IT’S DONE! The littoral combat ship and the Space Corps survived yesterday as the House Armed Services Committee worked right up until the stroke of midnight to finalize its annual defense policy bill. The final vote approving the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act was 60 to 1, and was met by a round of applause after 14 hours of debates and dozens of votes on amendments.
In a statement immediately following passage, Committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry noted the near-unanimous vote reflected the clear bipartisan consensus in Congress on the need to rebuild the U.S. military. “This 2018 bill is a key decision point. For six years, we have been just getting by — cutting resources as the world becomes more dangerous, asking more and more of those who serve, and putting off the tough choices,” Thornberry said. “Tonight, we begin charting a new course toward readiness recovery, and we do so with overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats alike.” The lone dissenting vote: Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard.
During the marathon session, Rep. Seth Moulton floated an amendment to move $556 million for one of the bill’s three littoral combat ships into buying munitions instead. But Moulton’s move was defeated 43-19 — with the help of lawmakers from Wisconsin and Alabama where Lockheed Martin and Austal USA make the two classes of LCS. That means the committee’s National Defense Authorization Act still boosts President Trump’s request by two of the ships.
SPACE CONTROL: The committee also rejected an attempt to scuttle the bill’s Space Corps, a new command that would be created under the Air Force. Proponents argued it is needed to organize national security operations in space. “The Air Force and its organizational bureaucracy has not been able to fix the problems that exist in space,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, the amendment’s sponsor. But Air Force leaders oppose the Space Corps, and committee members questioned whether a decision on the new service would be too hasty during the bill’s markup session. “This is the first time I’ve heard about a major reorganization of our Air Force and Department of Defense,” Rep. Martha McSally said. In the end, supporters prevailed and Rep. Mike Turner withdrew his proposal to only study the need for the space command in 2018.
The bill would authorize $631 billion for baseline national defense and $65 billion in overseas contingency operations, which is $29 billion higher than Trump’s request. Here’s rundown of some other amendments that did or didn’t make it during the markup session:
Base closures: The committee quietly inserted language into the NDAA, via a vote on a group of amendments, that none of the bill’s funding can be used for another Base Realignment and Closure round, a process of shuttering unneeded military facilities.
Super Hornets: Rep. Niki Tsongas withdrew her proposed amendment that would have halted production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet until the rash of oxygen deprivation incidents among pilots is solved and life-support equipment is replaced.
Climate change: The panel approved legislation calling climate change a threat to national security and requiring each military service to submit a report on the 10 facilities most threatened by it.
Women in the draft: Another attempt this year by Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier to add women to the Selective Service — and potentially any future military draft — was defeated by the committee.
Court-martial reform: Speier also failed to get amendments passed taking sex assault cases out of the hands of military commanders and randomizing court-martial jury selection, prompting a rebuke from Rep. Steve Russell, a Republican veteran, who said he and other veterans are being seen as rapists.
Marine Corps integration: But the committee did pass Speier’s amendment requiring a study on male and female integration in Marine boot camp.
Transgender recruits: Rep. Vicky Hartzler triggered a divisive, extended debate with an amendment to reverse the Pentagon policy to begin recruiting transgender troops, but she withdrew the proposal.
AUMF: Moulton and fellow Democrat Rep. Beto O’Rourke offered failed amendments urging changes and updates to the current 9/11-era war authorizations. The committee rejected the legislation because the authorizations are under the jurisdiction of House Foreign Affairs.
Immigrants in service: Democrats also failed to pass changes to the NDAA that would have allowed immigrants living under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals law, called DACA, to enter military academies and undocumented immigrants to enlist.
Marksmanship program: The committee voted 35-26 to allow the Army to provide thousands of surplus handguns to a nonprofit group as part of the U.S. Marksmanship Program, a move that was barred under the Obama administration.
Cyber service: Rep. Marc Veasey, a Democrat, proposed creating a new Cyber Service separate from the military’s existing Cyber Command, but the committee soundly defeated the idea in a 13-48 vote.
Trump travel and properties: The committee was narrowing divided but ultimately rejected two amendments about President Trump pushed by Democrats. One would have required a monthly report on Defense Department expenditures related to Trump travel and was voted down with a split of 31-31. A second would have barred any NDAA money being spent on Trump family owned properties and failed 30-32.
IN SENATE, MCCAIN GOES BIG ON NDAA: One of the biggest questions Wednesday was how high the Senate Armed Services Committee would go with its proposed defense spending for 2018. The answer: Higher. Sen. John McCain and his committee unveiled a $640 billion total baseline defense budget as well as $60 billion for overseas military operations, going even beyond the House and far surpassing Trump’s base funding plans by about $37 billion.
Here are a few of the highlights in the committee’s National Defense Authorization Act, which now heads to the Senate floor:
-13 Navy ships, an increase of five over the president’s plans. Those include a third Arleigh Burke-class destroyer; one amphibious ship replacement or one amphibious transport dock; one expeditionary sea base; one cable ship; and money for advanced procurement of Virginia-class submarines.
-94 Lockheed Martin F-35s, 24 more than Trump’s budget.
-24 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets, an increase of 10.
-13 Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, an increase of six over the administration’s request.
-15,000 more soldiers and 1,000 more Marines.
Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). 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: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has a full day of meetings at NATO headquarters as alliance defense ministers gather in Brussels. The top agenda items are Afghanistan, combatting terrorism and increased burden sharing. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed this morning that more NATO trainers will be sent to help the Afghan Security Forces. “Our military authorities have requested a few thousand more troops for the Mission in Afghanistan, and today I can confirm that we will increase our presence in Afghanistan,” Stoltenberg said, adding that 15 nations have already pledged additional contributions to the NATO Resolute Support training mission.
“We have to put this into context and understand that this is about training, assisting and advising the Afghan forces. NATO has ended our combat operation in Afghanistan. What we do now is not to conduct combat operations but to help the Afghans fight and to help the Afghans take full responsibility for the security in their own country,” Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg also announced that across-the-board spending by all NATO members is expected to grow by 4.3 percent in 2017. “That is three consecutive years of accelerating defense spending,” Stoltenberg said. “This means, over the last three years, European Allies and Canada spent almost $46 billion more on defense.”
Mattis and Stoltenberg hold separate news conferences at the end of the one-day session. Stoltenberg first at 1:30 p.m. Washington time, and Mattis following at 2 p.m. Mattis will be livestreamed at www.defense.gov/live. You can also watch Stoltenberg on NATO’s live stream site.
Yesterday, Mattis met with Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık amid increasing strains between the two NATO allies. Mattis is seeking to reassure Turkey that while enlisting and arming the Kurds to help defeat the Islamic State, the U.S. is also making sure U.S. weaponry doesn’t fall into the hands of the Kurdish PKK militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group. An official Pentagon readout of the face-to-face meeting said Mattis “reaffirmed support for Turkey in its fight against the PKK and plan[s] to increase cooperation on Turkey’s counter-PKK efforts.” Mattis and his Turkish counterpart “also discussed the crisis in Syria and agreed to continue to cooperate to end the scourge of violence and alleviate human suffering,” according to the statement from Pentagon chief spokesperson Dana White.
The top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Army Col. Ryan Dillon, said he has “operational updates on Mosul, Raqqa, and on recent strikes in the Middle Euphrates River Valley,” when he briefs Pentagon reporters this morning, live from Baghdad. You can watch it at 11 a.m. at www.defense.gov/live
ANOTHER MARKUP: The full House Appropriations Committee marks up the fiscal 2018 spending bill for the Defense Department at 10:30 this morning. That bill proposes $658 billion in baseline funding for the Defense Department (Trump’s total was $639 billion) and $74 billion for overseas funding.
ALSO TODAY, MOON’S IN TOWN: South Korean President Moon Jae-in begins his state visit tonight at the White House with cocktails and dinner. Tomorrow morning, Moon lays a wreath at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the Mall, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence. Moon then has a one-on-one meeting with Trump, followed by an expanded meeting between members of the two cabinets, and finally lunch with the vice president.
Of course the big issue is dealing with North Korea. Moon is on the record favoring engagement with the North, and for now all focus is on diplomacy backed by tougher sanctions, but there appears to be no agreement on any specific sanctions. “I don’t think I would anticipate that being a deliverable out of this meeting,” a senior White House official told reporters at a background briefing yesterday. “But President Trump has instructed his government to look at — carefully at a whole range of potential sanctions targets for his consideration. And he will move forward with — potentially with additional sanctions when he chooses.”
ROK’S NO LAGGARD: And despite Trump’s tweets about South Korea paying more for its own defense, the briefer yesterday called South Korea a “model ally” that spends roughly 2.7 percent of its GDP on defense. “South Korea has paid an enormous amount of money to help host U.S. troops in their country, including through things like, is it Camp Humphreys, the new base south of Seoul, which 92 percent of that cost was shouldered by South Korea.”
“Burden-sharing is always going to be part of the conversation with our allies. President Trump has made that clear,” the official said. “But we shouldn’t view South Korea as somehow laggard on that front.”
NOT SO MAD ABOUT THAAD AFTER ALL: What about Trump’s tweets about South Korea paying for the deployment of the $1 billion Terminal High Altitude Air Defense batteries? “I don’t think that either of them are treating this as a central point of discussion,” the official said. “It’ll come up as a routine matter of housekeeping bilateral relationship.” Turns out the batteries are included, after all.
SHANAHAN CLEARS SASC: Trump’s pick for deputy defense secretary appeared in jeopardy last week during his Senate Armed Services nomination hearing when McCain hammered him repeatedly for incomplete answers. But the committee on Wednesday approved Pat Shanahan, a Boeing executive who helped improve the defense giant’s troubled 787 Dreamliner program. McCain took issue especially with Shanahan’s seeming uncertainty about sending lethal weapons to Ukraine in its fight against Russian-aligned forces. The senator required Shanahan to amend a series of written answers and re-submit them to the committee, leaving the impression he would block the nomination if he remained dissatisfied. Shanahan complied and now the vote moves his nomination to the full Senate, where he is closer to filling the No. 2 job under Mattis at the Pentagon. No floor vote was immediately scheduled.
TRUMP’S SYRIA THREAT: Trump would likely order “massive” airstrikes against Bashar Assad if the Syrian president launches another chemical weapons attack against his own people, predicts Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger. “We have to maintain that using chemical weapons will cost you far more than any gain you’ll get,” Kinzinger, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, tells our Joel Gehrke. “I think if they’re used again, frankly it’s gonna be a much more massive campaign.”
Trump ordered the first U.S. attack on an Assad regime base in early April, following a sarin gas attack against rebels and civilians in northeastern Syria. Fifty-nine U.S. cruise missiles hit the Shayrat airfield, destroying or damaging more than 20 planes on the ground, although the regime immediately maintained that the base remained functional. The attack outraged Russia, which backs Assad. But Kinzinger dismissed Moscow’s objections. “When President Trump acts in Syria, the result is a Russia that complains but can’t do much,” Kinzinger said.
IT WORKED, SAYS MATTIS AND HALEY: Meanwhile, both U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Mattis credited Trump’s strong preemptive warning for averting a repeat of April’s chemical attack. The White House statement, issued late Monday, warned Assad he would “pay a heavy price” for any future attack, and on his brief flight to Brussels from Germany, Mattis told reporters traveling with him, “It appears that [the Syrians] took the warning seriously… They didn’t do it.”
At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing yesterday, Haley offered a similar assessment. “I can tell you that due to the president’s actions, we did not see an incident,” Haley testified. “I think that by the president calling out Assad, I think by us continuing to remind Iran and Russia that while they choose to back Assad, that this was something we were not going to put up with. I would like to think that the president saved many innocent men, women and children.”
THE PRICE OF PEACEKEEPERS: Haley took a lot of flak on Twitter last night following her comments before the committee and subsequent tweet touting the Trump administration’s success in cutting the U.N. peacekeeping budget. “We just negotiated the peacekeeping budget last week, and I was so proud of my team because we cut it by half-a-billion dollars, and that was with the support of everyone,” Haley told the committee. She then tweeted a shorter version of the boast, which drew howls of mocking protest from some Dems on social media. “1) Why are we cutting funding for peacekeeping? 2) Why are we boasting about it? 3) No wonder global views of US leadership are plummeting,” tweeted Ben Rhodes, a foreign policy adviser to former President Barack Obama.
In her testimony, Haley called peacekeeping a U.N. program that has “real value,” and said the budget cuts were part of an overall reform effort. “Peacekeeping is one of the most important things the U.N. does,” she said. “We are reviewing every one of the peacekeeping missions with an eye toward ensuring that we have clear and achievable mandates.”
TRAVEL BAN STARTS TONIGHT: The Department of Homeland of Security will begin partially implementing Trump’s immigration executive order tonight, days after the Supreme Court reversed two lower court rulings that had completely blocked implementation. Yesterday, DHS spokesman David Lapan told the Washington Examiner implementation will “begin tomorrow and we’ll release additional information then.” Lapan added that DHS will continue to “work with the Departments of State and Justice on the way forward for implementation of the executive order based on the Supreme Court’s ruling.”
MCMASTER’S DEFENSE: National security adviser H.R. McMaster said Wednesday criticism of Trump’s failure to affirm the United States’ commitment to NATO’s Article 5 in a speech last month was a “manufactured controversy.”
“The president is absolutely committed to our treaty,” McMaster said Wednesday at the Center for a New American Security’s annual conference. “We are signatories of the treaty, and he said we will never abandon those who stand with us, and he was very clear in saying everything but that explicit phrase that everyone was looking for, for some really odd reason.”
McMaster said Trump was delivering a bit of “tough love” to allies, but Michele Flournoy, co-founder of CNAS, pressed McMaster on whether Trump’s message to allies was too tough. “They are not feeling very loved at the moment,” said Flournoy, who was in line to become Hillary Clinton’s defense secretary. “They’re feeling the tough part, but not the love part.”
INTEL NOMINATION: Trump yesterday announced his intent to nominate Susan Gordon to be the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Gordon serves as the deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. “She will bring a wealth of experience in the Intelligence Community and an exceptional record of leadership and innovation to the job,” said Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, in a statement.
THE RUNDOWN
New York Times: Ukraine cyberattack was meant to paralyze, not profit, evidence shows
USNI News: Huntington Ingalls Industries awarded first flight III Arleigh Burke destroyer
CNN: US military updates Trump’s North Korea options
Foreign Policy: Chinese Oil Giant Cuts Off Fuel Sales to North Korea
Politico: Tillerson blows up at top White House aide
Defense One: Why Congress and the Pentagon should bypass Trump’s defense spending bill
Stars and Stripes: Study: Basing soldiers in Europe, South Korea would be cheaper than rotations
Stars and Stripes: US Committed To Europe Force Extension Through 2020, Mattis Says
Politico: Ex-nuke commanders: Talk to North Korea, open NATO-Russia dialogue
DoD Buzz: Army ‘wasted’ millions on ground transport in Mideast: IG
Defense News: US Army on fast track to get Mobile Protected Firepower into force
USA Today: Desperate ISIS fighters using human shields as battle nears end in Mosul
Defense Tech: First strike against North part of South Korea’s defense strategy
Wall Street Journal: NATO allies lift military spending
Foreign Policy: Could the bizarre helicopter attack in Venezuela be a turning point?
War on the Rocks: “Drone ethics” and the civil-military gap
Calendar
THURSDAY | JUNE 29
9 a.m. 1030 15th Street NW. Conference on the threat of Russian influence in Europe, the next frontier in digital disinformation, and how to strike back. atlanticcouncil.org
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The power of the president to shape U.S. relations in the Middle East and North Africa. brookings.edu
10:30 a.m. Rayburn 2359. Full committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2018 defense appropriations bill. appropriations.house.gov
10:30 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. India-Japan strategic cooperation and implications for Washington and Beijing. Wilsoncenter.org
11 a.m. Pentagon Briefing Room Army Col. Ryan Dillon, spokesman, Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve briefs the media live from Baghdad. Streamed live on www.defense.gov/live
2 p.m. NATO Headquarters, Brussels Defense Secretary Jim Mattis holds news conference following Defense Ministerial. Streamed live at www.defense.gov/live.
4:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Debate on U.S. nuclear weapon modernization. csis.org
6:30 p.m. 529 14th St. NW. Chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, Peter Baker, discusses his new book Obama: The Call of History. press.org
FRIDAY | JUNE 30
9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. South Sudan: When war and famine collide. csis.org
