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Rudy Takala: Posted on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 11:44 PM
President Obama will seek to appoint Beth Cobert as director of the Office of Personnel Management, he said in a statement on Tuesday. Cobert has served as acting director of the agency since July.
"Beth will bring tremendous depth and quality of experience to her role as director of the Office of Personnel Management," Obama said. "As acting director, Beth has effectively pursued strategies to strengthen cybersecurity and improve the way the government serves citizens, businesses, and the federal workforce both past and present. |
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Rudy Takala: Posted on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 11:42 PM
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is demanding to know how widespread the use of warrantless surveillance is within the Obama administration, after it became known that the Internal Revenue Service has quietly been using "cell-site simulator" technology to collect data from unsuspecting people.
In a Monday letter to all 24 federal agencies, the leaders of the House Oversight Committee said it wants to know which other agencies are using this technology, commonly known as "Stingray" technology that poses as cell phone towers. |
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Rudy Takala: Posted on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 11:12 PM
Legislation being introduced on Monday would make it illegal for agencies to use fake cell towers that vacuum up cell phone data over a wide area without a warrant.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is introducing the Cell-Site Simulator Act. Under draft text of the bill provided to the Washington Examiner, collecting metadata with a device known as a stingray would require a warrant. Violations would be punishable by a fine and up to 10 years in prison. |
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Rudy Takala: Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2011 1:09 PM
 The 22-person list of congressional memberswho voted againstSpeaker Boehner's budget legislation deserve to be thanked. (Two of them were from my own state of Minnesota: Michele Bachmann and Chip Cravaack. South Carolina had us beat, though, as all five of their Republicans opposed the legislation.) I would not have necessarily voted against his final product, which included a balanced budget amendment. However, if those 22 members believe that Republicans could get a better end result by proposing an even better package, I am happy to stand behind them. |
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On the Washington Examiner.
