Homeland Security Newswire

Putting a Number on How Much Debt U.S. Can Carry

Guest Writer — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:48:16 +0000

6/4/26

NATIONAL DEBT

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The United States has about 20 years to change course on its national debt before it reaches the estimated limits of its debt capacity, according to new research from the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

Researchers estimate the outer limit of U.S. debt capacity at about 210% of gross domestic product. At that point, even a 100% tax on labor income would not generate enough revenue to cover interest costs, making the debt impossible to stabilize through labor-tax increases alone.

Will Generative AI Fundamentally Change Terrorist Threats?

Guest Writer — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:44:33 +0000

6/5/26

AI & TERRORISM

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Abstract: This article examines whether generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) represents a genuine transformation in terrorist capability or whether its risks are being overstated within contemporary security discourse. Drawing on affordance theory, it explores how terrorists exploit technologies in ways not intended by their designers and assesses the practical implications of Gen AI across propaganda, recruitment and radicalization, reconnaissance, and attack planning.

From Oversight to Coercion: How Authoritarian Governments Are Twisting AI Safety to Get Tech Companies to Fall in Line

Guest Writer — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:42:45 +0000

6/5/26

AI SAFETY

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When researchers founded Anthropic in 2021, they said the race to build powerful AI was moving too recklessly. They inserted detailed safety measures into their products and marketed their commitment to safety as the corporate quality that distinguished them from competitors – notably OpenAI, the rival company they had left. In March 2026 that reputation was tested when the Trump administration declared that Anthropic was a supply chain risk.

Dangerous Speech in Disguise: The White House’s New “Aliens” Website Is Not a Joke

Guest Writer — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:40:41 +0000

6/5/26

DANGEROIUS SPEECH

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The official White House website has launched a new page titled, “Aliens,” which looks like a video game, with stars twinkling in a dark sky behind spooky neon green text that reads, “THEY WALK AMONG US.” The design of the website is made to draw attention, and it will: nothing generates interest like space invaders, and fear has unique power to drive human behavior.

A Simple — Yet Expensive — Way to Climate-Proof the Grid: Bury the Power Lines

Guest Writer — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:36:39 +0000

6/5/26

POWER-GRID RESILIENCE

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This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in northern Michigan. A version of this story was originally published on NPR.

Power lines across the country weren’t designed for a changing climate, with much of the nation’s grid built more than half a century ago. Today, stronger storms and heavier precipitation cause hundreds of outages a year, many because of trees falling on above-ground power lines.

What to Know About Screwworm in Texas

Guest Writer — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:34:48 +0000

6/5/26

FOOD SECURITY

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An infestation of the flesh-eating flies has been confirmed in South Texas, setting off alarm bells for the state’s cattle industry.

A sample from a 3-week-old calf from La Pryor in Zavala County tested positive for the country’s first case of New World screwworm, the U.S Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said during a June 3 news conference about the case.

There have been no other detections so far.

What Trump’s Spy Chief Pick Signals | Rules of Engagement When the Troops Appear at Polling Sites | US Plan to Combat Screwworm Involves a Lot More Flies, and more

Staff — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:32:02 +0000

6/5/26

OUR PICKS

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What Trump’s Spy Chief Pick Signals (David Ignatius, Foreign Policy)
Bill Pulte has no intelligence experience but has proved he’ll target the U.S. president’s foes.

How Ukraine Has Turned the Tide | The Pentagon's AI Edge Is Being Distilled Away | Cuba Isn’t a National Security Threat. Here’s Why., and more

Staff — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:31:50 +0000

6/5/26

WORLD ROUNDUP

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The Pentagon’s AI Edge Is Being Distilled Away (Sebastian Elbaum, War on the Rocks)
The U.S. has spent billions building frontier AI models. Chinese labs have spent just thousands learning from them.

The Strait of Hormuz: The Supply Chain Loop That Broke the World

Guest Writer — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:46:35 +0000

6/3/26

SUPPLY CHAINS

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It took only five days after the attack on Iran by the United States and Israel in late February for Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital energy and maritime chokepoints.

The Fourth Amendment Forecloses a Foreign Intelligence Exception: A Brief Case Against the FISA Section 702 Program

Guest Writer — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:44:39 +0000

6/3/26

FISA

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On Tuesday, the Senate version of an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was leaked. It is a near carbon copy of the same bill that was roundly defeated in the House in late April. And like the House bill, the Senate legislation lacks the only thing that matters: a warrant requirement to search the stored data of Americans collected under the program.