The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence in a 52-48 vote, making Donald Trump’s controversial nominee — whose approval appeared unlikely just weeks ago — the nation’s spy chief. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii and an Army combat veteran, passed out of the Senate Intelligence Committee in a 9-8 party-line vote last week. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the former Senate majority leader, appeared to be the GOP’s only “no” for Gabbard during the final vote. “The [Office of the Director of National Intelligence] wields significant authority over how the intelligence community allocates its resources, conducts its collection and analysis and manages the classification and declassification of our nation’s most sensitive secrets. In my assessment, Tulsi Gabbard failed to demonstrate that she is prepared […]

A handful of employees inside the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency focused on countering disinformation, misinformation and related influence operations were recently put on administrative leave, a DHS spokesperson confirmed to Nextgov/FCW Wednesday. The statement confirmed earlier reports about staff being sidelined, a move that comes as DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has vowed to overhaul and reshape the scope of the cyber agency amid GOP concerns that its past efforts to reduce false information on social-media sites helped censor conservative voices. “The agency is undertaking an evaluation of how it has executed its election-security mission with a particular focus on any work related to mis-, dis-, and malinformation,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “While the agency conducts the assessment, personnel who worked on mis-, dis-, and malinformation, as well […]