DOD TRANSITION TASK FORCE STAND UP: In quick succession, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers certified Joe Biden the winner of Michigan’s 16 electoral votes by a margin of 154,000 votes, General Services Administrator Emily Murphy declared Biden the apparent president-elect, and the Pentagon issued a statement saying it would salute smartly and move ahead with transition support.
“DOD has been contacted by the Biden-Harris team and their designated lead for the DOD Agency Review Team and, based on the ascertainment by the GSA Administrator, we will begin immediately implementing our plan to provide support in accordance with statute, DOD policy and the memorandum of agreement between the White House and the Biden-Harris team,” the statement said. “The DOD Transition Task Force will arrange and coordinate all DOD contact with the Biden-Harris team. DOD is prepared to provide post-election services and support in a professional, orderly, and efficient manner that is befitting of the public’s expectation of the Department and our commitment to national security.”
PRESSURE WAS BUILDING: The events capped a day when there was increasing bipartisan frustration that the transition was being improperly delayed and that national security was being jeopardized.
“President-elect Biden and his transition team should already be receiving classified briefings that will prepare them to protect our country immediately upon taking office,” wrote Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Their ability to respond appropriately to any threats early in his term depends on the knowledge and perspective that these briefings provide.”
An open letter from 100 Republican former national security officials, including former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, former Homeland Security Secretary and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, and former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, warned, “We believe that President Trump’s refusal to concede the election and allow for an orderly transition constitutes a serious threat to America’s democratic process and to our national security.”
In a letter to Biden, Murphy insisted she came to her decision “independently, based on the law and available facts.”
“I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official — including those who work at the White House or GSA — with regard to the substance or timing of my decision,” she wrote.
TRUMP’S VERSION: In a tweet, President Trump immediately contradicted Murphy, saying the decision to allow the transition process to begin was made at his direction. “In the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same,” Trump said, while insisting he was not conceding. “Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good … fight, and I believe we will prevail!”
A statement from the Trump campaign brushed off the certification of Biden victories In Michigan and Pennsylvania as “simply a procedural step.”
“We are going to continue combatting election fraud around the country as we fight to count all the legal votes,” said Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to the campaign. “Americans must be assured that the final results are fair and legitimate.”
Good Tuesday 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 Victor I. Nava. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. 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.
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HAPPENING TODAY: At 1 p.m., President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris introduce his foreign policy and national security nominees, which Biden announced in a tweet yesterday. “They will rally the world to take on our challenges like no other — challenges that no one nation can face alone,” Biden said. “It’s time to restore American leadership. I trust this group to do just that.”
There was one glaring omission. No nominee was announced for Defense Secretary. Michele Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense for policy, is still considered a front-runner, but some progressives are pushing back against her potential nomination because of her ties to industry.
Here are the six names Biden did announce:
Antony Blinken, secretary of state — Blinken is a longtime Biden adviser and a former deputy secretary of state. For insights on his thinking, see the January article he co-wrote for Brookings, “‘America First’ is only making the world worse. Here’s a better approach.”
Avril Haines, director of national intelligence — Haines is a former deputy director of the CIA and would be the first woman to hold that post.
Jake Sullivan, national security adviser — Sullivan is another longtime, trusted Biden adviser, who was also Hillary Clinton’s State Department deputy chief of staff and planning director. He wrote an essay outlining his national security views in the Atlantic in January.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — Thomas-Greenfield would be the second black person to hold the post.
Alejandro Mayorkas, homeland security secretary — Mayorkas, who was deputy secretary of the DHS under Obama, is Cuban American, born in Havana, and if confirmed, would be the first immigrant and Latino to head the third-largest federal department.
John Kerry, special presidential envoy for climate — The former senator, secretary of state, and presidential candidate is probably the best known of the group. He will report directly to Biden and be given a seat on the National Security Council. “This marks the first time that the NSC will include an official dedicated to climate change, reflecting the president-elect’s commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue,” said a statement from Biden’s transition team.
ALSO TODAY: President Trump is scheduled to pardon the national Thanksgiving turkey, which would be his first appearance since he has tacitly, if not explicitly, acknowledged the need to plan for Biden’s inauguration next month. As of this morning, a time had not been set for the event.
MATTIS: ‘AMERICA FIRST’ = ‘AMERICA ALONE’: In an article in Foreign Affairs, co-authored by Jim Mattis, the former defense secretary who quit over Trump’s Syria policy, says the president’s “America first” has in practice meant “America alone.”
“Enhancing national security must start with the fundamental truth that the United States cannot protect itself or its interests without the help of others,” argue Mattis and his three co-authors. “As capable as the U.S. military is, the United States’ principal adversaries are more constrained by its network of alliances than by its military might. But continued failure to adequately invest in relationships with allies and partners and to cooperate with them to shape the international environment risks the erosion of this network — allowing a long-tended garden to become choked with weeds.”
McMASTER: ‘DON’T TURN THE CLOCK BACK’: Trump’s former national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who is on a book tour, is warning Biden not to upend foreign policy just because the policies were implemented by Trump.
Of Biden’s national security team so far, McMaster called them “long-serving professionals who, I think, are going to come in and obviously do their best for the country.”
“We might have differences of opinion on policy, but I think this is a team that I hope will resist kind of these twin temptations of either trying to turn the clock back to 2016 or do what I think several administrations have done in recent years, which is to define their foreign policy mainly as in opposition to the previous administration’s policies,” McMaster said on CNN last night. “I think there are going to be elements of change, certainly. But I think there are going to be really critical elements of continuity.”
WARP SPEED DISTRIBUTES COVID COCKTAIL: Following Saturday’s Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for the experimental drug cocktail given to President Trump, the Pentagon is ramping up a plan for Operation Warp Speed to distribute the new COVID therapy beginning today.
“Keeping patients out of the hospital with this therapeutic can reduce the strain on our healthcare system, help hospitalized patients receive better care, and in all likelihood, save lives,” Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services, said during a conference call today.
Azar says approximately 30,000 doses will be available for distribution initially, with more becoming available in the coming weeks.
The Health and Human Services Department and the Pentagon have another conference call briefing set for 11:15 a.m. to provide an update on plans for COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: China fumes after extraordinary leak exposes secret US military visit to Taiwan
New York Times: Moderate Chosen For Spy Agencies Played A Key Role In Drone Strikes
Kitsap Sun: Biden Signals Push To Extend New START Nuclear Arms Treaty
Military.com: For Now, U.S. Troops Won’t Be Required to Get New COVID-19 Vaccine
NBC: Trump set on veto of defense bill over renaming bases honoring Confederates
Reuters: ‘We’ve Got Your Back’ – Trump Advisor Vows U.S. Support In South China Sea
Breaking Defense: Chinese Party Sets Bold Military Goal: ‘Mechanized & Informationized’ By 2027
New York Times: Israeli Reports Say Netanyahu Met Saudi Crown Prince. Saudis Deny It.
Just the News: Paroled spy Pollard’s case could reignite rancor with Israel from Biden administration, experts say
Newport News Daily Press: Newport News Shipyard Wins $2.2 Billion Contract For Columbia-Class Submarine Modules
Defense One: More Computers Would Bring Military AI Along Faster, New JAIC Chief Says
Reuters: Russia Caught U.S. Warship In Its Waters, Chased It Off – Defence Ministry
CNN: Only Two Countries Have Collected Rocks From The Moon. For China, It’s Just The Beginning
Defense Daily: Middle East Institute: Drones ‘Decisively Employed’ in Libyan Conflict
Air Force Magazine: F-35 Crash Corrective Measures Must Remain Secret, JPO Says
The Drive: This Is Our First Look At The Navy’s New CMV-22B Osprey Flying From An Aircraft Carrier
The Drive: The Navy Has Started Naming Its Submarines After Sea Creatures Again
Foreign Affairs: Opinion: U.S. Must Put an End to “America First” and Restore Cooperative Security
Forbes: Five Reasons Return Of Boeing’s 737 MAX To Service Is Important To National Security
Calendar
TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 24
8 a.m. — Henry L. Stimson Center webinar: “What Awaits the U.S.-Japan Alliance Under New Leadership?” with former Japanese Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobukatsu Kanehara. https://www.stimson.org/event
9:45 a.m. — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers joint statements after meeting with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah at the State Department. Livestreamed on www.state.gov.
10 a.m. — Association of the U.S. Army’s Thought Leaders webinar with Gen. Thierry Burkhard, the French Army chief of staff; and Maj. Gen. Michel Delion, director of the French Army’s Center for Doctrine and Command Teaching. https://www.ausa.org/events/thought-leaders-burkhard
1 p.m. — Brookings Institution webcast: “The Biden Presidency and the Future of America’s ‘Forever Wars,”” with Christopher Preble, co-director of the Atlantic Council’s New American Engagement Initiative; Justin Logan, director of programs at the Catholic University of America’s Center for the Study of Statesmanship; Vanda Felbab-Brown, senior fellow at Brookings; Madiha Afzal, fellow at Brookings; and Michael O’Hanlon; senior fellow at Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/events
1 p.m. Pentagon Briefing Room — Lt. Gen. Michael Groen, director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center briefs reporters on DOD efforts to adopt and scale AI capabilities. https://www.defense.gov/Watch/Live-Events/
1:15 p.m. — Atlantic Council conversation with former national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, author of Battlegrounds: The fight to Defend the Free World, and board director, Atlantic Council. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 25
9 a.m. — Atlantic Council webinar: “Lessons for Afghanistan from Lebanon’s Peace Process,” with Afghanistan Ambassador to the United States Roya Rahmani; former UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi; Patricia Karam, regional director of the International Republican Institute’s Middle East North Africa Division; Daniel Martin Corstange, associate professor of political science at Columbia University; Irfan Nooruddin, director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center; and Harris Samad, assistant director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
11 a.m. — German Marshall Fund of the United States webinar: “Ukraine, Georgia and the Future of the Transatlantic Alliance,” with Olha Stefanishyna, deputy Ukraine prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration; European Parliament member Anna Fotyga, member of the NATO Reflection Process Experts Group; Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the New Europe Center; Irakli Porchkhidze, co-founder of the Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies; and Bruno Lete, GMFUS senior fellow. https://www.gmfus.org/events
11 a.m. — National Museum of the American Indian virtual exhibition: “Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces.” https://americanindian.si.edu/calendar
THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 26 | THANKSGIVING
Federal offices closed
MONDAY | NOVEMBER 30
7 a.m. — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg briefs reporters will brief the press ahead of the meeting of the NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, taking place via tele-conference on 1 – 2 December 2020.
TUESDAY | DECEMBER 1
All Day — NATO foreign ministers meet for two days via secure teleconference. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will brief reporters both days online. https://www.nato.int
THURSDAY | DECEMBER 3
12 p.m. — R Street Institute and National Taxpayers Union webinar “Pentagon Purse Strings Episode 1: What is a Contingency? Exploring the OCO Account and Reform in the 117th Congress,” with Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.; Andrew Lautz, National Taxpayers Union, Jonathan Bydlak, R Street Institute; and Wendy Jordan, senior policy analyst, Taxpayers for Common Sense. https://www.rstreet.org/event
5 p.m. — National Security Institute at George Mason University “NatSec Nightcap” conversation: “Advancing Diplomacy Aboard, a Deep Dive into U.S. Foreign Policy,” with Elliott Abrams, special representative for Iran and Venezuela; and Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director, National Security Institute. https://nationalsecurity.gmu.edu/natsec-nightcap
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“DOD is prepared to provide post-election services and support in a professional, orderly, and efficient manner that is befitting of the public’s expectation of the Department and our commitment to national security.”
Pentagon statement on its support for the transition to the administration of President-elect Joe Biden.
