Republicans: Report shows DHS not up to cybersecurity challenge

Senate Republicans are arguing that a recent congressional report on the Homeland Security Department shows that the agency lacks the skills and resources to take a lead role in protecting the nation's computer systems.

The report, issued earlier this week by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), concludes that DHS "fusion" intelligence-sharing centers wasted taxpayer dollars by analyzing and relaying information that was either duplicative or unrelated to counterterrorism. The regional centers produced "useless" reports but also collected information on innocent American Muslims, the lawmakers found. Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) said the findings bolster their arguments that the Homeland Security Department should have a limited role in cybersecurity.