(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) As Americans grow increasingly concerned about industrial-level drones flying over their homes, the Biden administration and local governments continue to pass the buck, each blaming the other for the inaction.
In a Sunday interview on ABC News’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed the federal government has limited resources and authority to address the drones.
“We are working in close coordination with state and local authorities, and it is critical, as we all have said, for a number of years that we need from Congress additional authorities to address the drone situation,” Mayorkas claimed.
He added, “Our authorities currently are limited, and they are set to expire. We need them extended and expanded.”
Mayorkas’s claim of limited federal authority directly contradicts state and local officials, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who argue the issue falls “squarely” under federal jurisdiction.
In a Dec. 12 letter, Murphy urged President Joe Biden to deploy federal resources, arguing that current law “hamstrung” state and local officials.
“The proliferation of this technology has introduced additional risks to public safety, privacy, and homeland security, while state and local law enforcement entities remain hamstrung by existing laws and policies to successfully counteract them, leaving action around UAS squarely on the shoulder of the federal government,” Murphy wrote.
I wrote to @POTUS to express my concerns about reports of unmanned aircraft systems in and around NJ airspace.
Since existing laws limit the ability of state and local law enforcement to counter UAS, more federal resources are needed to understand what is behind this activity. pic.twitter.com/mkeUeW7ury— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 13, 2024
The drone sightings began before Thanksgiving and gained viral attention on social media. Despite growing concerns, it remains unclear what actions the federal government has taken to mitigate security and privacy risks.
Meanwhile, state and local governments point to the federal government, while the Biden administration shifts responsibility to Congress, claiming lawmakers must expand federal authority to address the issue effectively.
🚨 JUST IN: NJ State Sen. says the federal government is staging a MASSIVE coverup surrounding the drone situation
“They're so fearful of what the public is going to do when they hear what the drones are doing.”
All the Biden regime does is lie. pic.twitter.com/F5BVYJoO2b
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 14, 2024
When asked what “exactly” he needed from Congress, Mayorkas replied: “We want state and local authorities to also have the ability to counter drone activity under federal supervision. That is one important element that we have requested, and we’ve heard it echoed by the state and local officials themselves.”
Stephanopoulos then asked Mayorkas to address President-elect Donald Trump’s concerns about the government’s withholding information about the drones surveilling airports, homes and military bases.
“We are aware of the drone sightings, as I’ve said,” Mayorkas responded. “I think there are more than 8,000 drones flown every day in the United States.”
He continued, “With respect to the ability to incapacitate those drones, we are limited in our authorities. We have certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security that can do that, and outside our department, but we need those authorities expanded as well.”
Watch Mayorkas’s full remarks below:
