Category: Headlines

Just In | The Hill 

This week, New York subway officials grabbed a woman passing the turnstiles at the 161st St.-Yankee Stadium station and announced she had won a prize for being their billionth passenger of 2022.  

That sounds like a lot of passengers, until you consider that the New York City Subway carried 1.7 billion riders in pre-pandemic 2019. 

Ordinary life has returned to many urban restaurants, taverns and sidewalks, especially on evenings and weekends. But the nation’s great subways have not fully rebounded from the ghost-train dystopia of COVID-19. 

Ridership in 2020 plunged 60 percent, to 640 million, on the nation’s busiest subway system, the smallest number to ride New York subways in more than a century. In other words, between 2019 and 2020, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority lost a billion passengers. Most of them haven’t returned.  

The nation’s second- and third-busiest subway systems, in Chicago and Washington, D.C., are faring even worse.  

Fall ridership is running at about half of 2019 numbers on Chicago’s “L,” which logged 87 million passengers through October. Washington’s Metro carried roughly 225,000 daily passengers through October, two-fifths of its 2019 ridership. 

The obvious reason for half-empty subways is remote work. The share of people working primarily from home tripled from 6 percent in 2019 to 18 percent in 2021, according to Census data.  

Virtual workers abound in big cities. Nearly half of D.C. workers now toil mostly at home.  

Getting teleworkers back on subways is a big problem for transit officials.  

The other problem confronting urban transit agencies is safety, and not just the mask and hand-sanitizer kind.  

Younger subway patrons don’t mask up much anymore, a trend that is keeping some older and immune-compromised riders away. In 2022, three or four masks on a crowded New York subway car is a common sight.  

Potential subway patrons also fear violence. In a recent article on subway safety, The New York Times portrayed a system “with fewer riders, but more volatile ones,” evoking faint memories of an era when New Yorkers mostly avoided Central Park and subway stations after dark.  

Crime on the New York subway is nowhere near the historic levels of 30 or 40 years ago. The system typically logs a few thousand major crimes in a year today, compared with nearly 17,500 in 1990. The subway had 26 homicides that year. 

But the Times noted a “string of shoves, stabbings and shootings on the trains” that elevated subway safety as an issue in the New York governor’s race this year. The newspaper’s analysis found that, yes, crime is more common on the subway now than it was in 2019: roughly 1.2 violent crimes for every million rides in 2022, twice the rate before the pandemic.  

The New York subway system had recorded nine homicides this year through November, the Times reported, compared with an average of fewer than two in pre-pandemic years.  

The D.C. Metro system witnessed two shootings in a 15-hour span this month that left one person dead and four injured, “the latest in a string of high-profile incidents in recent months to leave commuters and transit officials on edge,” The Washington Post reported. 

One incident unfolded at 6:30 on a Wednesday evening at the Metro Center station downtown, the system’s busiest. Police said a man pushed an off-duty FBI agent over a railing, sending both men plummeting from the Red Line platform. The agent drew his gun and shot his alleged attacker, police said. Metro patrons fled into the streets.  

Aggravated assaults and robberies are more common on Metro property now than in 2021, the Post said.  

Violent crime on Chicago L trains has declined this year but remains more than twice as prevalent now as before the pandemic, according to an analysis by the Chicago Tribune. 

The Tribune found 6.2 violent crimes for every million L rides through November of 2022 and 6.8 in the same period of 2021, the highest rates of the past decade. Meanwhile, the arrest rate for those crimes has fallen to the lowest level in years. 

Transit officials say they have beefed up security on all three systems. Still, stories about unchecked crimes on half-empty, unpatrolled subway cars spread fast on social media. 

“It doesn’t seem like there’s anything to deter this kind of crime on the trains if there aren’t arrests when it happens,” Sam Bergman, 22, told the Tribune.  

The Chicagoan said he avoids the L after watching an apparent mugger burst into the red line car he occupied with his girlfriend one October evening. 

For big-city subway systems, lower ridership means lower revenues.  

Federal COVID-19 aid has propped up urban subway systems. Earlier this year, New York’s Metropolitan Authority projected a $2.5 billion budget shortfall in 2025, when that bailout money will have run out.  

The biggest problem is ridership. New York subway forecasters predict passenger numbers will reach only 80 percent of 2019 levels by 2026. New Yorkers fear looming service cuts that will make their city less livable.  

The Chicago Transit Authority is counting on federal bailout funds to close its own projected $390 million budget deficit in 2023 without raising fares. 

The D.C. Metro system plans to raise fares and offer more frequent service in a bid to increase ridership and close its own $185 million budget shortfall. When federal relief funds run out, Metro’s deficit will swell past $500 million.  

“That’s a staggering share of overall operating costs that defies any budgetary sleight of hand,” the Post opined.  

Metro leaders hope reduced wait times will bring back riders, and that few of them will notice the modest price hikes. The latter, at least, seems likely: Metro features perhaps the most complicated fare system in the country. 

As large cities struggle to lure back subway riders, smaller rapid transit systems around the nation seem to be recovering more successfully. Nationwide, the pandemic-era diorama of empty buses and vacant transit hubs has largely passed. 

Public ridership nationwide, including buses and trains, plummeted to 20 percent of pre-pandemic levels in April 2020, according to a report from the American Public Transportation Association. Ridership rebounded to around 40 percent of normal in the summer of 2020. The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines pushed national ridership near 60 percent of 2019 levels by late 2021, and to 70 percent today.  

Public transit use runs higher in smaller cities, where remote work is less common and ridership was lower to begin with. Bus systems have recovered lost riders more quickly than train lines.  

The relative success of bus routes speaks to subtle socioeconomic differences between bus and train customers. Bus lines “generally serve more essential workers, while rail modes serve more office commuters,” the report states. Amid the pandemic, “rail riders have been more likely to have options to work from home.” 

​Transportation, Policy Read More 

Just In | The Hill 

The 2024 presidential primaries are still more than a year away, but the race to become the Republican nominee is quickly becoming a volatile affair. 

So far, only former President Trump has launched a campaign for the nomination, but most Republicans expect that to change soon. Even though he remains the ostensible leader of the GOP, he’s facing new questions about the direction of the party and whether he remains the best standard-bearer heading into 2024. 

Here are five factors that could determine the 2024 GOP nominee: 

Trump’s legal problems 

Trump may be back on the campaign trail, but that hasn’t helped him shake a laundry list of investigations and legal troubles.  

The former president is facing a grand jury investigation in Georgia into whether he and his allies sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election there. His company, the Trump Organization, was convicted earlier this month of tax fraud in New York. And a special counsel is now leading the Justice Department’s criminal probe into Trump’s possible mishandling of classified documents, as well as his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. 

Of course, Trump’s no stranger to legal problems and investigations, which he has repeatedly written off as politically motivated. Still, the sheer number of probes and legal threats put Trump in a unique position as he kicks off his third run for the White House.  

Even if the various investigations fail to end in charges against the former president, they could fuel further attacks from Democrats and even potential Republican primary opponents. What’s more, Trump’s legal troubles could act as a reminder to some voters of why they voted him out of the White House in the first place.  

DeSantis’s momentum 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has skyrocketed to stardom within the GOP over the past two years, turning him into one of the most talked-about prospective candidates for the party’s 2024 presidential nod. 

But there’s still a big question ahead for DeSantis: is he peaking too early? 

“It’s a scary place to be in when you have this much momentum, you know, two years out from an election,” one Republican operative who’s worked on presidential campaigns said. “There’s still a million things that could happen, or people just get tired of you.” 

To be sure, DeSantis hasn’t yet said whether he will make a run for the White House, and a final decision is likely months away. He still hasn’t been sworn in for his second term as governor, and there’s also a state legislative session to get through.  

If he ultimately decides to jump into the race, he’ll have to hold his own against fellow Republicans, including Trump, the famously pugilistic former president who sees himself as responsible for DeSantis’s political success. 

A crowded field 

So far, Trump is the only Republican to have announced a bid for the presidency in 2024. But he’s almost certainly not the last. 

DeSantis has already started online advertisements targeting national audiences, which suggests that he may be nearing a final decision on a campaign. Former Vice President Mike Pence has been traveling the country to promote a new book amid speculation that he could jump into the 2024 race. 

Meanwhile, other Republicans, like former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have hinted that they may be mulling presidential campaigns of their own.  

Despite Trump’s hope that his presence in the race will clear the field of potential rivals, the 2024 Republican primary could be another crowded one, much like it was in 2016 when more than a dozen candidates vied for the GOP presidential nod. 

While early polling shows Trump and DeSantis as the apparent favorites for the 2024 nomination, a crowded field and unpredictable political landscape could complicate things. After all, few expected Trump to emerge victorious in the 2016 primary. 

Republican discord  

The GOP may be set to take the House majority next week, but the 2022 midterm elections have otherwise left the party bitterly divided over the future of its leadership and strategy. 

Some Republicans have begun openly discussing ways for the party to move on from Trump and his brand of conservatism. Others place blame for the lackluster midterm performance on party leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and what they see as a failure by the Republican establishment to inspire and motivate its base voters. 

The rift lies in who voters ultimately blame for the GOP’s mediocre performance over the past three election cycles. While many in the party remain staunchly loyal to Trump, there are still questions about his influence over the GOP and whether Republicans can appeal to a broad enough portion of the electorate to win nationally in 2024. 

“I don’t think [Trump’s influence] is anywhere as strong as it used to be and you’ll see how people respond across the country,” Saul Anuzis, a Republican strategist and former Michigan GOP chairman, said. “There are going to be a lot of conversations about what comes next.” 

What Democrats do 

For all the talk about Republicans’ 2024 prospects, Democrats are facing a dilemma of their own.  

President Biden has said that he plans to run for a second term, but some in his party aren’t so sure if that’s the best move. And there’s little agreement among Democrats over a fitting replacement for the sitting president should he bow out of a reelection campaign. 

Some Republicans say that the GOP should get behind a younger candidate – perhaps someone like DeSantis — who can offer a clear contrast to Biden. Others say that Trump’s outsized national profile and bombastic style could help the GOP outgun Biden or any other Democrat at a time of deep economic uncertainty and discontent with the country’s direction. 

“When you talk about inflation, crime, border security — these are issues that don’t just affect Republicans, they affect Democrats, they affect everyone,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist and former congressional candidate. “I just don’t see things changing demonstrably for the Democrats over the next two years.” 

​Campaign, 2022 midterm elections, 2024 GOP presidential primary, 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump, GOP, Joe Biden, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis Read More 

Just In | The Hill 

Cyberattacks have surged in recent years, with the health care system and other critical sectors increasingly coming under digital assault as the threat of malware like ransomware and foreign spyware continues to evolve.

Last year in particular saw officials and lawmakers renew their focus on cybersecurity and seek to secure the country’s critical sectors from rising cyber threats. The issue is expected to continue to take center stage in the coming year, as many of those threats are still escalating while the cyber sector is confronting an ongoing workforce shortage in its efforts to bolster the U.S.’s digital defenses.

Here are four cyber concerns expected to take priority in 2023.

Threats to critical sectors

The financial, energy and health care sectors are all facing a skyrocketing number of hacks. Cyberattacks have robbed companies in those industries of hundreds of millions of dollars, exposed data and even disrupted essential services, as when a ransomware attack forced the Colonial Pipeline to shut down in 2021, causing gas shortages in several states.

The health care sector in particular has seen a rise in cyberattacks in the last few years, particularly ransomware attacks targeting hospitals in order to gain access to sensitive information like patient data or medical research and technology. Increasing threats to the sector have set off alarm bells in Washington, with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, warning this fall that cyberattacks could lead to delays in treatment and even patients’ deaths.

Officials have already stepped up their efforts to protect critical sectors from those evolving threats, and have indicated that doing so will remain a top priority this year.

Anne Neuberger, White House deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, said in October that there’s been a “relentless focus” by the Biden administration on securing such sectors — especially those where disruptions could lead to hazards, such as in hospitals, the oil and gas industry and companies that transport chemicals. 

“Our concerns have evolved to where we’re most concerned about degradation or disruption of critical services,” Neuberger said.

But lawmakers and industry experts have called for federal agencies to further increase their efforts in recent months.

Securing critical infrastructure like the energy and health care sectors plays a key part in mitigating cyber risks, said Josephine Wolff, an associate professor of cybersecurity policy at the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

“All of those are areas where I would say there’s still a lot we could be doing to try and shore up defenses and build in more resilience,” Wolff said. 

In a letter addressed to the Department of Health and Human Services in August, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) expressed appreciation for moves the Biden administration has taken to respond to cyber threats to the health care sector — but said more action was necessary.

“We remain concerned, however, about the lack of robust and timely sharing of actionable threat information with industry partners and the need to dramatically scale up the Department’s capabilities and resources. With cyber threats growing exponentially, we must prioritize addressing the [health care and public health] sector’s cybersecurity gaps,” they wrote.

Zinet Kemal, a cloud security engineer at Best Buy, said the government should continue to work with industry leaders to identify and address vulnerabilities found in critical sectors as well as to create contingency plans for responding to cyber incidents.

“I think they need to work with the industry to ensure that the systems are protected against cyber threats,” she said.

Ransomware attacks

Recent years have seen an especially dramatic spike in ransomware attacks, particularly targeting the health care and financial sectors.

Last year alone, ransomware groups caused outages in multiple hospital systems, temporarily closed schools in parts of the U.S., carried out multimillion-dollar hacks on a number of companies and drove Costa Rica to declare a state of emergency in May as a barrage of attacks impacted its government services.

Tackling ransomware at home and abroad is also expected to take precedence this year as the U.S. and its allies have come together to counter the heightened threat. In 2021, the Biden administration, along with several other countries, launched its first annual initiative intended to counter ransomware globally. 

In November, the White House held its second International Counter Ransomware Initiative Summit, in which it invited more than 30 countries to discuss steps they can take to curb the rise of ransomware globally.

“Ransomware is a pocketbook issue that impacts thousands of companies and individuals every year globally,” the White House said in a press release.

During the summit, the countries laid out several initiatives, including establishing an international counter-ransomware task force, actively sharing information between the public and private sectors and taking joint steps to stop ransomware actors using the cryptocurrency ecosystem. 

The ransomware task force, which is led by Australia, is expected to become operational in January, CyberScoop reported.

Australia is leading the task force “because they’ve had some very major ransomware attacks,” including one that targeted one of the country’s largest private health insurers, a senior administration official told CyberScoop.

Wolff said while ransomware will certainly remain a hot topic this year, she thinks the U.S. and its allies have to some extent reached their capacity when it comes to addressing the issue, unless other major countries like Russia decide to join in and support the initiative.

“I think what we’re most likely to see with that initiative is countries like the United States and the United Kingdom trying to help countries with less capacity to investigate ransomware and build up their capabilities,” she said.

Foreign spyware

Foreign spyware garnered attention last year following controversy surrounding the embattled Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, which was blacklisted by the Department of Commerce in 2021 for allegedly facilitating unlawful surveillance used against government officials, journalists, dissidents and human rights activists.

Congress has since taken steps to address the allegations. In July, the House Intelligence Committee included a provision in the Intelligence Authorization Act authorizing the director of national intelligence to prohibit the U.S. intelligence community from buying and using foreign spyware. 

The bill would also allow the president to impose sanctions on foreign government officials and firms that target U.S. officials with spyware. The legislation was included in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act and has since become law. 

Advocates against foreign spyware hope more will be done in the future to address the matter as threats continue to evolve.

Mike Sexton, a senior policy adviser for cyber at Third Way’s national security program, said although some actions were taken last year to counter foreign spyware, there’s still a lot more progress to be made.

“I think blacklisting NSO Group in 2021 was really good, but I think it’s important not to rest on our laurels on this,” Sexton said.

Rising cyber threats have brought new urgency to a long-time labor shortage in the industry as both federal agencies and private companies have scrambled to fill key cyber roles.

Labor shortage

The industry has sought to address the shortage by investing in workforce development, and is expected to continue doing so moving forward.

The Department of Homeland Security has said that addressing the shortage is a top priority for the agency. Previously, it tackled the issue in 2021 by conducting a 60–day hiring sprint to hire cybersecurity professionals. Out of the 500 job offers the department sent out, the department was able to hire nearly 300 new cyber workers.

National Cyber Director Chris Inglis, who’s expected to retire in the coming months, has also pushed the government to hire more tech and cyber workers. 

“We have been successful in filling two-thirds of the jobs that have the word cyber and IT in it, and that’s the good news,” Inglis said during a cyber event held in October. 

However, he said there was still a long way to go because at the time, one-third of those jobs were still vacant.

Inglis also hosted a cyber workforce and education summit in July, during which participants pledged to improve diversity and inclusion in the cyber field as well as build a national cyber workforce and education strategy. 

Experts said to expect more government funding designed to help with workforce training and educational initiatives, including partnering up with the private sector and universities to increase the pipeline of cyber workers. 

“To address this gap, in the future, I think it’s important for organizations and governments to invest in training and education programs that develop the next generation of cybersecurity professionals,” Kemal said.

​Cybersecurity, Policy Read More 

Just In | The Hill 

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation that Congress passes each year. It authorizes new funding and policy initiatives for the Department of Defense (DOD) and defense-related activities, charting the course for our national security policy. This year’s NDAA, which the president signed last month, includes a host of important provisions like increasing pay for our servicemembers, enhancing U.S. deterrence initiatives in the Pacific, and supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia.  

While we are pleased that this bill has become law, this is not entirely a good news story. For the second year in a row, the Senate has failed to consider and pass its version of the NDAA, abdicating its responsibility, abandoning regular order, and circumventing a fair and transparent conference process with the House. 

This may sound like a D.C. Beltway problem, but the reality is that this has serious implications for our constituents back home, for servicemembers and their families, and for U.S. national security. For one, the Senate’s failure to do its job makes what is already an opaque process even more convoluted. Without a Senate-passed bill, members of the Senate and House are not appointed as conferees, leaving the bill to be negotiated exclusively by leadership and select staff behind closed doors.  

This procedure also manufactures an 11th-hour authorization for all funding and programs for our entire national security apparatus. It is irresponsible for Congress to wait until the last possible moment to provide for the common defense. It is one of our most basic responsibilities that we are directed to uphold in the first sentence of the Constitution. Our country faces immense challenges across the globe—from an ascendant China to a belligerent Russia to instability in the Middle East. By ensuring “regular order”—and passing the bill on time—we can put the DOD on a better footing to address these threats and provide greater certainty to our servicemembers and their families. 

As members of the House Armed Services Committee and Co-Chairs of the For Country Caucus, a bipartisan group of military veterans in Congress, we worked hard to build a balanced and comprehensive defense authorization package. We are glad many of the provisions we fought to secure reached the final bill: it will establish a Warfighter Brain Health Initiative to align traumatic brain injury policy and programs across the DOD, improve how small businesses navigate government contracting, and strengthen the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program so the next generation can learn the value of service. At the same time, however, this bill also omits bipartisan, bicameral provisions that we supported but did not have the chance to defend in conference. 

We’ll be passing on leadership of the For Country Caucus to other members in the 118th Congress–both known for their bipartisanship in Congress and service in uniform. We take pride in what we have been able to accomplish in the three short years since the inception of the caucus. We’re particularly proud that soon Gold Star Families, veterans, and citizens from across the country will be able to come together to visit the Global War on Terrorism Memorial on the National Mall. We fought to secure this provision in the Fiscal Year 2022 NDAA and will remain engaged in its implementation now that it has become law.  

Sixteen members of the For Country Caucus sit on the House Armed Services Committee, and that number may grow next year. This bipartisan group of military veterans will remain focused on productivity and common-sense legislating as part of a transparent process. We urge the Senate to do the same. We owe it to our troops, to their families, and to Americans around the globe who expect Congress to do its job and help keep our nation safe.  

Jared Golden and Don Bacon are co-chairs of the For Country Caucus. 

​Congress Blog, Politics, National Defense Authorization Act Read More 

Just In | The Hill 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the Biden administration’s commitment to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine in a phone call on Monday with his new Israeli counterpart.

During the call, Blinken congratulated Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on his appointment and emphasized the alliance and partnership between the U.S. and Israel, according to a White House readout.

But the secretary of State also expressed a commitment to a two-state solution in the West Bank amid heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions, saying the U.S. is opposed to any efforts that would endanger the solution.

Cohen was appointed as foreign minister after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in last week.

Netanyahu returned to power after securing a parliamentary majority of far-right and religious lawmakers who share a hard-line view on Palestine, a state that claims the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as its territory despite Israeli occupation.

In order to form his new majority, Netanyahu made concessions to allies, including expanding settlements in the West Bank and annexing parts of the region, which includes east Jerusalem.

The potential for Netanyahu’s government to increase hostility toward Palestine, which is already locked in intermittent violent conflict with Israel, could alienate the Israeli government on the world stage and risk new tensions with the U.S. and other long-standing allies.

Anti-Netanyahu protesters traveled to the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Monday to protest the new government in Israel.

“We protested against the felons, fascists and fundamentalists who make up the current Israeli government,” tweeted Americans for Peace Now, a nonprofit seeking to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that organized the protest.

“We are for an Israel that respects democracy, pluralism, and religious diversity,” the group continued. “We are for an Israel where there is peace, justice and equality for all citizens. And we are for an Israel that lives in peace, and with justice and equality, with its Palestinian neighbors.”

Last week, President Biden congratulated Netanyahu’s government and said the U.S. would continue to seek a two-state solution in the West Bank.

“From the start of my Administration, we have worked with partners to promote this more hopeful vision of a region at peace, including between Israelis and Palestinians,” Biden said in a statement. “The United States will continue to support the two-state solution and to oppose policies that endanger its viability or contradict our mutual interests and values.”

​Administration, International, News, Antony Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden, Eli Cohen Read More