House passage of $738 billion defense policy bill gives Trump a big win

The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act now goes to the Senate, with a vote expected by early next week.

EVERYONE CLAIMS A WIN: The compromise bill is more than 4,000 pages long, and contains 1,249 individual provisions, a veritable Christmas tree of gifts that unleashed a snowstorm of press releases from members of Congress lauding the benefits accruing their particular districts.

And while Republicans complained that the bill was delayed by Democrats playing politics and holding out over non-defense measures, in the end both sides embraced a provision to give 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all federal workers. While technically not a national security issue, it does apply to more than 755,000 civilian employees of the Defense Department.

WHAT THE BILL DOESN’T DO: Several Democrat-backed proposals that would have tied the president’s hand or limited his power did not make it in the final version of the bill. Among the things the bill doesn’t do:

• There is no provision blocking Trump from diverting funds appropriated for military construction to border wall projects
• There is no requirement for Trump to seek a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) to take action against Iran.
• There is no ban on transferring more prisoners to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
• No restriction on Trump’s rules limiting the service of transgender troops

NATO FEARS: The bill does express strong support for NATO, among bipartisan fears that President Trump may decide to withdraw or cut back U.S. support for the alliance, and includes this language:

“No funds may be obligated, expended, or otherwise made available during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2020, to take any action to suspend, terminate, or provide notice of denunciation of the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, D.C. on April 4, 1949.”

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, said the provision had its genesis in discussions he had with the late Sen. John McCain before he died. “We were so worried that all the president’s bashing of NATO suggested that he might leave, and that he clearly believed he could do it on its own.”

“The only benefactor if the U.S. pulled out of NATO would be Vladimir Putin and Russia, and we want to make clear to our allies and to the president and especially to Russia that the Congress supports the U.S. staying in NATO and we’re not going to let a president back out of it on his own,” Kaine said on MSNBC last night.

IT’S A TRADITION: “Today, we remind the country that despite our many policy disagreements, the House can still legislate and deliver for the American people,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith in a statement. “We disagreed on a few key provisions, but we found compromise on hundreds of others. That’s what makes the House Armed Services Committee different: Our bipartisan commitment to put country ahead of party.”

“This was a challenging year, starting with two different bills that were far apart. But, for the 59th consecutive year, we were able to come to an agreement for our men and women in uniform and their families,” said Republican ranking member Rep. Mac Thornberry. “It is important for the men and women who serve to know that, despite differences on other issues, we can come together to support them.”

Good Thursday 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 Susan Katz Keating (@SKatzKeating). 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: Defense Secretary Mark Esper welcomes Czech Republic Defense Minister Lubomír Metnar to the Pentagon at 2 p.m.

SO LONG HUEY, HELLO …? At a ceremony one week from today at Duke Field at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, the Air Force will accept the first delivery of its new Boeing MH-139A helicopter, a replacement for the venable Vietnam-era UH-1 “Huey.”

At the same time, the Air Force will announce the name of the new chopper. For decades, U.S. military helicopters have been named for native American tribes, although the official name of the Huey never stuck. The UH-1 was named the Iroquois, but because UH-1 designation couldn’t be said as a word, Huey it became.

“The MH-139A is the first service-unique helicopter acquired by the Air Force and the first major acquisition in Air Force Global Strike Command’s 10-year history,” said the Air Force, noting it’s also the command’s first commercial “off-the-shelf” purchase.

The MH-139 is new military variant of a civilian helicopter AW139 manufactured by Leonardo subsidiary AgustaWestland, which partnered with Boeing. The Air Force plans to buy 84 aircraft at a cost of $2.38 billion, and says it saved saved taxpayers $1.7 billion by buying a militarized version of an existing commercial helicopter.

ESPER REBUFFED: When U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper called on American allies in the Gulf to help counter Iran’s attacks on shipping earlier this year,most said “no thanks,” writes Russ Read in the Washington Examiner.

The rejections came in response to the Pentagon’s creation of a maritime coalition after Iran attacked foreign ships and Saudi oil fields earlier this year.

“I personally made calls to many allies in both Asia and Europe and asked for assets and was told either ‘not possible’ or ‘we’ll think about it.’ And you can see how many are there right now,” Esper told Democratic Rep. Bill Keating during a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

“I can see how many who aren’t there too, that usually are there. And that’s a concern I have,” Keating said.

So far, only six partners have signed on to the maritime coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Israel, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE OIL: At that same hearing Esper said that since Turkey’s incursion into Syria in October, the situation has stabilized and the U.S. has resumed counter ISIS operations with its Syrian Kurdish partners.

“My current assessment is that the situation up there is generally stabilized,” Esper testfied, quickly adding a caveat. “You know no cease fire is perfect if you will. I think the wild card is always these Turkish surrogate forces,” referring to some of the troops accused of war crimes.

“These things take a while to unfold,” added Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, noting the roughy 20 mile wide buffer zone along Turkey’s southern border with Syria was divided into three sections with Turkey controlling the middle, and Russia and Syria controlling the ends.

“We’re watching it all very closely. With respect to what will happen with the SDF. The SDF has already made adjustments in that particular area,” Milley said, “We’re still working with them in the eastern portion of northeast Syria and then they’re working with Russian, Syrian regime in other parts of Syria.”

Asked about President Trump’s assertion that U.S. troops are staying in Syria to guard the oil the U.S. is keeping, Esper pushed back.

“We are there to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. So a subtask of that is we’ve directed to our commander on the ground to deny ISIS access to that oil because whoever controls that oil controls a resource that allows them to buy weapons, equipment,” he said.

GETTING TURKEY BACK: “My biggest concern with Syrian and Turkey is actually Turkey-Russia,” Esper said. “The concern is that Turkey is moving out of the NATO orbit as I’ve said publicly on several occasions. I think our challenge is to figure out how we can get them back, closer into the NATO alliance because I think they’re a critical and longstanding nearly 70-year partner of ours.”

Meanwhile the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday advanced bipartisan sanctions bill to punish Turkey for its purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missiles, and Turkey threatened to retaliate.

“If the U.S. imposes sanctions against Turkey, then the issue of the Incirlik and Kurecik bases may come on the agenda,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, according to the Wall Street Journal.

GOOD ORDER AND DISCIPLINE: In response to another line of questioning, Milley vigorously defended President Trump’s pardons of three accused, and in one case convicted, war criminals, insisting it will not degrade the ability of the military to maintain good order and disciple amount the troops.

“Good order and discipline is maintained in a lot of different ways, but one of them is to maintain adherence to the process,” Milley said. “And the president of the United States is part of the process, and we are maintaining good order and discipline within our military.”

“He has the legal authorities to do what he did and he weighed the conditions in the situation as he saw fit, but he is part of the process,” Milley said at another point. “We do maintain and we will maintain good order and discipline. We will not turn into a gang of raping, burning and pillaging … that is not going to happen.”

CALL FOR HEARINGS: California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna expressed outrage at the revelations contained in the so-called “Afghanistan Papers” published this week by the Washington Post.

“The bottom line is the top military officials and civilian officials have known that the Afghan war has been unwinnable and have been misleading the American public for 20 years,” Khanna said. “I would request that this committee hold hearings on the Afghan papers and call before Congress, with subpoena, every person who has misled this country and just like in the Pentagon papers, I think that should be one of our highest priorities and examining what has come out in that bombshell report.”

Chairman Smith immediately pushed back on the idea of subpoenaing every one of the 400 people who are referenced in more than 2,000 documents. “I think it’s appropriate to have hearings,” Smith said. “I will tell you right up front just to set expectations correctly, I’m not going to call every single witness who has anything to do with this. I do not believe that would be a productive use of the committee’s time.”

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: ‘The case for a Space Force is overwhelming’: Congress paves way for new branch of military

Air Force Magazine: USAF Posed Biggest Hurdle to Space Force, Lawmaker Says

Washington Examiner: ‘Tracking this extensively’: Officials to announce fraud and corruption charges at Florida VA hospitals

New York Times: U.S. Warns North Koreans Against Further Missile Tests

Washington Times: ‘Tricked’: High-level defector warns Trump on Kim, nukes

AP: US hits Iran with new sanctions, hopes for prisoner dialogue

Breaking Defense: Congress Stalls INF-Busting Missiles & Nuke Treaty Withdrawal

Air Force Magazine: Congress Wants USAF, SOCOM to Work Together on Light Attack

Forbes: The Latest Russian Submarine Is Unlike Any In U.S. Navy Service

Wall Street Journal: Russia’s Gas Pipeline to Europe Faces Sanctions Under U.S. Defense Bill

Military.com: Russia Has Stopped Buzzing US Ships and Aircraft in Europe, General Says

Defense News: Adm. Davidson, Indo-Pacific Commander: ‘We’re Not Asking People To Choose Between Us And China’

New York Times: Saudi Family of Pensacola Gunman: ‘Even We Don’t Know the Truth’ of Motive

Calendar

THURSDAY | DECEMBER 12

8 a.m. 1700 Richmond Hwy. — Armed Force Communications and Electronics Association Air Force Information Technology Day, with Defense Department CIO Dana Deasy; Air Force Chief Data Officer Eileen Vidrine; Defense Information Systems Agency Military Deputy Maj. Gen. Garret Yee; and Assistant Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Cyber Effects Operations Maj. Gen. Kevin Kennedy. https://nova.afceachapters.org/event

9 a.m. 1030 15th St. N.W. — The Atlantic Council discussion “One Year into the United States’ Maximum Pressure Campaign on Iran,” with Knut Dethlefsen, representative to the United States and Canada at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung; David Jalilvand, CEO of Orient Matters; Azadeh Zamirirad, deputy head of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs’ Middle East and Africa Division; Narges Bajoghli, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; Barbara Slavin, director of the Atlantic Council’s Future of Iran Initiative; and former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Stuart Eizenstat, board director at the Atlantic Council. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org

2 p.m. 529 14th St. N.W. — Turkish Heritage Organization hosts Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor Joseph Nye for a discussion “U.S. Foreign Policy Strategy and Challenges,” at the National Press Club. https://www.turkheritage.org/en/events

3 p.m. — Defense One and Nextgov webcast “Securing the Digital Landscape,” with Frank Konieczny, chief information technology officer in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force; Michael Sorrento, director of the Defense Department’s Defense Manpower Data Center; Jordan Kasper, digital service expert at the Defense Digital Service; and Patrick Turner, technology editor at Defense One. https://www.govexec.com

FRIDAY | DECEMBER 13

9 a.m. 1301 K St. N.W. — Washington Post Live conversation with former Defense Secretary retired Gen. Jim Mattis with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. https://www.washingtonpost.com/post-live