WASHINGTON As Russias virtual war against the United States continues unabated with the midterm elections approaching, the State Department has yet to spend any of the $120 million it has been allocated since late 2016 to counter foreign efforts to meddle in elections or sow distrust in democracy.
As a result, not one of the 23 analysts working in the departments Global Engagement Center which has been tasked with countering Moscows disinformation campaign speaks Russian, and a department hiring freeze has hindered efforts to recruit the computer experts needed to track the Russian efforts.
At the end of the Obama administration, Congress directed the Pentagon to send $60 million to the State Department so it could coordinate governmentwide efforts, including those by the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security, to counter anti-democratic propaganda by Russia and China.
The State Department finally sent a request to the Defense Department on Sept. 18 to transfer the funds, but with just days left in the fiscal year, Pentagon officials decided the State Department had lost its shot at the money.
With another $60 million available for the next fiscal year, the two departments dickered for another five months over how much the State Department could have.
After the New York Times, following a report on the issue by Politico in August, began asking about the delayed money, the State Department announced Feb. 26 that the Pentagon had agreed to transfer $40 million for the effort, just a third of what was originally intended.
"It is well past time that the State Departments Global Engagement Center gets the resources Congress intended for it to effectively fight Kremlin-sponsored disinformation and other foreign propaganda operations," Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Wednesday.
As a result, not one of the 23 analysts working in the departments Global Engagement Center which has been tasked with countering Moscows disinformation campaign speaks Russian, and a department hiring freeze has hindered efforts to recruit the computer experts needed to track the Russian efforts.
At the end of the Obama administration, Congress directed the Pentagon to send $60 million to the State Department so it could coordinate governmentwide efforts, including those by the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security, to counter anti-democratic propaganda by Russia and China.
The State Department finally sent a request to the Defense Department on Sept. 18 to transfer the funds, but with just days left in the fiscal year, Pentagon officials decided the State Department had lost its shot at the money.
With another $60 million available for the next fiscal year, the two departments dickered for another five months over how much the State Department could have.
After the New York Times, following a report on the issue by Politico in August, began asking about the delayed money, the State Department announced Feb. 26 that the Pentagon had agreed to transfer $40 million for the effort, just a third of what was originally intended.
"It is well past time that the State Departments Global Engagement Center gets the resources Congress intended for it to effectively fight Kremlin-sponsored disinformation and other foreign propaganda operations," Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Wednesday.
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