AND SO IT BEGINS: The confirmation process begins this morning for Defense Secretary nominee James Mattis, two days before the retired four-star general makes his appearance on Capitol Hill. The Senate Armed Services Committee, which has to sign off on Mattis, is hearing from experts today about the bedrock U.S. principle of civilian control of the military. Even though Mattis won’t be there, it’s really all about him, since he has not been out of uniform the required seven years and so must be granted a waiver to serve as Pentagon chief. Testifying this morning are Eliot Cohen, professor of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Kathleen Hicks, director of the International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
When Mattis does take center stage Thursday, he will likely be asked about how he would respond to Iran’s provocations in and around the Persian Gulf. Once again, a U.S. warship was forced to fire warning shots to deter armed Iranian attack boats that were fast approaching a three-ship formation that was passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Mattis, who as U.S. Central Command chief, advocated taking a tougher line with Tehran, will be serving a president who has also threatened to retaliate for Iranian provocation. You may recall in September, then-candidate Donald Trump said “With Iran, when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats, and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn’t be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water.” Retired naval officer Bryan McGrath, a former commander of a U.S. Navy destroyer, tells us, “I don’t think that a President Trump is going to have much of an appetite for this kind of crap and quite frankly, I don’t blame him.”
MATTIS ON LEADERSHIP: To get an idea of how Mattis viewed time in uniform, and why he made it a career, check out this video recorded just before the election, and before Mattis had any idea he would be serving in a Trump administration. Particularly wrenching is the obvious frustration Mattis had with the order to pull his Marines out of Fallujah, when they had fought such a deadly battle to take the city.
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WORK NOT DONE: Several reports say Trump is considering asking Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work to stay on as No. 2 at the Pentagon to provide continuity during the Trump administration, at least for a few months. Work, a retired Marine officer, has a deep understanding of the Pentagon bureaucracy, and an advocate of the “third offset” strategy, the idea the U.S. can leverage its technological advantage against its foes.
A HIGHER CALLING: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson may have slammed Trump for his questioning of climate change during the campaign, but the “Cosmos” host said he’ll be happy to continue serving on the Defense Innovation Board in the next administration because of his commitment to the Constitution. It was a view shared by all the board members who attended the second meeting of the board at the Pentagon on Monday. The fate of the board itself is uncertain under Trump, but chairman Eric Schmidt, the head of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, said he has “every reason to believe it will continue.”
RAID IN SYRIA: We haven’t heard much about the shadowy force of elite special operations commandos Defense Secretary Ash Carter dispatched to Iraq last year, with the mission of hunting, killing and possibly capturing Islamic State leaders. Yesterday, it was confirmed that the “Expeditionary Targeting Force” conducted a raid in Syria Sunday, engaged in a firefight, killed some ISIS fighters and captured others. No Americans were hurt in the rare ground assault.
GUESS WE’LL WAIT FOR THE PRESSER: Trump on Monday declined to say whether he trusts Julian Assange, founder of the controversial transparency group WikiLeaks, more than the U.S. intelligence community, Gabby Morrongiello writes. Trump was asked by reporters at Trump Tower who he trusts more and about his recent briefing on Russia’s involvement in election-related hackings. “We’ll talk about that at another time,” Trump responded, according to a pool report. He’s scheduled to give a press conference tomorrow.
Assange, during his own press conference, wasn’t as ambiguous, Joel Gehrke writes. Assange mocked the unclassified report and called it “a press release” that failed to prove Russia was behind the hacks. The unclassified report stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the hacks as part of “an influence campaign” designed to “denigrate” Hillary Clinton.
“It is frankly quite embarrassing to the reputation of the U.S. intelligence services to be putting out something that claims to be a report like that,” Assange said. “It is clearly designed for political effects, as U.S. intelligence services has been politicized by the Obama administration in the production of this report and a number of other statements.”
And it’s not over. House and Senate Democrats have introduced legislation to create an independent commission to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and recommend ways to prevent further interference, Nicole Duran writes. Reps. Eric Swalwell and Elijah Cummings on Monday reintroduced the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which would create an independent, bicameral, bipartisan commission to study the intelligence community’s determination that Russia was behind the hacks. Sen. Ben Cardin introduced companion legislation last week. Every House Democrat and nine Democratic senators have signed onto the bills, but so far no Republicans have, although some support congressional examinations.
OBAMA’S LAST SPEECH: President Obama gives his farewell address to the national tonight from his adopted hometown of Chicago. The president says he’ll use his parting remarks as “a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you’ve changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here.” CNN reports the president may take some parting shots at Trump, while not necessarily mentioning him by name, citing a source who says Obama’s remarks will include a series of “admonitions about the challenges we face moving forward.”
SORRY ABOUT THAT: Secretary of State John Kerry is apologizing for past discrimination against gays and lesbians, in a statement posted on the department’s website. “In the past – as far back as the 1940s, but continuing for decades – the Department of State was among many public and private employers that discriminated against employees and job applicants on the basis of perceived sexual orientation, forcing some employees to resign or refusing to hire certain applicants in the first place. These actions were wrong then, just as they would be wrong today,” Kerry wrote. “On behalf of the Department, I apologize.”
SWARMING MINI-DRONES: The Pentagon is calling it “one of the most significant tests of autonomous systems under development.” In October, at China Lake, California, 103 Perdix drones launched from three F/A-18 Super Hornets. “The micro-drones demonstrated advanced swarm behaviors such as collective decision-making, adaptive formation flying, and self-healing,” according to a Pentagon news release. They are a bit hard to make out but you can see some video of the experiment here.
THE RUNDOWN
Bloomberg: Stopping A N. Korean Missile No Sure Thing, U.S. Tester Says
Breaking Defense: Columbia Costs: Is It $100B OR $128B? Well, Yes. Read Kendall’s ADM Memo.
New York Times: John Kelly, Homeland Security Pick, Isn’t in Lockstep With Trump Team
Stars and Stripes: Documents detail Mattis’s speaking engagements, financial ties to defense contractors
Washington Post: U.S. increases support for Turkish military operations in Syria
Daily Beast: U.S. Spies See a World of Trumps Ahead
USNI News: USS Harry S. Truman Maintenance On Track Despite Previous Avail Being Cut Short
UPI: BAE Systems contracted for USS San Antonio modernization
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Pilots See Close Calls With Russian Jets Over Syria
Military.com: Embattled A-10s Get Upgrades to Enhance Search and Rescue
Army Times: Special Forces cook killed in Jordan was on second deployment
Military.com: US Marines to Arrive in Norway in First for New Unit
Calendar
TUESDAY | JANUARY 10
9 a.m. Livestream. John Kerry, the secretary of state, and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, will speak at a “passing the baton” event hosted by the United States Institute of Peace. usip.org
9:30 a.m. Hart 216. The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing on civilian control of the military. armed-services.senate.gov
10 a.m. Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, Va. The Surface Navy Association hosts its annual three-day symposium, featuring remarks from Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William Moran. navysna.org
3:30 p.m. Dirksen 342. Retired Gen. John Kelly has his confirmation hearing to serve as the secretary of homeland security. Hsgac.senate.gov
9 p.m. Chicago. President Obama delivers his farewell address.
WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 11
9:15 a.m. Dirksen 106. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing to confirm Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state. foreign.senate.gov
9:30 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Officials from the Marine Corps discuss how science fiction has impacted the service’s ability to develop new technology. atlanticcouncil.org
10 a.m. Hart 216. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence holds an open hearing, followed by a closed session. intelligence.senate.gov
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, speaks about challenges for the next president and new lawmakers. csis.org
10:30 a.m. 850 10th St. NW. Vice Adm. Joseph Rixey, the director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, delivers a keynote on reforming the security cooperation enterprise. ndia.org
3:30 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. The Atlantic Council releases a paper titled, “A Nonstate Strategy for Saving Cyberspace.” atlanticcouncil.org
4:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks and receives the inaugural Sam Nunn National Security Leadership Prize.
THURSDAY | JANUARY 12
9:30 a.m. Dirksen G-50. The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a confirmation hearing for retired Gen. James Mattis to serve as the next defense secretary. armed-services.senate.gov
2 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. A panel of experts talks about how the next president should combat Al Qaeda in Syria. atlanticcouncil.org
FRIDAY | JANUARY 13
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. A panel of experts discusses lessons learned from Russia’s intervention in Syria. csis.org
3:30 p.m. 901 17th St. NW. Retired Adm. James Stavridis talks about the growing problem of U.S. national security. stimson.org
TUESDAY | JANUARY 17
8 a.m. 600 New Hampshire Ave. NW. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson talks about the future of the Navy in a Defense One Live event. defenseone.com
4 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Ben Rhodes, the assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and speechwriting, speaks about lessons learned about national security from which the next administration can benefit. csis.org
