Congress

We need to know more about mysterious drones, Rep. Himes says

Published

2 years ago

December 15, 2024

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes on Sunday shared his frustration over the lack of information on recent drone sightings in New Jersey, but he also emphasized that he doesn’t believe there is reason to worry.

“There’s a lot of us that are pretty frustrated right now. The answer ‘We don’t know’ is not a good enough answer,” Himes (D-Conn.) told “Fox News Sunday” host Jacqui Heinrich.

At a White House press briefing on Thursday, national security communications adviser John Kirby said there is no evidence that the drones come from foreign adversaries or pose a national security threat, but did not have a conclusive answer to their origins.

Himes specifically called out the Federal Aviation Administration for not taking responsibility to assuage concerns.

“The FAA in particular, which is the agency of jurisdiction through the domestic skies, ought to be out Saturday morning saying, ‘Let’s show you a picture at the number of aircraft, commercial and private and military, that go over New Jersey in any 24-hour period,’” he said, adding that “just putting information out there to fill that vacuum would be helpful.”

Some lawmakers have taken matters into their own hands; for instance, New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim drove around the state with local police to watch the drones himself, posting updates on his social media. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, called for “more transparency” and said “we need a briefing for the members of the Senate to figure out what’s going on here.”

Others, like Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), accused the Pentagon of lying and claimed that the drones came from an Iranian “mothership.”

Himes dispelled Van Drew’s mothership claim as a conspiracy theory used to fill the vacuum in the absence of information, stating “with confidence” that it’s not the Iranians or the Chinese.

“I’ve spent all of my time as the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee watching what the Iranians and the Chinese do,” Himes said. “And you know what they don’t do is but a bunch of drones that we could easily recover over the continental United States. The Chinese learned that lesson with their spy balloon.”

He added: “The military is amazing at what they do. An aircraft carrier has 6,000 amazing people on it who will defeat the Iranians. What they’re not very good at is identifying if there’s 12 teenage boys in Montclair, New Jersey, flying Walmart drones. The military is not very good at dealing with that.”

The lack of certainty has led President-elect Donald Trump to take to social media, calling for the government to shoot the drones down if they don’t know what they are.

Himes accepted that security is essential: “It’s absolutely the federal government’s job to make sure that nobody is flying a drone over Edwards Air Force base and the CIA headquarters in Virginia to take to new surveillance or worse.”

But he emphasized that drones are easy for anyone, American or adversary, to purchase at a local Walmart and that sorts of recreational usage is “probably not going to be a Department of Homeland Security problem to solve.”

When asked if he has any concern that the drones might be a state actor preparing for a future attack, Himes said he felt there was no threat.

“Frankly, Jacqui,” he said, “our adversaries that would wish us harm have billion-dollar satellites over our heads right now that are capable of doing what we do to them, which is observing. You know what they’re not going to do? They’re not going to put technology over Newark, New Jersey, that can fall out of the sky and we would capture it.”

Congress

Nvidia’s Huang heads to Capitol Hill for AI talks

Published

54 minutes ago

July 27, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will meet with lawmakers in Washington to discuss American leadership on artificial intelligence, the company said Monday.

A spokesperson for the chipmaker said Huang would hold talks with both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill to talk about latest developments with the technology.

“Jensen is in DC to meet with leaders on both sides of the aisle to discuss American leadership in AI, including leading in open source,” the spokesperson said.

Huang is scheduled to sit down Tuesday with Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who has expressed serious concern about security threats following last week’s OpenAI autonomous cyberattack.

The senator’s office confirmed the meeting. Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It comes as Huang defended open-source AI on X, writing that such models “strengthen safety and cybersecurity, accelerate innovation and diffusion, and enable sovereignty.”

Huang’s visit comes as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also expected to meet with Warner, although a spokesperson for the senator said the talks were separate. Earlier Monday, Open AI announced it was in talks with Nvidia, a technology company that makes chips to use artificial intelligence, for a data center project.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Congress

Texas Republican is under House Ethics investigation

Published

2 hours ago

July 27, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House Ethics Committee said in a statement Monday it is investigating Rep. Lance Gooden, a four-term Texas Republican.

It’s unclear what the committee is probing, but the Office of Congressional Conduct, an independent investigative branch of the House, sent over findings regarding Gooden to the committee June 10.

The Ethics panel plans to release an update on its investigation by Nov. 9. Committee representatives declined to comment beyond the statement.

In 2021, the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint asking for an investigation into Gooden’s apparent failure to report his stock trades in a timely manner, which is a requirement under a federal law known as the STOCK Act. The complaint was sent to the OCC.

Congress

Congressional Black Caucus members break with Jeffries, endorse against Thanedar in Michigan House race

Published

3 hours ago

July 27, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A handful of members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Monday broke with Democratic Party leadership to endorse Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney in his bid to primary Rep. Shri Thanedar, an unusual move given that sitting members of the same party rarely endorse against each other.

Democratic Reps. Steven Horsford (Nev.), the former chair of the CBC, and Lateefah Simon (Calif.) called McKinney a “fighter.” Rep. Ilhan Omar (Mich.) praised McKinney as “the only trusted candidate” in the race. And Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) touted McKinney for “never [losing] sight of the people.”

“We need Donavan in Congress,” said Pressley.

The race between McKinney and Thanedar, who was elected in 2022, is the latest battleground in the ongoing ideological clash between the Democratic establishment and its progressive flank.

McKinney is hoping to capitalize on the latest wave of progressive successes in primaries, but Thanedar retains the power of the incumbency — and the backing of House Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar.

Thanedar’s 2022 election marked the first time since 1955 that the majority-Black city of Detroit didn’t have a Black lawmaker representing it in Congress. And he won two years ago only after Adam Hollier, who was viewed as his most credible primary challenger, was disqualified from the ballot.

“It’s not just about having Black representation, but that is a part of what appropriate representation looks for,” Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), who had previously backed McKinney, told Blue Light News. “You have a majority-Black district, and I think that there is certainly an appetite to see that again, or to at least make sure that a Black candidate has the opportunity to present themselves.”

In a phone call, Thanedar emphasized that he has worked closely with members of the CBC during his time in office, noting that the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) was a mentor of his and, in addition to Jeffries, he has the endorsement CBC members like Rep. Bennie Thomspon (D-Miss.).

“I am fully aware that I am representing the Blackest city in America and I’m proud of it,” Thanedar, who is Indian-American, said. “My story is like Detroit’s story — I struggled through poverty, never say die, never gave up and I have that resilience that Detroit has. The resilience of Detroit is what my life is about.”

McKinney on Monday said he was “honored” by the endorsements.

“Millions of lives across the country have been made immeasurably better because of the hard work these members have done in Congress, and I look forward to working alongside these incredible leaders to pass critical legislation to protect voting rights, get big money out of our politics, and ensure all families have access to the resources they need to not just survive, but to truly thrive,” he said in a statement.