VETO THREAT: The White House last night said it would veto the defense policy bill if it contained the House’s plan to shift about $18 billion in warfighting funds to the base budget. Doing so means the Pentagon’s overseas contingency fund runs out in April. Susan Crabtree and Nicole Duran have the story.
“The bill would buy excess force structure without the money to sustain it, effectively creating hollow force structure that would undermine [the Department of Defense’s] efforts to restore readiness,” the Office of Management and Budget said.
“By gambling with war-fighting funds, the bill risks the safety of our men and women fighting to keep America safe, undercuts stable planning and efficient use of taxpayer dollars, dispirits troops and their families, baffles our allies, and emboldens our enemies.”
The White House also cried foul over provisions that would prevent closing Guantanamo, and another that would add to troop levels.
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NDAA HITS THE HOUSE FLOOR: Under the cloud of a veto threat, the full House begins its consideration of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act today at noon. The debate is expected to stretch well into the evening. The chamber then resumes consideration Wednesday at 12:30 and will wrap up by 7:30 according to the current timeline, a House Armed Services Committee aide said.
The House Rules Committee met Monday night and ruled 61 of the more than 370 amendments proposed by members are in order. Lawmakers will be releasing a second rule later to open more amendments for consideration on the House floor.
The rule would consider an amendment from Rep. Pete Sessions to strip out language requiring women to sign up for the draft. Sessions is chairman of the House Rules Committee.
The House Armed Services Committee has promised to keep an amendment tracker as up-to-date as possible to keep you updated on what’s happening on the floor. You can find it here.
SOON TO BE EX?: Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall will speak at the Sea-Air-Space expo this morning, days after the Senate Armed Services Committee unveiled its proposal to do away with his job and replace it with two positions — one to govern the business side of procurement and the other to focus on innovation.
In his first public remarks since SASC finished marking up its draft of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act last week, Kendall is sure to face questions about what he thinks about the proposal, or if he thinks the job would be better done by two people.
Still, committee staff stressed to reporters that the move to get rid of the AT&L job has nothing to do with Kendall’s performance.
“This is not about the job he’s doing, it’s about the job he has,” a committee aide said.
NOT RUDE ENOUGH: Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said Monday that industry partners need to quit being so polite and have frank conversations with the Navy earlier in the acquisition process to hone requirements and speed up delivery to the fleet.
“I want to challenge all of our industry partners to challenge us,” Richardson said at the first day of the Sea-Air-Space expo. “In these conversations, we’re getting to the point of honesty, but I’ve got to say that the traditional customer relationship sometimes breeds a level of politeness which can inhibit that frank discussion that we need to have in terms of how to enhance that partnership.”
Richardson appeared on a panel alongside chiefs of the Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Maritime Administration. During that discussion, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said expect the U.S. to continue operating in the South China Sea, Navy Times reports.
The three-day conference continues on Tuesday. After Kendall’s event in the morning, Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks at a luncheon at 12:15.
ARMS TO LIBYA: The U.S. and other nations agreed it’s time to begin arming the Libyan government against the Islamic State, Susan Crabtree reports. “The country’s government last month warned that the Islamic State could seize control of most of the country if its advances weren’t stopped soon. But providing arms would require an exemption to an embargo imposed on the country, something the U.S. and other countries agreed they would push for at the U.N. Security Council. In Vienna for a meeting with 20 countries on efforts to fight the Islamic State, Secretary of State John Kerry said world powers would help Libya seek the exemption from the embargo. Kerry said the Islamic State is a ‘new threat’ to Libya and it’s “imperative” to beat back the terrorist group, according to media reports.”
NO RHODES SHOW: The White House yesterday said embattled Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes will not testify on Capitol Hill over his public messaging over the Iran nuclear deal, Pete Kasperowicz reports. “In a letter to Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, Neil Eggleston, counsel to President Obama, said it would raise ‘constitutional concerns’ if Rhodes were to testify. He also said Congress has been consulted enough.”
Meanwhile, three Republican senators called on Obama to fire Rhodes, Anna Giaritelli reports. “Mr. Rhodes’s disrespectful, deceptive, and destructive conduct has fallen appallingly short …. Indeed, if he had conducted himself this way in a typical place of business outside Washington, where American taxpayers work, he surely would have been already fired or asked to resign.”
MORE NSA DOCS: The Intercept has begun releasing internal NSA newsletters that were provided by former contractor Edward Snowden. The newsletters go back to 2003. “The SIDtoday documents run a wide gamut: from serious, detailed reports on top secret NSA surveillance programs to breezy, trivial meanderings of analysts’ trips and vacations, with much in between. Many are self-serving and boastful, designed to justify budgets or impress supervisors. Others contain obvious errors or mindless parroting of public source material. But some SIDtoday articles have been the basis of significant revelations from the archive.”
FOREIGN POLICY CRED: Donald Trump will meet with national security adviser and secretary of state Henry Kissinger on Wednesday, Daniel Chaitin reports. This follows Trump’s meeting with former Secretary of State James Baker last week.
FROM THE SHOW FLOOR: Back at Sea-Air-Space, Insitu told reporters on Monday that it will deliver its mobile unmanned launch system for its Scan Eagle drone to early adopters in late summer or early fall. The Flying Launch and Recovery System, or FLARES, is an octocopter that can launch the Scan Eagle from a clearing in the jungle, the top of a mountain or anywhere on land, according to Don Williamson, the vice president of the Scan Eagle program, who spoke during the expo.
FLARES can also recover the drone, in a manner similar to the Sky Hook. Insitu is working on a maritime-based platform. See FLARES in action here.
Another drone at the conference was small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The Prox Dynamics Black Hornet can fly for 25 minutes and provide a live video feed, all while weighing about 18 grams.
IN SEARCH OF COFFEE: Some defense writers noted that caffeine to keep Sea-Air-Space attendants moving was in short supply at National Harbor on Monday. If that happens to you we recommend heading over to Lockheed Martin, which has a barista brewing up lattes.
COOK TIMER: Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook was only seven minutes late to yesterday’s briefing. He had no opening statement and went right into questions.
THE PATTERN WAS FULL: #TopGunDay, the 30th anniversary of the classic 80s movie, didn’t disappoint yesterday. Two interesting listicles came out amid the flight deck high-fives and volleyball: “8 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About ‘Top Gun’” from Task & Purpose, and “‘Top Gun’ today: Three decades after the movie, our experts weigh in on what’s changed,” from Raytheon. That’s right. Raytheon. Not too close for missiles after all.
THE RUNDOWN
Associated Press: World and regional powers meet in Vienna on Syria
Janes: Navy League 2016: US Navy’s CVN 78 on track for September delivery
Defense Daily: Lockheed Martin Developing Modular Aegis System For Potential Integration on Flight III DDG-51s
Defense News: The Marines Are Testing New Weapons on MV-22 Ospreys
UPI: AeroVironment: Navy deploying underwater-launched UAS
USNI News: Navy to Industry: ‘If You’re Not Open Architecture, You’re Not Relevant’
Defense News: Carter Gambles with DIUx Direct Report
UPI: BAE developing new navigation system for submarines
Wall Street Journal: Allowing Open Transgender Military Service Would Pose Few Difficulties, Report Finds
Roll Call: Clinton: Trump’s Foreign Policy Would be ‘Disastrous’
Virginian-Pilot: Navy releases nearly two dozen videos of Russian jets, helicopter buzzing USS Donald Cook
Military Times: No need for more U.S. troops in Iraq, Pentagon says
Task & Purpose: Does the U.S. military have too many generals?
Air Force Times: U.S. Air Force B-52s to join Eager Lion exercise in Jordan
Breaking Defense: NGA, NRO, NSA Joining DoD In Silicon Valley
Fox News: Pentagon: Only 5% of ISIS territory in Iraq recaptured in past 5 months
Breaking Defense: Marines Want To Grow Above 186,800 Troops
Daily Beast: Kim Kardashian: Enemy of the Islamic Republic
Task and Purpose: Marine Veteran Planking Champion Defeated By Chinese Super Cop
Washington Post: In NATO tank competition, U.S. comes up short against Germany
ABC News: 1st US Penis Transplant Could Bring Hope to Maimed Soldiers
Calendar
TUESDAY | MAY 17
9:30 a.m. 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, Va. Greg Zacharias, the chief scientist of the Air Force, will talk about the future of autonomous systems. mitchellaerospacepower.org
9:30 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. A panel of experts will discuss how drone proliferation may change the national security landscape of the future. stimson.org
10 a.m. Rayburn 2212 Rayburn. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hears testimony on the foreign military sales program. armedservices.house.gov
10 a.m. Rayburn 2154. The House Committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform hosts a hearing on White House narratives about the Iran nuclear deal. oversight.house.gov
10:30 a.m. Rayburn 2359. The full House Appropriations Committee marks up the fiscal 2017 defense appropriations bill. appropriations.house.gov
11 a.m. Dirksen 419. Think tank experts testify at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the war in Syria. foreign.senate.gov
1:30 p.m. 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes will speak about U.S. policy in Southeast Asia at an event, following a profile of him in the New York Times Magazine that sparked backlash among the media and on Capitol Hill. cnas.org
2 p.m. Rayburn 2172. Justin Siberell, the acting coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department, will testify at a hearing on the department’s fiscal 2017 budget request. foreignaffairs.house.gov
4 p.m. SVC 217. The Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cyber Security will hold a classified briefing on the International Cybersecurity Strategy. foreign.senate.gov
WEDNESDAY | MAY 18
10:30 a.m. Dirksen 124. The Senate Subcommittee for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies will review the VA Electronic Health Record Network (VistA). appropriations.house.gov
11 a.m. 529 14th St. NW. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will speak at a World War I Centennial Commission event. press.org
2:30 p.m. Rayburn 2172. The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations hosts two witness panels to discuss democracy support strategies in Africa. foreignaffairs.house.gov
4 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Analysts will discuss the social and economic long-term viability of the Islamic State. cato.org
THURSDAY | MAY 19
8 a.m. 300 1st St. SE. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., speaks about Congress’ perspective on space national security. mitchellaerospacepower.org
TUESDAY | MAY 24
8:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks about cybersecurity after information sharing. csis.org
2:30 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Stimson releases its new report on the long-term foreign policy and budgetary implications of the overseas contingency operations fund. stimson.org
