Government

CBS News reports: The House on Monday night approved the 2022 annual defense bill, which authorizes programs and spending guidelines for the Pentagon and other national security programs, includes changes to military prosecutions, more money for Ukraine and a pay raise for service members. The bill had bipartisan support, garnering 363 votes. Fifty-one Democrats and 19 Republicans voted against it. …

The Washington Post reports: House and Senate leaders on Thursday announced they had reached a deal on a bill to fund the government into mid-February, opening the door for lawmakers to narrowly avoid a shutdown entering this weekend. The agreement on a new stopgap spending measure set the House on a path to vote before the end of the day, …

From the Department of Defense: Today, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, in close collaboration with the Director of National Intelligence, directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security to establish within the Office of the USD(I&S) the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) as the successor to the U.S. Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. …

The Associated Press reports: President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning on Jan. 22, the administration planned to announce. A senior administration official said the requirement, which the White House previewed in October, brings the rules for essential travelers in line …

Axios reports: SpaceX is set to launch a NASA spacecraft on a mission to learn how to change the course of an asteroid in deep space. The mission — called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) — will test the technology needed to redirect a dangerous asteroid if one is ever found on course with Earth. Once in space, DART …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department on Monday advised against travel to Germany and Denmark because of a rising number of COVID-19 cases in those countries. The CDC elevated its travel recommendation to “Level Four: Very High” for the two European countries, telling Americans they should avoid travel there, while the …

The New York Times reports: Several dozen New York City workers have been suspended without pay as a part of an investigation into the use of fake vaccine cards at the Department of Sanitation, a city official with knowledge of the investigation said. The Department of Sanitation garnered particular attention for a single-day increase of nine percentage points — taking …

Bloomberg News reports: Hackers compromised the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s external email system on Saturday. The hackers sent out tens of thousands of emails from an FBI email account warning about a possible cyberattack, according to the Spamhaus Project, which tracks spam and related cyber threats. The FBI said it, along with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is “aware …

The New York Daily News reports: Gov. Hochul wants school kids to give it the old college try when it comes to getting a COVID vaccine. New York is raffling off 50 full free rides to either a SUNY or CUNY college as part of the state’s latest enticement to get immunized, Hochul announced on Tuesday. The incentive program, dubbed …

The Associated Press reports: Thousands of intelligence officers could soon face dismissal for failing to comply with the U.S. government’s vaccine mandate, leading some Republican lawmakers to raise concerns about removing employees from agencies critical to national security.  Several intelligence agencies had at least 20% of their workforce unvaccinated as of late October, said U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, a Utah …

CNN reports: A drone that crashed near a Pennsylvania power substation last year was likely meant to damage or disrupt the electric equipment, according to a federal law enforcement bulletin obtained by CNN. The July 2020 incident is the first known case of a “modified unmanned aircraft system likely being used in the United States to specifically target energy infrastructure,” …

The New York Times reports: The Biden administration said on Thursday that large companies have until Jan. 4 to ensure that their workforces are fully vaccinated under a sweeping new coronavirus health measure that will cover 84 million private sector workers. The plan was first announced in September by President Biden, who directed the Labor Department to invoke its emergency …

Gothamist reports: Governor Kathy Hochul plans to forge forward with a redesign of Penn Station and the surrounding neighborhood, but will put her own spin on the project first proposed by her predecessor Andrew Cuomo. “This area is is the beating heart of our city,” Hochul said during a press conference Wednesday, noting it’s the busiest transit hub in North …

CBS News reports: A 20-year-old Irvine man has been federally charged with attacking a flight attendant aboard an American Airlines flight from New York to Orange County last week, forcing the plane to be diverted to Denver. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reported Monday that Brian Hsu has been charged with interference with a flight crew and assault within the special …

Penn Live reports: Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration put a new incentive on the table to encourage state employees to get their COVID-19 vaccination. Even those employees who already received their shots will benefit from it. The 72,000 employees who work under the governor’s jurisdiction are now eligible for up to five days paid leave if they are or become fully …

The Associated Press reports: Nine in 10 New York City municipal workers received COVID-19 vaccinations as a Monday deadline loomed under a city mandate, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio. De Blasio tweeted that 91% of city workers had received the vaccine, which represented a jump from about 83% as of Friday night. Under a city mandate, those who haven’t …

Gothamist reports: More than 26,000 New York City government employees, including firefighters, police officers, and sanitation workers, flouted the deadline for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to data provided by his office. The workers had until Friday at 5 p.m. to get the shots and claim a $500 bonus. On Monday, the unvaccinated city workers will be …

Via press release from the White House: We, the President of France, Chancellor of Germany, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and President of the United States, met in Rome today to discuss the risks posed to international security by Iran’s escalating nuclear program. We expressed our determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon …

CNBC reports: The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized the use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, a move that will make the shots available to 28 million kids in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must sign off before shots can be distributed. It’s scheduled an advisory committee meeting …

NBC News reports: The United States has issued its first passport with an “X” gender marker, which denotes that someone is neither exclusively male nor female, the State Department said Wednesday. This marks a milestone for nonbinary and intersex Americans, who make up an estimated 1.2 million and 4 million Americans, respectively, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA …