Outdated White House Situation Room Getting Needed Overhaul

[left-of-center2012]

It’s the highly secure space in the White House where presidents have gone to watch video feeds as U.S. forces killed terrorists Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But the Situation Room is also a technology throwback, with some equipment that hasn’t been updated in 15 years. Funds are required for renovations that will “update the security and technology” since the last renovation in 2006.

Now the Pentagon has proposed about $56.2 million for upgrades. That includes $46 million previously approved for other programs to accelerate the overhaul, and $10.2 million in fresh money. A White House official said Friday that about
$44 million Congress previously approved for the project since fiscal 2017 went unspent and is no longer available.

The Situation Room is actually a series of rooms, a command center on the lower level of the White House’s West Wing for the president and senior administration officials to conduct secure briefings and calls. “Sit Room” staff provide 24-hour monitoring of international developments, according to the nonprofit White House Museum. A person familiar with the operation, who discussed the secure facility on condition of anonymity, said its staff also connects calls with heads of state and monitors major domestic events.

The money sought for improvements “will continue to upgrade and secure critical systems that support classified voice, data and video used in the White House Situation Room and throughout the National Security Council” for the president, vice president and senior staff, according to the document. Not surprisingly, much of what that spending will support is classified, like the full capabilities of the Situation Room itself.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-01/outdated-white-house-situation-room-is-getting-a-needed-overhaul

[Blue Owl]

1. During the tRump administration

The Situation Room was relocated to the Executive Bathroom, where Donny could excrete his many daily 'situations'

[Champp]

2. Be sure to remove the Russian bugs that the Republican casino hustler put in

[gratuitous]

3. The former guy had $44 million to fix this, and didn't spend it?

Then again, since he insisted on using his unsecure Android cell phone, any work done improving the security of the situation room would have been equivalent to setting a pile of cash on fire. I have far more confidence that the Biden administration will carry out this project successfully even if it does cost more.