Shanahan’s shift of Pentagon funds to border projects riles Democrats in Congress

“Once again, the Department of Defense has ignored decades of precedent and cooperation with the Congress in carrying out a transfer of funds without regard to any consultation with the Appropriations Committee,” wrote a group of Democratic senators in a letter to Shanahan Friday. “We are dismayed that the Department has chosen to prioritize a political campaign promise over the disaster relief needs of our service members, given the finite reprogramming authority available.”

The letter was signed by 10 senators, including Dick Durbin, Ill; Patrick Leahy, Vt.; Jack Reed, R.I.; and Brian Schatz, Hawaii.

NO IMPACT ON READINESS: Shanahan told Congress last week that neither the budget maneuvers nor the troop deployments to the border would impact the readiness or well-being of the troops or their families.

“The funds were drawn from a variety of sources, including cost savings, programmatic changes and revised requirements,” said Tom Crosson, a Pentagon spokesman, in a statement issued Friday. “This transfer of funds will not affect military preparedness, nor impact service member benefits.”

Shanahan visited the border town of McAllen, Texas, Saturday and assured Border Patrol agents that the Pentagon won’t withdraw its support “until the border is secure,” but he also told reporters traveling with him that the border mission for active-duty forces “will not be indefinite,” according to AP.

SO WHERE DID HE FIND THE MONEY?: Shanahan has pulled a bit of budget wizardry by finding billions in a Pentagon budget that officials have been complaining for months was only barely enough to begin to address readiness concerns. Now it turns out there are billions that the Pentagon didn’t need for the appropriated purpose.

“Some of it did come from money we were under-running or saving or whatever terminology you want to use, from Afghanistan,” Shanahan told reporters Friday. “We have very smart people here in the department, and we found ways to do this without having any impact on readiness.”

On Friday, AP reported that the biggest chunk of money, $604 million, came from unexpected savings from the Afghan Security Forces Fund, which keeps the Afghan army and other security forces afloat.

The Washington Post says it obtained an internal Pentagon document that shows other funds are coming from a plan to update the control center in the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile and the program for Airborne Warning and Control System planes.

A SECOND BITE AT THE APPLE: Found money just buttressed argument from critics who claim the Pentagon’s budget is larded with fat. And Democrats are furious at being outmaneuvered by Trump’s Pentagon, realizing they will have little choice but to replace the funds that are being diverted to border barrier construction, even as they rail against it.

“It’s especially offensive the president wants to raid funds that this committee has voted for to other projects that would support our service members and their families, their military missions around the world,” said Sen. Leahy last week. “If the department decides to cancel projects that we’ve given funding for so they can go to the wall, I supported those projects; don’t expect me to support them a second time around.”

Asked at a House Appropriations Committee hearing this month how he could justify flouting the will of Congress, Shanahan essentially answered it was above his pay grade: “I have a legal standing order from the commander in chief to deploy resources to support a national emergency.”

Good Monday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Kelly Jane Torrance (@kjtorrance). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

HAPPENING TODAY: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was due in Moscow today. Instead, in a last-minute change in itinerary, he’s in Brussels conferring with U.S. allies on the situation with Iran and will travel to Sochi tomorrow to meet with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin.

In Russia, Pompeo is expected to discuss U.S. efforts to support opposition leader Juan Guaidó’s bid to oust Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, but the State Department says arms control will also be high on the agenda. “President Trump has made clear that he wants arms control agreements that reflect modern reality. These agreements must include a broader range of countries and account for a broader range of weapon systems than our current bilateral treaties with Russia,” a senior State Department official told reporters Friday.

LAVROV’S COMPLAINT: Last week, Lavrov complained the sale of missile-defense systems to Japan is evidence that the United States is trying to deploy military assets that threaten Russia. “We view these steps as a threat to our country,” he said.

Japanese officials have moved to fortify their missile defenses in response to North Korea’s development of ballistic missiles, but Russia has maintained that America and regional allies are using the threat as an excuse for a military buildup on its eastern border.

HAPPENING TOMORROW: At a time the Pentagon press corps is complaining about the lack of on-camera briefings, the deputy commander of the U.S.-led counter-ISIS coalition will face the camera tomorrow. Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika will brief reporters remotely from Baghdad, according to his Twitter feed.

Ghika last briefed in November, and in two weeks, the Pentagon will mark a full year without an on-camera briefing by an official Pentagon representative.

NORTH KOREAN BASE: Meanwhile, the Korea monitoring site Beyond Parallel reports that North Korea is operating an “undeclared missile site” just 93 miles from the DMZ.

“The Yusang-ni missile operating base is an operational missile base that appears to house a unit of brigade-size or larger — likely with support units and is one of the more recently constructed Strategic Force missile operating bases,” says the site, based on commercial satellite imagery that it says shows the base “is occupied, fully active, and being well-maintained by North Korean standards.”

“If these reports are true, however, Yusang-ni would represent an important undisclosed component of North Korea’s presumed offensive ballistic missile strategy by providing a strategic-level first strike capability against targets located throughout East Asia, the Pacific, and the continental United States,” write analysts Joseph Bermudez and Victor Cha.

GATES’ TAKE: Former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Robert Gates was on “Face the Nation” on CBS this weekend and gave President Trump mixed marks for his handling of various national security challenges but agreed with a major administration talking point, namely that under Trump’s leadership America has gotten tougher on Russia.

Gates told CBS’s Margaret Brennan that while Trump can seem deferential to Putin, “everybody around the president actually has a much more realistic view of the Russians.”

“I think in terms of the magnitude of the sanctions that have been put on Russia, they are more significant than had been imposed in the past,” he said.

Here are some of Gates’ quick takes:

On China: “The Chinese have an advantage because they have a strategy and we don’t. They have set goals. They have a strategy for achieving those goals. And we really don’t have a strategy. We haven’t had a strategy in quite a while.”

On squeezing Iran: “I think moving ahead like this for Iran just puts them deeper in a box because then it will not only be the United States that has reimposed sanctions, it will put the Europeans in a position where they have to do that as well.”

“So you think the Iranians are bluffing?”

“No, they may be making a mistake, which may be even worse. … If the Iranians make the mistake of launching an attack in the Persian Gulf on an American warship or if they carry out an operation against American troops in Iraq or something like that, the administration probably won’t have any alternative but to retaliate.”

On whether John Kerry should be prosecuted under the Logan Act: “No one has ever been prosecuted under the Logan Act. And I think it’s been in effect since World War I. … I mean, this is not going to happen, and American politicians and former leaders talk to other leaders all the time.”

On talks with North Korea: “I think they’re unrealistic in believing that they can get complete denuclearization. So the question is: If the North won’t give up all of its nuclear weapons, are other limitations worth pursuing? And what’s the alternative to pursuing those other alternatives? … As long as there’s no nuclear testing, it’s probably worth keeping the door open. But at some point people have to realize that if you just drag this thing out, it’s not going to lead to anything.”

On whether he will endorse Trump: “I have no idea what I will do in 2020. … It’s a long time until the election.”

The Rundown

Fox News: Patrick Shanahan Says He Appreciates Trump’s Executive Experience: ‘Focused On Outcomes And Results’

Washington Examiner: Pentagon responds to Iran by sending additional ship, Patriot missile battery to Gulf

Reuters: U.S. Warns Merchant Ships Of Possible Iranian Attacks In Middle East

Washington Post: UAE says 4 ships targeted by ‘sabotage’ off its east coast

Washington Examiner: Congress study group on Syria opposes further withdrawal of US forces

New York Times: They Were ‘Comrades in Arms’ Against ISIS. Now the U.S. Is Eyeing the Exit.

Wall Street Journal: Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Begin Withdrawal From Key Port

Reuters: Taliban fighters double as reporters to wage Afghan digital war

The Hill: Congress Readies For Battle Over Nuclear Policy

Washington Examiner: It’s who you know: How a soldier convicted of murder got Trump to pardon him

Stars and Stripes: U.S., Allies Testing Missile Defense Off Scotland In High-End Sea Battle Drills

Virginian Pilot: A Cultural Shift Is Helping Keep Talented Mothers In The Navy

Calendar

MONDAY | MAY 13

9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave N..W Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion of the U.S. Army’s recently published history The U.S. Army in the Iraq War, 2003-2011. Speakers: Frank Sobchak and Joel Rayburn, editors, Operation Iraqi Freedom Study Group; Michael Gordon, Wall Street Journal; Peter Bergen, New America; Jeanne Godfroy, OIF Study Group; Kim Dozier, CNN global affairs analyst; Seth Center, CSIS; Jim Powell, OIF Study Group; Ken Pollack, American Enterprise Institute. csis.org/events

1 p.m. 1630 Crescent Place N.W. Insights @ Meridian event: “Priorities and Modernization of the U.S. Armed Forces,” with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Army Secretary Mark Esper. www.meridian.org

TUESDAY | MAY 14

10 a.m. 226 Dirksen. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: “5G: National Security Concerns, Intellectual Property Issues, and the Impact on Competition and Innovation.” judiciary.senate.gov

11 a.m. Pentagon Briefing Room. British Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, briefs Pentagon reporters from Baghdad on continuing efforts to defeat ISIS. Livestreamed at www.defense.gov/Watch/Live-Events.

12 p.m. 529 14th Street, N.W. Texas A&M University and the George H.W. Bush School of Government & Public Service’s Scowcroft Institute hold the 3rd annual Pandemic & Biosecurity Forum. Speakers include Sen. Richard Burr and Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of Health and Human Services, and the forum features the release of a Scowcroft Institute white paper with policy recommendations for addressing the next pandemic. Register at tamu.qualtrics.com.

2:30 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave NW. Hudson Institute event: “The Rise of China’s Navy.” Speakers: Retired Capt. James Fanell, former director of intelligence and information operations, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and Seth Cropsey, senior fellow and director, Center for American Seapower, Hudson Institute. www.hudson.org/events.

WEDNESDAY | MAY 15

9:30 a.m. 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington. Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies discussion on: “Global Integration and 21st Century Conflict: From Strategy to Action,” featuring Lt. Gen. David Allvin, director of strategy, plans, and policy, Joint Staff. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/mitchell-hour

10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn. House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing: “DOD Inspector General Report on Excess Profits by TransDigm Group, Inc.” oversight.house.gov

10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies “Maritime Security Dialogue,” with Vice Adm. William Merz, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems, and moderated by Mark Cancian, CSIS. Livestreamed at www.csis.org/events.

10:15 a.m. 419 Dirksen. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing: “The Future of Arms Control Post-Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.” Witnesses: Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson and David Trachtenberg, deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. foreign.senate.gov

11:15 a.m. 1667 K Street N.W. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments releases two “Net Assessment” reports on the “Changing Nuclear Balance.” Speakers include authors Thomas Mahnken and Evan Braden Montgomery, along with Amb. Eric Edelman, former undersecretary of defense for policy, and Frank Rose of the Brookings Institution. csbaonline.org/about/events

2 p.m. 2172 Rayburn. House Foreign Affairs Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism Subcommittee hearing: “The Conflict in Libya.” Witnesses: Benjamin Fishman, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and adjunct international security and defense policy analyst for the RAND Corporation; Megan Doherty, senior director for policy and advocacy at Mercy Corps; Frederic Wehrey, senior fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Middle East Program; and Thomas Hill, senior program officer for North Africa at the United States Institute of Peace. foreignaffairs.house.gov

2 p.m. 620 T St. N.W. Government Matters hosts a screening of the documentary “The Dawn of Generation AI.” Speakers include: Brian Gattoni, chief technology officer, Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, Department of Homeland Security; Cory Milam, director, Office of Innovation, Food and Drug Administration; Lee Becker, chief of staff, Veterans Experience Office, Veterans Affairs; and Capt. Patrick Schreiber, U.S. Coast Guard Intelligence Coordination Center. govmattersai.com

2:30 p.m. 418 Russell. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on the nomination of James Byrne to be deputy veterans affairs secretary. veterans.senate.gov

THURSDAY | MAY 16

8 a.m. 2401 M St N.W. Defense Writers Group Breakfast with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu/ourevents

8:30 a.m. 300 First St. S.E. Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Nuclear Deterrence Series discussion with John Rood, undersecretary of defense for policy. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn. House Armed Services Committee hearing: “The Department of Defense’s Financial Improvement and Audit Remediation Plan: The Path Forward.” Witnesses: Defense Undersecretary/Comptroller David Norquist; Thomas Harker, assistant secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller; John Roth, assistant secretary of the Air Force for financial management and comptroller; and John Whitley, assistant secretary of the Army for financial management and comptroller. armedservices.house.gov

12 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave NW. Hudson Institute event: “Benefits and Ramifications of America’s Proxy Wars.” Speakers: Candace Rondeaux, Center on the Future of War; Abbas Kadhim, Atlantic Council; C. Anthony Pfaff, U.S. Army War College; and Michael Pregent, senior fellow, Hudson Institute. www.hudson.org/events

11:30 a.m. 1667 K Street N.W. Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments’ new report “Sustaining the Fight: Resilient Maritime Logistics for a New Era” is discussed with Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer. csbaonline.org/about/events

1 p.m. 1100 New York Ave. N.W. National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service holds a hearing on “Increasing Awareness Among Young Americans and Lessening the Civil-Military Divide.” inspire2serve.gov

2:30 p.m. House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee hearing: “Military Personnel Management – How Are the Military Services Adapting to Recruit, Retain, and Manage High Quality Talent to Meet the Needs of a Modern Military?” Witnesses: James Stewart, performing the duties of the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness; Lt. Gen. Thomas Seamands, Army deputy chief of staff; Vice Adm. Robert Burke, chief of naval personnel; Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, United States Air Force; and Lt. Gen. Michael Rocco, deputy Marine Corps commandant for manpower and reserve affairs. armedservices.house.gov

FRIDAY | MAY 17

11 a.m. 1030 15th St N.W. Atlantic Council “Commanders Series” conversation on “The Future of the Army in Great-Power Competition” with Army Secretary Mark Esper, moderated by Vago Muradian, Defense & Aerospace Report. www.atlanticcouncil.org/events

12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Avenue N.E. Heritage Foundation “fireside chat” with Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on “Strengthening U.S. Leadership in an Era of Global Competition.” Hosted by the Heritage Foundation’s James Jay Carafano. Live streamed at heritage.org./defense/event.

WEDNESDAY | MAY 23

3 p.m. 51 Louisiana Ave N.W. The National Security Institute and the Federalist Society co-host a symposium examining two questions regarding Syria policy: “Does Congress Need to Weigh In?” and “Stay In, Get Out, or Triple Down?” Speakers include: Jennifer Daskal, associate professor of law at American University; retired Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap, executive director, Center on Law, Ethics and National Security; Jeremy Rabkin, professor of law, George Mason University; Norm Roule, former national intelligence manager for Iran office of the DNI; and Dana Stroul, the Washington Institute. nationalsecurity.gmu.edu