The congressional deficit reduction committee, known as the “super committee,” is holding its first public meeting Thursday. Committee co-chairs Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) said the first meeting will be an organizational meeting. The co-chairs and the 10 other members will make opening statements and consider rules for the committee’s operation. [...]

Homeland security has significantly improved in the ten years since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, but a government audit released Wednesday says the Homeland Security Department still has gaps. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro released the Government Accountability Office’s findings at a Senate hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. The AP [...]

David Petraeus, the recently retired Army general who served as top commander in both Afghanistan and Iraq, was sworn in Tuesday as director of the CIA. Petraeus becomes the 20th director in agency history, taking over for Leon Panetta, who left the CIA in June to become defense secretary. After being sworn in by Vice [...]

NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun will leave the agency in October to return to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, the agency announced Tuesday. Braun became chief technologist in February 2010 under a two-year intergovernmental personnel agreement with Georgia Tech. Braun, NASA’s first chief technologist in a decade, was the agency’s principal adviser and advocate on matters [...]

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday she could see a future where air travelers do not have to remove their shoes at security checkpoints. However, the technology to scan shoe-wearing passengers for bombs does not exist yet and may not be available in the near future, Napolitano said. The policy of removing shoes was [...]

In the ten years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, air travel has become safer but still comes with no guarantees, the head of the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday. John Pistole said terrorists are taking “extreme” measures to evade security, highlighting an attempt to hide explosives in a printer cartridge. These types of [...]

The Postal Service’s financial woes, including massive losses and a warning that it could go broke, have led to calls for reform of the independent corporation. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Tuesday time is running out for Congress to pass reforms and help shore up the Postal [...]

Children attending public schools at military installations will be subject to similar attendance policies at other public schools, the Pentagon’s education agency said Tuesday. The Department of Defense Education Activity is implementing a system-wide attendance policy this school year for DoDEA schools around the world. All students will be required to attend school for 180 [...]

Actions to combat al-Qaida have left it less capable but the terrorist network is still planning attacks, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday. The AP reports Panetta spoke with reporters after touring the National September 11 Memorial and Museum site in New York City. Many top al-Qaida leaders, including Osama bin Laden, have been captured [...]

The Army is implementing recommendations made by the Department of Defense Inspector General to improve testing and performance of soldier-worn body armor, Armed with Science reported Tuesday. In August, the inspector general found the Army improperly tested bullet-blocking plates and could not determine if 5 million plates met safety standards. The inspector general recommended, among [...]