A Senate committee approved legislation Wednesday allowing same-sex partners of federal employees to receive employment benefits. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act with a bipartisan voice vote. It must be approved by the full Senate and the House before enactment. Read full article > >

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Senate panel approves benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees

The chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee expressed dismay that someone leaked information about a double agent who infiltrated al Qaeda and helped foil a plot to blow up a U.S.-bound plane.

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‘Double agent’ infiltrated al Qaeda plot

The Department of Homeland Security is a tale of the good, the bad and the ugly. It has 230,000 employees, about the population of Birmingham, Ala. Almost all of them are good, hardworking public servants, providing valuable service to the country. Read full article > >

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The good, bad and ugly of the Homeland Security Department

The policy change came in the Department of Homeland Security’s response to a sharply critical report by a task force on a federal fingerprinting program.

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Traffic Violations Won’t Earn Illegal Immigrants Deportation

More Secret Service employees could leave the agency Friday because of a prostitute scandal, said House Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Peter King.

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Former agent checked out Palin

If the homeland’s security were dependent on employee morale, we’d be in big trouble. Fortunately, the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security are committed to the agency’s mission, even as the agency fails to inspire them. Read full article > >

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Homeland Security’s morale is at code red

Matthew Arlen couldn’t run for his local school board because Uncle Sam pays for his dog. Arlen is a transit cop in Philadelphia. His partner is a black lab named Hhynes. Expenses for the canine, including a portion of Arlen’s salary as the dog’s handler, are covered by federal Homeland Security funding. Read full article > >

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Bill would update Hatch Act, which regulates federal worker involvement in politics

Matthew Arlen couldn’t run for his local school board because Uncle Sam pays for his dog. Arlen is a transit cop in Philadelphia. His partner is a black lab named Hhynes. Expenses for the canine, including a portion of Arlen’s salary as the dog’s handler, are covered by federal Homeland Security funding. Read full article > >

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Bill would update Hatch Act, which regulates federal worker involvement in politics

Zachary Adam Chesser, the 22-year-old Oakton High School graduate who converted to Islam as a teen and pleaded guilty last year to terrorism-related charges, represents the future of online Islamist radicalization, according to a report to be released Monday by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Read full article > >

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Oakton High grad guilty in terror case is cited in report on future of Islamist extremism

HIDALGO, TEX. — President Obama’s decision last year to send 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border may have been smart politics, but a growing number of skeptics say the deployment is an expensive and inefficient mission that has made little difference in homeland security. Critics of the deployment include budget hawks, who say it is a waste of money, and residents here along the border, who say they are tired of seeing armed troops in their back yard. Read full article > >

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National Guard deployment on U.S.-Mexico border has mixed results

Senators said at a hearing Thursday that Congress should quickly pass a bill that clearly prohibits its members and their staffs from trading stock based on nonpublic information they gather on Capitol Hill. In a two-hour hearing before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, members and witnesses said swift action was necessary because the public’s faith in Congress is at “an all-time low.” Read full article > >

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Senate panel weighs congressional insider-trading ban

The Department of Homeland Security is making changes that are aimed at speeding up deportations of convicted criminals and halting those of many illegal immigrants with no criminal record.

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Deportation Cases of Illegal Immigrants to Be Reviewed

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spends a considerable amount of time dealing with cybersecurity threats, including potential attacks on the nation’s infrastructure. But don’t ask her to detail the nation’s biggest cyber enemies. “Oh, I don’t rank them, this isn’t basketball or something,” Napolitano said Thursday, earning her a laugh at the start of a Washington Post Live event on cybersecurity . “Threats are threats.” Read full article > >

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Janet Napolitano: Hackers have ‘come close’ to major cyberattack

Senators with oversight of the federal workforce said Friday that Congress should freeze the pay of federal employees for a third year and retool calculations of federal retirement benefits in order to cut the federal deficit. Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee , also said no workers in any of the three branches of the federal government should be spared from cuts under consideration by the supercommittee on deficit reduction. Read full article > >

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Key senators back extending federal pay freeze

A senior lawmaker has asked the Department of Homeland Security to hand over e-mails, contracting records and other documents as part of an expansive congressional probe of an alleged $20 million kickback scheme at the Army Corps of Engineers. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) is seeking information about Eyak Technology, known as EyakTek, an Alaska-native corporation that has received more than $1 billion worth of set-aside contracts from DHS and the Army. Read full article > >

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Homeland Security contracts under fire