John Kelly’s Homeland Security Hearing: 3 Questions Congress Must Ask

Marine General John Kelly, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, has his confirmation hearing with the Senate Homeland Security Committee today. Kelly is a four-star general who served in the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq War, worked alongside Defense Secretaries Leon Panetta and Robert Gates, and led US Southern Command, which oversees US military action in South America and Central Asia.

Trump’s wiretap tweets come as NSA surveillance programs are up for renewal this year

Nearly four years after National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden blew the lid off domestic spying, the vast surveillance programs cherished as the “crown jewels” of the U.S. intelligence establishment are about to spring back into public debate – and not just because of Donald Trump’s allegation that he’s been the subject of wiretaps. The legal framework for some of the broadest U.S. surveillance programs, authorized for a five-year period in 2012, will expire Dec. 31 unless Congress reauthorizes it.

US privacy board in disarray before Trump takes office

A federal board responsible for protecting Americans against abuses by spy agencies is in disarray just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board will have only two remaining members as of Jan. 7 – and zero Democrats, even though it is required to operate as an independent, bipartisan agency.

State News

Gov. Scott Walker is asking the Wisconsin state legislative body to approve a bill which directs an additional $35.5 million toward the construction of broadband infrastructures throughout the state. Friday, December 9, 2016 A special three-judge federal redistricting panel has ordered the governor and the Legislature to redraw the state’s legislative districts, in time for them to be jurisdictionally valid for the 2018 elections.

Elections

Republican billionaire businessman Donald J. Trump stunned the nation and the world with a historic victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton Tuesday, winning Wisconsin and other traditionally Democratic states in a historic triumph. Wednesday, November 9, 2016 All three seats on the Lac du Flambeau Town Board are up for reelection come April 4. The League of Women Voters of the Northwoods and Citizens for Education in Town Governance sponsored a public forum Tuesday, allowing citizens to meet the candidates running and ask questions relevant to town governance.

Elections

Republican billionaire businessman Donald J. Trump stunned the nation and the world with a historic victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton Tuesday, winning Wisconsin and other traditionally Democratic states in a historic triumph. Wednesday, November 9, 2016 Green Party candidate Jill Stein wants a recount of the presidential vote in Wisconsin, and she’s going to get one – though not the one she wanted – after paying almost $3.5 million to the state.

Congress ushers in new era of all-Republican rule

Congress ushers in a new era of all-Republican rule. On Tuesday at noon, with plenty of pomp and pageantry, members of the 115th Congress will be sworn in, with an emboldened GOP intent on unraveling eight years of President Barack Obama’s Democratic agenda and targeting massive legacy programs from Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson such as Social Security and Medicare.

Governor names new leader for wildlife and fisheries agency

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has named a new secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries after its former leader called it “a troubled state agency” and resigned abruptly. Edwards on Friday announced that State Rep. Jack Montoucet will be the agency’s new secretary effective Jan. 16, replacing Charlie Melancon.

Filling IA billets a top priority for the Navy

As the Navy transitions individual augmentee duty into the job-assignment process, some sailors may find their only option for their next duty station is downrange, sailors were told Thursday at the Navy’s Career Management Symposium here. “Over the next five to seven months, [global war on terrorism support assignments] are our first priority until they get filled up,” said Command Master Chief Kenneth Ellenburg, aviation team command master chief liaison for the Navy Personnel Command’s Center for Personal and Professional Development in Millington, Tenn.

NTSB recommends rigorous maintenance programs for firefighting aircraft

The NTSB issued recommendation letters to the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Interior and to the FAA regarding maintenance programs for aircraft used in fire fighting operations. The recommendations are part of a package that includes probable causes for three air tanker accidents caused by in-flight wing separations resulting from fatigue fractures.