SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2017, Issue No. 78
November 6, 2017

Secrecy News Blog: https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

SOME "ACTING" OFFICIALS WILL SOON LOSE AUTHORITY

Some government officials who are serving on an "acting" basis because a permanent replacement has not yet been named will lose their ability to function this month when their legal authority is nullified under the terms of the Vacancies Act.

In the Trump Administration there are hundreds of government agency positions requiring Senate confirmation that have gone unfilled. In many cases, their responsibilities have been assumed by "acting" officials.

But by law, that arrangement can only be temporary. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 specifies that "acting" officers can fill positions requiring confirmation for no more than 210 days. If the position is vacant at the start of a new Administration, an extension of 90 days is allowed, for a total of 300 days.

The 300 day period from Inauguration Day last January 20 will end on November 16, 2017. After that, certain acting officials will no longer be able to carry out their duties.

"If the acting officer remains in office and attempts to perform a nondelegable function or duty -- one that a statute or regulation expressly assigns to that office -- that action will 'have no force or effect'," according to a new brief from the Congressional Research Service.

See Out of Office: Vacancies, Acting Officers, and Day 301, CRS Legal Sidebar, November 1, 2017:

See also The Vacancies Act: A Legal Overview, October 30, 2017:

President Trump does not appear to be concerned about the matter. Asked about high level vacancies in the State Department last week, he told Laura Ingraham of Fox that most of the government positions awaiting confirmed nominees were superfluous. "I'm the only one that matters," he said.

PROTECTED STATUS FOR MANY REFUGEES SET TO EXPIRE

US law provides temporary protected status (TPS) for certain foreign nationals in the United States who are fleeing armed conflict, natural disaster or other extreme circumstances in their native country.

But many refugees who have been granted such temporary status may soon have it revoked.

"The United States currently provides TPS to approximately 437,000 foreign nationals from 10 countries," according to a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service. Those countries are: El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. See Temporary Protected Status: Overview and Current Issues, updated November 2, 2017:

Unless renewed, TPS for persons from Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua will expire in January 2018. The Washington Post reported that the Department of Homeland Security is expected to announce today that the expiring protections will not be renewed.

* * *

Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.

El Salvador: Background and U.S. Relations, updated November 3, 2017:

Clearing the Air on the Debt Limit, November 2, 2017:

Public Private Partnerships (P3s) in Transportation, November 2, 2017:

A Second Amendment Right to Sell Firearms? The Ninth Circuit, Sitting En Banc, Weighs In., CRS Legal Sidebar, November 2, 2017:

Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, updated November 2, 2017:

The National Science Foundation: FY2018 Appropriations and Funding History, November 2, 2017:

STRATCOM COMMANDER "HATES" SOME PRESS REPORTS

"I hate the stuff that shows up in the press," said Gen. John E. Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, at a congressional hearing on nuclear deterrence last March, the record of which has just been published.

Gen. Hyten was responding to a question from Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) about the volume of unclassified information that gets released concerning the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD).

"General Hyten, we have seen a lot of GBSD acquisition details loaded into unclassified acquisition databases and run by the Air Force," said Rep. Scott. "We all know that Russia, China, and others scoop all this stuff up to the best of their abilities and analyze it intensively."

"Why is all of this put out in the open? Should we reassess what is unclassified in these acquisition documents?" Rep. Scott wanted to know.

"I hate the stuff that shows up in the press," Gen. Hyten replied. "I think we should reassess that."

"Just to complete that thought, I hate the fact that cost estimates show up in the press as well," he added. "So I would really like to figure out a different way to do business than that. I hate seeing that kind of information in the newspaper."

See Military Assessment of Nuclear Deterrence Requirements, hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, March 8, 2017.

In answer to another question at the hearing, Gen. Hyten denied that US nuclear forces are on "hair trigger alert."

"Our nuclear command and control system is constantly exercised to ensure that only the President, after consultations with his senior advisors and military leaders, can authorize any employment of our nuclear forces," he said.

On the other hand, Gen. Paul Selva, Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the time available for a President to make a decision about a nuclear strike could be highly compressed depending on the scenario.

"The launch-on-warning criteria basically are driven by physics," he said at the hearing. "The amount of time the President has to make a decision is based on when we can detect a launch [and] what it takes to physically characterize the launch."

"I don't believe the physics let us give him much more time," Gen. Selva said.

******************************

Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

The Secrecy News blog is at:
      https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/

To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
     https://fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/subscribe.html

To UNSUBSCRIBE, go to:
      https://fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/unsubscribe.html

OR email your request to saftergood@fas.org

Secrecy News is archived at:
      https://fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html

SUPPORT the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation here:
      https://fas.org/donate/