate change. There were questions about Nielsen’s relative lack of senior-level leadership experience, but cybersecurity — one of the increasingly rare topics on which there is actually bipartisan agreement in Congress — took a back seat. The hearing yielded some dribs and drabs of cyber, however, which we’ve chronicled below. From elections to the energy grid A key cybersecurity topic focused on electronic voting machines and other online election systems — starting with the […]

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Senators urged to question DHS nominee Nielsen’s management experience

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Senators of both parties were tight-lipped Tuesday about their plans for Homeland Security Secretary nominee Kirstjen Nielsen’s confirmation hearing — but there’s one topic many observers are hoping they’ll ask about: Her experience. The issue of leadership is key one for the department — a sprawling government behemoth which encompasses two of the largest federal law enforcement agencies and is responsible for a bewildering variety of missions. In particular, observers say, its cyber mission has been handicapped by the absence of an operational agency responsible for securing government computer networks and helping vital U.S. businesses harden their IT systems against online attacks. Nielsen’s defenders point to a career in emergency preparedness, first as a junior White House official and later as a consultant and think-tank fellow, culminating in her brief stint this year as chief of staff at DHS under then-Secretary John Kelly. But critics point out that, until this year, she’d never managed […]

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‘Sherpa’ leading Nielsen DHS confirmation effort is lobbyist tied to agency contractors

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A former lobbyist representing companies with business before the Department of Homeland Security is leading the confirmation preparation for DHS secretary nominee Kirstjen Nielsen, assigning government staffers to prepare policy memos and coordinating her paperwork submissions to the Senate  — an unprecedented role that’s causing consternation among some administration officials. “I’ve never seen someone from outside the government play that role,” said one senior official, who was granted anonymity since they were not authorized to talk to the press. “It’s shocking that someone with business before the department would be in that role.” “That is highly unusual,” agreed Chris Lu, a former Senate-confirmed official at the Department of Labor who is now a senior fellow at Virginia University’s Miller Center for Public Affairs. “Has this been cleared by the DHS ethics counsel?” Lu asked. “What procedures were followed to ensure that he doesn’t get access to non-public information that might benefit his clients?” Thad Bingel, a consultant with the Command Group, […]

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Before being picked to lead DHS, Nielsen waffled on the department’s top cyber job

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Long before she was unexpectedly tapped to run the Department of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen was picked to be DHS’ top cyber official. But Nielsen was apparently unable to decide whether to take that job — effectively blocking any appointment to the nation’s top cyberdefense post for months. “It was her,” said one senior official, “She was what blocked it.” According to numerous officials who spoke with CyberScoop, Nielsen’s nomination as DHS undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate should have been part of a flurry of swift decisions early in the year about who was to lead key DHS agencies — including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Customs and Border Protection. Critics say her waffling left the NPPD, the DHS agency in charge of the federal government’s cyberdefenses, rudderless — casting a pall over the department’s leading role in defending the nation against online aggression from criminals and […]

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Democrats call for watchdog to probe ‘glitzy’ DHS nomination party

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The inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security should investigate a “glitzy ceremony” held at the White House to celebrate the nomination of Kirstjen Nielsen as DHS secretary, says the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. “Cabinet officials and corporate lobbyists enjoyed several hours of cocktails and live entertainment,” wrote Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in a letter dated Thursday. “I find it hard to understand how a cocktail reception with corporate lobbyists benefits DHS’s mission, particularly at a time when many parts of the country, especially Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are reeling from the effects of deadly hurricanes,” he continued. Thompson asks Inspector General John Roth to investigate the Oct. 12 ceremony — for which the White House billed DHS $8,000, the lawmaker says — and “review the relevant policies for hosting events such as this, and the circumstances under which DHS may be charged.” The congressman also pronounces it “troubling” that […]

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