National & World Headlines

  • Small firms already have taken a disproportionate hit from DoD's pullback in 2013 spending, Pentagon officials say. Military acquisition leaders worry the sudden cuts will bankrupt small businesses that provide one-of-a-kind capabilities.

    March 01, 2013
  • Sequestration is officially a reality for federal employees and agencies. President Barack Obama signed the sequestration order into effect Friday night. After more than 15 months, fierce debate and a delay at the beginning of the year, the $85 billion in automatic, across-the-board budget cuts are officially here. Find out what steps civilian agencies and the Pentagon are taking, including employee furloughs. Plus find out what comes next in terms of negotiations between the White House and Congress.

    March 01, 2013
  • An Army private charged in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history is set to tell a military judge how he did it and why.

    February 28, 2013
  • Veterans groups and lawmakers are saying the military's new medal for cyber warriors should get a demotion so it doesn't outrank such revered honors as the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. The Distinguished Warfare Medal was announced two weeks ago. It's a sign of the changing nature of war, and the increasingly important role played by attacks conducted remotely.

    February 28, 2013
  • There's going to be a new Secretary of Defense today. And the outgoing SECDEF Leon Panetta said in a farewell message, "It's been the privilege of my life to serve with and lead the men and women of this Department." And in his final act he expressed deep gratitude to those who are fighting and working every day in national defense. The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Chuck Hagel on Tuesday as President Barack Obama's new secretary of defense.

    February 28, 2013
  • Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has ordered all U.S. special forces out of Wardak province. "We're working with the government of Afghanistan to define precisely what their concerns were," said spokesman George Little. "Obviously we take all of their concerns very seriously." The concern came up after civilians living in Wardak complained of killings, beatings and other abuse at the hands of Afghan troops working with US forces.

    February 28, 2013
  • The Pentagon on Friday grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane. The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine Corps are buying other versions of the F-35, which is intended to replace older fighters like the Air Force F-16 and the Navy F/A-18.

    February 28, 2013
  • The automatic budget cuts set to occur under sequestration will go into effect as a matter of law on Friday. But their full impact won't be felt until late this spring, long after lawmakers encounter the next budget showdown.

    February 28, 2013
  • A House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on the decision by the Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments to scale back plans for a joint integrated electronic-health records systems dredged up longstanding issues with the two departments' EHR efforts.

    February 27, 2013
  • The Pentagon's commercial device implementation plan, made public Tuesday, aims at near-term implementation of a new generation of mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads and Android handhelds and tablets on both classified and unclassified networks.

    February 27, 2013
  • We've got another week, at least, of hair-pulling news and analysis about sequestration, federal furloughs and the like. So, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wants to know, is this going to be the bombshell critics claim or as harmless as a burp in church?

    February 26, 2013
  • The Republican senator from Oklahoma is asking the Office of Management and Budget to require agencies to stop hiring for certain positions. Instead, he would like that funding put towards mission critical jobs that could be affected by sequestration cuts. Coburn, the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, found 10 jobs listed on USAJobs.gov that he believes could be frozen. He says this would give agencies $1.4 million to spend on positions like border security officers and TSA screeners.

    February 25, 2013
  • Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is concerned new regulations may make whistleblowers even more reluctant to report tax fraud to the IRS. OMB Controller Danny Werfel says $85 billion in cuts under sequestration would hurt every state. Maj. Gen. Brett Williams says the U.S. Cyber Command is trying to figure how to normalize operations alongside air, land and sea capabilities. Lynn Singleton, director of environmental services at Lockheed Martin, talks about helping agencies move their email to the cloud. Dr. Milton Corn explains why The National Library of Medicine is monitoring social media.

    February 25, 2013
  • Katherine Hammack, the assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and the Environment, said many of the cost-cutting measures the Army will be forced to take because of sequestration, such as letting service and maintenance contracts expire, could have a trickle-down effect on service members.

    February 22, 2013