The 2018 fiscal year budget blueprint released by the Trump administration last week has continued to be a hot topic in the GovCon community, particularly its request for an increased defense budget.

The proposed $54 billion increase in defense spending has been the subject of much discussion and speculation, perhaps overshadowing some of the other critical aspects of the FY 2018 budget proposal. Trump™s budget blueprint also seeks an increase of funding for cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security.

The Trump administration is requesting a total discretionary budget of $44.1 billion for the DHS in FY 2018, a 6.8 percent ($2.8 billion) increase from the last fiscal year. The 2018 FY budget outline requests that $1.5 billion be allocated to the DHS for cybersecurity purposes. If granted, the funding would allow the DHS to bolster its ability to protect federal government computer networks and national critical infrastructure from cyberattacks. By utilizing new and advanced cybersecurity tools and œmore assertive defense of Government networks, DHS would share more cybersecurity incident information with other Federal agencies and the private sector, leading to faster responses to cybersecurity attacks directed at Federal networks and critical infrastructure, the blueprint said.

On Monday, the DHS released a report about undocumented immigrants with criminal charges or convictions that had been released from jails in sanctuary cities. The report, focusing largely on these sanctuary cities, is the first of a new weekly series that the Trump administration hopes will pressure local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with the federal government in enforcing immigration policies. The œdetainer report identified 118 law enforcement agencies that refused to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency policies.

In other DHS related news, President Trump intends to nominate David Glawe as the nextundersecretary for intelligence and analysis at the Department of Homeland Security. Glawe currently serves as assistant commissioner of the Customers and Border Protection agency.

President Trump also designated Rear Admiral Robert Hayes, a 29-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard and former assistant commandant for intelligence at the military branch, as DHS acting undersecretary for intelligence and analysis.

EXECUTIVE MOVES THIS WEEK:

Alessandro Profumo, former CEO of Italian bank Unicredit, has been tapped by the Italian government to succeed Mauro Moretti as CEO of Leonardo. Profumo™s appointment comes weeks after Leonardo agreed to purchase Daylight Solutions through its U.S. subsidiary DRS under an equity deal worth $150 million and nearly two months after it ended its partnership with Raytheon to compete for the U.S. Air Force™s T-X trainer aircraft program.

Samraat œSam Raha, formerly vice president of global marketing at San Diego-based genomics firm llumina, has been appointed senior VP of strategy and corporate development at Agilent Technologies. He will report directly to Agilent President and CEO Mike McMullen and serve as a strategic adviser to the Santa Clara, California-based life sciences firm™s executive team on merger- and-acquisition and growth strategies.

Herbert œHawk Carlisle, a retired Air Force general, has been appointed president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association in a move that will take effect in June. Carlisle will succeedCraig McKinley, who announced plans in August 2016 to retire after a two-year term as NDIA™s president and CEO. Carlisle is a 39-year Air Force veteran who retired from military service early this month as commander of the Air Combat Command.

THIS WEEK’S TOP GOVCON STORIES