As suspected drone sightings over the eastern U.S. including New Jersey continue to captivate many, the federal government's authority to track and disable unmanned aircraft deemed threatening is set to expire after Friday and a temporary spending bill before Congress that would extend that power is now in question.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday temporarily banned drone flights in 22 areas of New Jersey where critical infrastructure is located. FAA officials said the flight restrictions were requested by federal security agencies and are effective through Jan. 17.
Federal and local authorities have been investigating sightings of suspected drones, but officials say there has been nothing so far to suggest that any drones have posed a national security or public safety threat. In fact, authorities say, many of the drone sightings have actually been legal drones, manned aircraft, helicopters and even stars.
Tucked into the bipartisan plan to prevent a government shutdown is a provision that would extend the authority of the departments of Homeland Security and Justice to track and disable unmanned aircraft deemed a credible threat from Dec. 20 until March 14.
That authority is vital, homeland security officials and experts say, to detect and disable any threatening drones flying near military bases, the president's location, U.S. borders, prisons and mass gatherings such as New Year's Eve celebrations and the Super Bowl — and they were hopeful a reauthorization of those powers will be approved before Friday's expiration.
But the temporary spending bill including the reauthorization fell into question Wednesday when President-elect Donald Trump abruptly rejected it and told Republicans to essentially renegotiate only days before the deadline when federal funding runs out. Congress continued working Thursday to pass a bill to avert a shutdown.
It wasn't immediately clear what a lapse in that authority would mean, including to drone detection systems the federal government has deployed to states, including New Jersey where numerous sightings have been reported, at the request of local officials. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's office referred questions about the detection systems to Homeland Security officials.
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday declined to comment on the expiration of the drone authorities. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, along with other Biden administration officials and both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, has repeatedly called for the reauthorization and expansion of the authority for “counter-unmanned aerial systems” operations, or C-UAS.
“Ensuring that existing authorities do not lapse is vital to our mission, including protecting the president and vice president, patrolling certain designated areas along the Southwest Border, securing certain federal facilities and assets, and safeguarding the public,” Mayorkas told the House Homeland Security Committee in November 2023. “Any lapse in DHS’s current C-UAS authority would entail serious risks for our homeland security, as DHS would have to cease or curtail existing C-UAS operations."
Bills in the House and Senate that would extend and expand the federal government's drone powers remain pending. The bills also would allow state and local officials for the first time to track and disable threatening drones under a pilot program overseen by federal authorities.
On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, was blocked from quickly advancing the Senate bill when Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, objected to its passage. Paul said it wasn’t clear there is a threat from drones that warrants urgent action.
This photo provided by Trisha Bushey shows the evening sky and points of light near in Lebanon Township, N.J., on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (Trisha Bushey via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are stabilizing Thursday following one of their worst days of the year.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2% in afternoon trading, a day after tumbling 2.9% when the Federal Reserve said it may deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than earlier thought. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 96 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:03 p.m. Eastern time, following Wednesday’s drop of more than 1,100 points. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.
Indexes are still near their records, and the S&P 500 is still on track for one of its best years of the millennium. Wednesday’s drop just took some of the enthusiasm out of the market, which critics had already been warning was overly buoyant and would need everything to go correctly for it to justify its high prices.
Traders are now expecting the Federal Reserve to deliver just one or maybe two cuts to interest rates next year, according to data from CME Group. Some are even betting on none. A month ago, the majority saw at least two cuts in 2025 as a safe bet.
Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they give the economy a boost and goose prices for investments, but they can also provide fuel for inflation.
Darden Restaurants, the company behind Olive Garden and other chains, helped lift the market after leaping 14.9%. It delivered profit for the latest quarter that edged past analysts’ expectations. The operator of LongHorn Steakhouses also gave a forecast for revenue for this fiscal year that topped analysts’.
Accenture rose 6.4% after the professional services company topped expectations for profit in the latest quarter. CEO Julie Sweet said it saw growth around the world, and the company raised its forecast for revenue this fiscal year.
Amazon shares added 1.6%, even as workers at seven of its facilities went on strike Thursday in the middle of the online retail giant’s busiest time of the year. Amazon says it doesn’t expect an impact on its operations during what the workers’ union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history.
They helped offset a tumble for Micron Technology, which fell 16.8% despite reporting stronger profit than expected. The computer memory company’s revenue fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts, and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said it expects demand from consumers to remain weaker in the near term. It gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that was well short of what analysts were thinking.
Lamb Weston, which makes French fries and other potato products, dropped 22.5% after falling short of analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. It also cut its financial targets for the fiscal year, saying demand for frozen potatoes is continuing to soften, particularly outside North America. The company replaced its chief executive.
In the bond market, yields were mixed a day after shooting higher on expectations that the Fed would deliver fewer cuts to rates in 2025. Reports on the U.S. economy came in mixed.
One showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The economy has remained remarkably resilient even though the Fed held its main interest rate at a two-decade high for a while before beginning to cut them in September.
A separate report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, an indication that the job market also remains solid. But a third report said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is unexpectedly contracting again despite economists’ expectations for growth.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.59% from 4.52% late Wednesday and from less than 4.20% earlier this month.
But the two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for action by the Fed in the near term, eased back to 4.32% from 4.35%.
The rise in longer-term yields has put pressure on the housing market by keeping mortgage rates higher. Homebuilder Lennar fell 6% after it reported weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
CEO Stuart Miller said that “the housing market that appeared to be improving as the Fed cut short-term interest rates, proved to be far more challenging as mortgage rates rose” through the quarter.
“Even while demand remained strong, and the chronic supply shortage continued to drive the market, our results were driven by affordability limitations from higher interest rates,” he said.
A report on Thursday may have offered some encouragement for the housing industry. It showed a pickup in sales of previously occupied homes.
In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.1% after the Bank of England paused its cuts to rates and kept its main interest rate unchanged on Thursday. The move comes as inflation there moved further above the central bank’s 2% target rate, while the British economy is flatlining at best.
The Bank of Japan also kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7%. Indexes likewise sank across much of the rest of Asia and Europe.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Specialist Anthony Matesic works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the rate decision of the Federal Reserve is announced, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People walk on Wall Street in New York's Financial District on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
A board above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
TV cameraman films near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
