Senators privately advocated to save DHS Centers of Excellence

Lawmakers representing Alaska and Nebraska held private conversations with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to pause funding terminations for their states’ Centers of Excellence.

Two of the Department of Homeland Security’s Centers of Excellence have received notices that their scheduled terminations have been paused, seemingly the result of private advocacy by the states’ senators with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. 

Following the cancellation of the agency’s Science and Technology Directorate’s Centers of Excellence program, which set up partnerships with universities to study a diverse body of national security threats, two of the centers have their planned terminations paused: NCITE at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and ADAC-ARCTIC at the University of Alaska Anchorage. 

Each center focuses on developing technology solutions to the nation’s most pressing national security issues. In ADAC-ARCITC’s case, recent projects have included expanding drone operations in the Bering Strait, supporting professional residencies dedicated ...