Mark Kelly Asks Nom About Adversary Nations Trying To 'Exploit' Federal Workers Fired By Trump Admin

6 days ago

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) spoke about hostile nations attempting to 'exploit' recently fired federal employees.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00very much. Senator Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Hansel, as Undersecretary of Defense for

00:09Intelligence and Security, you would be responsible for the overall security of classified

00:13information. And recent reporting has highlighted that foreign governments are increasingly trying

00:18to exploit recently fired probationary federal employees for classified information. And as you

00:25know, some of those probationary employees have actually worked for DOD for some period of time.

00:32If they were promoted, they go to the probationary status. And our national security secrets are more

00:38at risk now because, this is my view on this, because of this administration's sledgehammer

00:44approach to our federal workforce. And this is not about the loyalty of our civilian service,

00:50but rather about the careless manner in which they were being fired. And while this isn't

00:55a new problem, this administration's actions have made it a bigger one. So already we were aware

01:04of an ongoing effort by the PRC to contact and recruit members of the U.S. military to learn

01:10how our military operates so effectively in certain areas. Certainly combat aviation is one of those.

01:16areas. And we have an edge because of our training and our tactics and our, you know,

01:25long history, especially in combat aviation, but in other areas as well.

01:32We should not be making this information available to our adversaries. So last year I introduced a piece of

01:39legislation called the No Work with Adversaries Act with Senator Cotton to help try to tackle this

01:44problem. And I'm going to be introducing this legislation again next year. So we've confirmed,

01:49Mr. Hansel, how do you plan to shore up our military's defenses and ensure service members and DOD

01:57civilians are alerted to the threat that's out there from the PRC and our adversaries?

02:03Mr. Hansel, I appreciate the question, Senator. And I'm certainly aware of the magnitude and breadth

02:10of TTPs and the agility of the TTPs being used by our adversaries, namely Chinese espionage in this

02:18situation, and specifically very aware of the legislation you've introduced regarding training

02:24of some of our fighter aircraft pilots. From outside in, not yet having been in the department,

02:31I would say is my hypothesis that far, most veterans and service members don't have any

02:41malice intent. I bet the bad apples are far and few between. And I think this is an example where

02:46we need to have clear guidance that's understood by service members and develop the tools that enable

02:52them to navigate the commercial space at a speed of relevance. I am very concerned about the department's

02:58responsibility in foci identification and mitigation along a slew of variables in the industrial base.

03:05But this would be a perfect example, you know, reading the legislation about not only pass-through

03:11entities, but the amount of subsidy that triggers the legislation is something that I think we have

03:18a burden to provide the service members the tools to do the right thing, which I think is their natural

03:23instinct. Yeah, I agree with you. Most service members do not have any intent to share information,

03:31though just one. The right person with the right knowledge can do significant damage to our national

03:38security. I think it's also important that everybody understands that the risk is out there,

03:45and the PRC is actively trying to recruit. You know, my understanding is there have been times

03:51where, you know, folks think they're working for, you know, one company and they're actually working

03:58for the PRC. So getting the information out there is incredibly important, so I hope you work with us on

04:04that. Mr. Williams, recent efforts to eliminate federal workers and contractors could have significant

04:13consequences for NNSA's mission. So how do you assess the impact of potential workforce reductions

04:22on stockpile sustainment, non-proliferation, and modernization programs? And briefly, I don't want

04:29to go over my 30 seconds. Yeah, thank you for the question, Senator, and thanks also for working with

04:34me on NEPA reform issues under the NDA. I think it was a little over a year ago. You know, if confirmed,

04:40I will speak up for the men and women of the NNSA and advocate for them. I think we know how critical

04:47they are to restoring our nuclear deterrence, our nuclear weapons enterprise. And so all of the

04:53discussions about personnel, we're rising to meet a historic demand right now. I think innovation is

05:02key to that. I think efficiency is key to that. But we need the specialized workforce that has been

05:07developed at NNSA. All right. And I encourage you to push back against any further cuts to our NNSA

05:17workforce when it could undermine the new, especially the nuclear security mission. Thank you.

05:24And thank you very much, Senator Kelly. Senator Slotkin.

Mark Kelly Asks Nom About Adversary Nations Trying To 'Exploit' Federal Workers Fired By Trump Admin

Category

Transcript

Recommended