The Department of Defense said the department hasn’t assessed the proposed separation of the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, which shares leadership, infrastructure and talent, Fifth Domain reported Wednesday. 

“No decision has been made on whether to terminate the dual-hat leadership arrangement,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith. “The department will address whether to terminate this dual-hat leadership arrangement at a later date.”

The announcement comes amid the call from defense officials to run CYBERCOM and NSA as independent agencies to avoid conflicts in decision-making. Andrew Schoka, an active duty Army cyber operations officer assigned to CYBERCOM, said the command is heavily relying on NSA tradecraft, infrastructure, staff and space.

“For [CYBERCOM] to more effectively accomplish its mission, it should be separated from NSA sooner than planned,” he said. “This will allow the command to better pursue the nation’s military objectives in cyberspace.”

Meanwhile, top CYBERCOM officials said that the partnership with NSA helps gather more intelligence and provide national security. Gen. Paul Nakasone, a 2019 Wash100 Award winner currently leads both NSA and CYBERCOM. 

“NSA has world class expertise, technical capabilities and access that are crucial to the United States Cyber Command’s success,” said David Luber, executive director of CYBERCOM. 

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed a bill to streamline congressional offices’ process in reaching federal agencies on behalf of constituents. The Creating Advanced Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents act would allow constituents to electronically authorize their representation in congressional offices for engagements with federal agencies, the office of Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said Wednesday. 

The bipartisan bill would update a provision under the existing Privacy Act to grant constituents this option and reduce the need for written authorization.

“When the American taxpayers we represent need assistance with social security, medicare, veteran affairs or any other federal agency, they should be able to get the help and information they need quickly and in a straightforward manner,” said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., who co-introduced the bill with Portman.

The House Homeland Security Committee passed four bills to support research efforts for first responder systems and update the Department of Homeland Security’s cyber functions, Nextgov reported Wednesday. The DHS Overseas Personnel Enhancement Act seeks to push the agency to establish an approach for worldwide deployment and protect its personnel from potential foreign threats.

Meanwhile, the DHS Cyber Incident Response Team Act was created to form specialized teams to assist companies and the government to repel cyberattacks. The committee also approved the Unifying DHS Intelligence Enterprise Act, a legislation that will require DHS to further the distribution of information to intelligence offices, government agencies and companies.

Lastly, the Supporting Research and Development for First Responders Act aims to protect first responders from potential terrorist threats.

President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday declaring a national emergency to address threats posed by foreign adversaries to the country’s information and communications technology and services. The EO prohibits transactions involving ICT and related services that pose national security risks and threats to the security and resiliency of the U.S. critical infrastructure and digital economy, the White House said Wednesday. 

The new policy authorizes the secretary of the Department of Commerce to terminate prohibited transactions and employ all other authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The secretary should also collaborate with the secretary of the State Department to submit reports to Congress. The Director of National Intelligence should also create an initial assessment of threats to the U.S. ICT supply chain within 40 days.

“The Secretary of Homeland Security shall continue to assess and identify entities, hardware, software, and services that present vulnerabilities in the United States and that pose the greatest potential consequences to the national security of the United States,” according to the EO.

The U.S. Postal Service took the top spot in a new poll by analytics and advisory firm Gallup that ranked the federal agencies based on the satisfaction of Americans. USPS received the highest rating, with 74 percent of respondents saying the agency is doing an “excellent” or “good” job, Gallup said Monday. The agency also ranked first place in 2014, 2017 and 2018. 

The Secret Service ranked second on the list, followed by the Centers for Disease Control, CIA, NASA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, citizens gave only fair to poor ratings to the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Gallup used data gathered during the presidency of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. 

The Department of Homeland Security and the city of Norfolk in Virginia launched a new tool to guide local governments in creating plans to secure people and resources before natural disasters or any damaging incident. City officials helped develop the new Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard in partnership with the DHS Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence, the agency said Tuesday. 

PIRS enables communities to improve the integration of disaster mitigation across a community’s network of plans and to reduce vulnerabilities to hazards. The tool also guides in decision-making for construction and development in hazardous areas. 

“The resilience scorecard was a great tool to allow us to evaluate our existing plans and policies against the backdrop of resilience,” said George Homewood, interim director of development for Norfolk. “Perhaps most revealing were not inconsistencies in our plans, but that we had not fully incorporated all our policies and actions aimed at resilience into our most important policy document, our comprehensive plan.” 

Researchers worked with city staff to create PIRS using spatial data from geographic information systems mapping technology and analysis of local plans to identify areas most vulnerable to hazards. Norfolk is using PIRS to address the city’s vulnerability to flood risks.