Democrats fear Trump will pull US out of last major arms control treaty with Russia

“A failure to extend New START will have lasting consequences on the United States’ ability to contain the Russian nuclear threat and properly shape U.S. nuclear forces,” the lawmakers write, arguing allowing the treaty to expire will close off access to “current, accurate information on Russia’s nuclear forces.”

The letter is signed by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; along with Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.; Adam Smith, D-Wash.; Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Peter Visclosky, D-Ind.

THE CHINA PROBLEM: The argument that led to the decision to scrap the INF treaty as an obsolete Cold War relic was the fact that it did not include China. So while the U.S. and Russia were banned from developing and deploying a class of land-based missiles, China was becoming the world’s leader in land-based ballistic and cruise missiles.

At the same time, Russia is rapidly modernizing its nuclear systems and developing state-of-the-art hypersonic weapons that fall outside the bounds of New START.

A bill introduced last month by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., would limit funding for any extension of the New START Treaty unless it is modified to include China and covers all of Russia’s nuclear forces.

TREATY FAST FACTS: Here’s a quick review of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia:

• Ratified by the Senate 2010
• Expires in 2021
• Can be extended for 5 years by mutual agreement

Limits on deployed weapons:

• 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and nuclear capable heavy bombers
• 1,550 nuclear warheads on ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers
• 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers, and nuclear capable heavy bombers

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HAPPENING TODAY — D-DAY REMEMBERED: Trump joined the leaders of Britain and France along the Normandy coast this morning to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

In his prepared remarks, Trump said, “Today we remember those who fell here, and we honor all who fought here. They won back this ground for civilization … To all our friends and partners — our cherished alliance was forged in the heat of battle, tested in the trials of war, and proven in the blessings of peace. Our bond is unbreakable.”

PARTS SHORTAGE COULD CLIP WINGS OF F-35: Congress is threatening to restrict funding for the Pentagon’s acquisition office unless it comes up with a new plan to address the chronic shortage of spare parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, my colleague Russ Read reports.

The new provisions are in the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness markup of the 2020 defense policy bill. The proposal calls for the Pentagon to develop a “detailed plan for the planning, programming, budgeting, and execution of funding” for weapons systems like the F-35, according to a statement released yesterday by Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., chairman of the subcommittee.

A 22-VOTE REBUKE: Trump’s plan to invoke emergency powers to expedite arms sales to Saudi Arabia and others is facing a legislative rebuke in the form of 22 resolutions of disapproval in Congress, the Washington Examiner’s Joel Gehke writes.

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, is leading a bipartisan group of seven senators in an effort to block $8.1 billion in arms sales, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo invoked an emergency provision of federal law to sidestep the usual congressional review process, citing the increased threat from Iran.

“Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, but the current threats that have been briefed to members of Congress do not justify taking this dramatic step,” Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said when the resolutions were introduced.

Young is one of three Republicans on the Foreign Relations Committee who co-sponsored the 22 Senate resolutions, along with Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Rand Paul, R-Ky.

TRUMP’S TRANSGENDER COMMENTS: Trump’s explanation for why he feels transgender troops have no place in the U.S. military, offered in an ITV interview on “Good Morning Britain” with Piers Morgan, produced a fierce backlash from advocates for transgender rights.

WHAT TRUMP SAID: “Because they take massive amounts of drugs. They have to. And also — and you’re not allowed to take any drugs in the military, you’re not allowed to take any drugs. You take an aspirin — and they have to after the operation they have to, they have no choice. They have to, uh, and that you would actually have to break rules and regulations in order to have that.”

Trump also cited the cost of transition surgery: “People who are going in and then asking for the operation and the operation is $200,000, $250,000. And getting the operation — the recovery period is long and they have to take large amounts of drugs after that for whatever reason, but large amounts. And that’s not the way it is. I mean, you can’t do that.”

THE BLOWBACK: “Trump asserted falsely that active-duty service members cannot take even so much as an aspirin; and he repeated the debunked canards that medical care for transgender service members is unmanageably expensive and that trans troops cannot be held to the same standards as other troops,” said Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, an organization that advocates on behalf of transgender rights. “The commander in chief has yet again shown that he is developing military policy without regard for the experience of medical professionals, military leaders, transgender troops — or for the truth.”

“The President is known to stretch the truth and outright lie on a regular basis, but when he talks about our men and women in uniform he should stick to the facts. Transgender service members meet the same physical and medical standards as their cisgender counterparts,” said Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in a statement. “For President Trump to make false statements about their medical treatment, and to not know the difference between abusing illegal drugs and medical treatment, is reprehensible.”

NIGER AMBUSH CASE CLOSED: Late last night, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan released a statement explaining why, after ordering an independent review of the ambush that killed four U.S. troops in Niger, he has decided to take no action against higher-ups.

“I am satisfied that all findings, awards, and accountability actions were thorough and appropriate,” Shanahan said, closing the book on the Oct. 4, 2017 attack against U.S. and Nigerien forces in Tongo Tongo, Niger. “The investigation identified systemic areas for improvement and the Department of Defense has taken corrective action — specifically in the areas of training, risk management, operational procedures, field discipline and leadership”

TRUMP ON VIETNAM: In that interview with Piers Morgan yesterday, Trump roiled the twitterverse with his description of the Vietnam War, with detractors mocking him for saying it was “very far away,” and for said he has made up for his lack of military service by “giving” billions to rebuild the military

“I was never a fan of that war, I’ll be honest with you. I thought it was a terrible war; I thought it was very far away. You’re talking about Vietnam at that time — nobody ever heard of the country,” he told Morgan.

“Nobody heard of Vietnam and they say, what are we doing? So many people dying. What is happening over there? So I was never a fan. This isn’t like I’m fighting against Nazi Germany. I’m fighting, we’re fighting against Hitler. And I was like a lot of people. Now I wasn’t out in the streets marching. I wasn’t saying, you know, I’m going to move to Canada, which a lot of people did. But no, I was not a fan of that war.”

Trump avoided the draft by obtaining four student deferments and one medical disqualification for bone spurs, but he told Morgan he would have been honored to serve if circumstances had been different.

“I would not have minded that at all. I would have been honored I would have been honored, but I think I make up for it right now. Look — $700 billion I gave last year and then this year, $716 billion. And I think I’m making up for it rapidly because we’re rebuilding our military at a level that it’s never seen before.”

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: ‘We were sitting ducks’: Last D-Day veterans recall horror and heroism 75 years on

Reuters: U.S. pursues sale of over $2 billion in weapons to Taiwan, sources say, angering China

CNN: U.S. Intel Shows Saudi Arabia Escalated Its Missile Program With Help From China

Al-Monitor: Trump presses UAE on alleged human rights abuses in Yemen

Washington Times: American Troops Won’t Leave Afghanistan Before NATO Allies, Says U.S. Envoy

Washington Post: Marine: Soldier Was To Be Sexually Assaulted

Wall Street Journal: Russia Rolls Out Red Carpet for Xi

Military.com: The Navy’s $2.7 Billion Plan To Build Drone Ships Faces Hurdles In Congress

Seapower Magazine: HASC Subcommittee Budget Markups Bar USS Truman’s Early Retirement, Provide 3.1% Pay Raise, Fund Third Virginia-Class Sub

Defense News: The Pentagon’s No. 3 Official Needs A Nomination In June — Or Else

Bloomberg: No Pentagon Penalty After Defense Worker Claims Hostile Workplace

Stars and Stripes: Navy Recovers C-2A Greyhound From Philippine Sea After Deadly 2017 Crash

Washington Post: Officials: Trump to speak at Lincoln Memorial during July Fourth celebration

Calendar

All day. The 75th anniversary of the day in 1944 when nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed along a heavily fortified, 50-mile stretch of French coastline in the historic operation known as D-Day, and began the liberation of German-occupied France.

President Trump participates in a commemoration of the anniversary at the Normandy American Cemetery in France.

9 a.m. 216 Hart. American Foreign Policy Council, the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and the Robert S.Strauss Center for International Security and Law conference on “Countering China’s Security State: A Bipartisan Approach.” Speakers include Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; and Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del. www.eventbrite.com/e/countering-chinas-security-state

9:30 a.m. 1501 Lee Highway, Arl. Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Power discussion on “Warfare in the Information Age.” Speaker: Air Force Lt. Gen. Brad Shwedo, director for command, control, communications and computers/cyber, and CIO to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. www.afa.org/events/calendar

10 a.m. 1750 Independence Ave. S.W. Friends of the World War II Memorial commemorate the 75th anniversary of Operation Overlord (D-Day). wwiimemorialfriends.networkforgood.com

11 a.m. 1319 18th Street N.W. Middle East Institute discussion on “Iraq’s Crisis of Governance after the Basra Protests.” Speakers: Akeel Abbas, professor at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani; Basma Alloush, advocacy and communications officer at the Norwegian Refugee Council; Mac Skelton, director of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani’s Institute of Regional and International Studies; Bilal Wahab, fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and Randa Slim, senior fellow and director of the MEI Program on Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues. www.mei.edu/events

7 p.m. 700 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. National Archives film screening and discussion of “The True Glory,” a record of the June 6, 1944 invasion of Normandy and the Allied landing in Europe. Speaker: former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. www.archives.gov

FRIDAY | JUNE 7

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. National Defense Industrial Association, the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, the Air Force Association and the Reserve Officers Association forum on “Escalation and Limited Wars with China or Russia?” Speakers: Elbridge Colby, director of defense programs at New America; and James Acton, co-director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Nuclear Policy Program.

MONDAY | JUNE 10

9 a.m. 2201 G. St. N.W. Defense Writers Group breakfast with Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who discusses Democratic priorities in Wednesday’s markup of the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu

2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion with Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee on the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. www.csis.org/events

TUESDAY | JUNE 11

8 a.m. 2201 G. St. N.W. Defense Writers Group breakfast with Rep. Mac Thornberry, R, Texas, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, who discusses Republican priorities in Wednesday’s markup of the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu

8 a.m. 923 16th St. N.W. All day symposium on “Poland’s Security & Economic Partnership with the United States: An Enduring Alliance,” to coincide with the visit of Poland’s President Andrezj Duda to Washington. Speakers include: Poland’s Minister of Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, Polish Ambassador to the U.S. Piotr Wilczek, and U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher.

WEDNESDAY | JUNE 12

10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn. House Armed Services full committee markup of the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings