With passage of NDAA, Pentagon halfway to getting its $45 billion windfall

The NDAA contains a key provision to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which Republicans demanded as a condition for passing the annual defense policy bill this year. The White House has refused to say if Biden, who supports the mandate, would consider vetoing the measure. But it’s highly unlikely, given the wide bipartisan support for the bill in its current form and the uncertainties of what would happen if the bill were pushed into the next session of Congress when Republicans control the House.

SENATE PASSES DEFENSE SPENDING BILL, SENDING IT TO BIDEN’S DESK

WHAT’S IN THE FINAL VERSION: The $857.9 billion NDAA for fiscal 2023 provides authorization for $816.7 billion for the Pentagon, $30.3 billion for national security programs within the Department of Energy, and another $10.6 billion for defense-related activities outside the NDAA’s jurisdiction. That amounts to a $45 billion increase over what the Biden administration originally requested.

Among the provisions:

• Authorizes a 4.6% pay raise for both members of the military and DOD civilians 
• Rescinds the mandate that members of the armed forces be vaccinated against COVID-19
• Sets the strength of the military services at 452,000 for the Army, 354,000 for the Navy, 325,344 for the Air Force, 177,000 for the Marine Corps, and 8,600 for the Space Force
• Prohibits the retirement of F-22 Block 20 aircraft while supporting the planned divestment of A-10s
• Extends Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, authorizing $800 million for this fiscal year, $500 million above the president’s budget request
• Expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. must continue to assist Ukraine in its fight against the unjust and unprovoked attack by Russia
• Authorizes more than $2.7 billion for additional munitions production and capacity expansion to replace ammunition stocks depleted by the war in Ukraine
• Authorizes $32.6 billion for Navy shipbuilding, an increase of $4.7 billion for the procurement of 11 battle force ships, including three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and two Virginia-class submarines 
• Extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative authorizing approximately $11.5 billion, including an additional $1 billion to address unfunded requirements identified by the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
• Extends existing restrictions relating to the detention facility Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, including a ban on the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S.

Read the full summary here. Read the full text of the final bill here.

SENATE VOTES AGAINST REINSTATING TROOPS KICKED OUT OVER COVID-19 VACCINE MANDATE

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HAPPENING TODAY: President Joe Biden is in his home state of Delaware this morning, where he is scheduled to take part in a town hall at noon with veterans and veteran survivors to discuss the expansion of benefits and services resulting from the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act.

“The Delaware event is just one of more than 90 events occurring across the nation to encourage veterans to sign up for health care, get screened for toxic exposure, and submit a claim if they are experiencing a toxic exposure related condition,” the White House said in a statement.

PENTAGON DISMISSES RUSSIAN RHETORIC ON PATRIOTS: In response to threats from the Kremlin to target Patriot missile defense systems if and when they are deployed to Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder scoffed at the idea it would deter the U.S. from providing Ukraine with the capability to defend itself against Russia’s campaign to destroy the country’s critical infrastructure.

“I would just say that I find it ironic and very telling that officials from a country that brutally attacked its neighbor in an illegal and unprovoked invasion, through a campaign that is deliberately targeting and killing innocent civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure, that they would choose to use words like ‘provocative’ to describe defensive systems that are meant to save lives and protect civilians,” Ryder said at yesterday’s Pentagon briefing.

“Despite Russia’s propaganda to portray themselves as victims, it’s important to remember that Russia is the aggressor here,” Ryder said. “We’re not going to allow comments from Russia to dictate the security assistance that we provide to Ukraine.”

Russia unleashed another onslaught of missiles across Ukraine today, with at least 60 missiles targeting at least four cities, including the capital Kyiv and its second largest city, Kharkiv. “Every new russian missile attack on Ukraine only makes our hand holding the sword stronger,” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry tweeted in defiance. “Destroyed cities, raped women, killed children… russia has done everything to make its defeat in the war against Ukraine inevitable.”

US TO EXPAND COMBAT TRAINING OF UKRAINIAN SERVICE MEMBERS

‘THEY’RE GOING TO WIN THIS WAR’: House members received a classified briefing yesterday from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on how the war in Ukraine is going as it approaches the 10-month mark and Russian missile strikes have seriously degraded Ukraine’s vital utilities.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who just returned this week from a visit to Kyiv as part of a small bipartisan congressional delegation, emerged from the briefing upbeat despite the heavy toll the war is taking on Ukrainians.

“I’ll just tell you that the war is going well for Ukraine. And I was amazed when I went to Kyiv at how much it looked like it did a year ago,” Moulton told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “It’s incredible how resilient the Ukrainian people are. They’re going to fight through this winter. They’re going to continue fighting Russia, and with our assistance, they’re going to win this war.”

Moulton scoffed at Russia’s threat to take out Patriot missile batteries, considering their notable lack of success targeting other mobile systems such as NASAMS and HIMARS.

“It’s ridiculous. Part of their warning was that if we give them Patriot missile batteries, that makes them legitimate targets for attack? Well, no kidding. I mean, of course the Russians would try to take out Patriot missile batteries,” he said. “That’s just such a nonthreat.”

Moulton did say it’s clear that as the war drags on, Ukraine is going to need more and different weaponry to achieve its goal of expelling Russian forces from its sovereign territory. “They may be requesting things like tanks and armored personnel carriers to go against the Russian defense in the eastern part of the country. The Russians are digging in right now. And Ukraine needs to take that territory back.”

“Putin is a dangerous person. He’s a dangerous, autocratic leader, but he’s a lot of bluster. He’s a lot of bluster, and he will back down,” Moulton told CNN. “We’ve got to not be cowed by Putin. That was a clear message that I took home from the American ambassador in Ukraine who spent over a decade dealing with Putin in that part of the world. She said, let’s not be afraid of this guy.”

RUSSIA WARNS ‘UNPREDICTABLE CONSEQUENCES’ TO UKRAINE GETTING PATRIOT MISSILES

THE CHINA BIOWEAPON QUESTION: House speaker hopeful Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is promising that when Republicans take control of the House in January, they will declassify information that lends credibility to the theory that the coronavirus pandemic originated in a lab-related event involving Chinese scientists experimenting with coronaviruses as bioweapons.

“The Democrats would never hold any hearings on this,” McCarthy told Fox News host Jesse Watters. “This was an Intel Committee run by Adam Schiff that wouldn’t let us look into it. But the Republicans did. … What we have now found and what they believe is the intel community downplayed these bioweapons and the incident that could have caused this inside China.”

Earlier this week, Republicans on the Intelligence Committee released a report led by Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) that cited “indications that SARS-CoV-2 may have been tied to China’s biological weapons research program and spilled over to the human population during a lab-related incident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

“We’re going to have a select committee on China,” said McCarthy. “And part of our Commitment to America, we said we would research and find where did COVID originate from. Think of the millions of people who have died. Why wouldn’t we have discovered that so it would never happen again?”

“In the next Congress, we’re going to try to declassify this information so the public can have it even further,” he said.

HOUSE GOP REPORT SAYS COVID-19 ORIGINS ‘MAY HAVE BEEN TIED’ TO CHINESE BIOWEAPONS PROGRAM

ISIS IN BACK IN THE CROSSHAIRS: The U.S. Central Command is out with a statement this morning indicating that counter-Islamic State operations have resumed in northern Syria.

“Since partnered operations to defeat ISIS between the U.S. and SDF resumed on Dec. 8, we have conducted six partnered operations, resulting in the detention of five ISIS operatives involved in planning attacks on detention facilities holding ISIS fighters and on the Al Hol camp,” said Col. Joe Buccino, CENTCOM spokesman.

“The U.S. remains committed to countering the global threat from ISIS in partnership with local forces. ISIS continues to pursue an aggressive operational agenda, including external attacks that threaten U.S. allies and partners in the region and beyond,” he said. “American forces remain in Syria partnered with local forces to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Senate passes defense spending bill, sending it to Biden’s desk

Washington Examiner: Senate votes against reinstating troops kicked out over COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Washington Examiner: Senate passes one-week stopgap as Congress races to complete yearlong spending bill

Washington Examiner: Fate of Electoral Count Reform Act now tied to omnibus spending bill

Washington Examiner: US to expand combat training of Ukrainian service members

Washington Examiner: US announces sanctions targeting Russian proxies in Ukraine and other officials

Washington Examiner: Russia warns ‘unpredictable consequences’ to Ukraine getting Patriot missiles

Washington Examiner: Electrical substations, the Achilles’ heel of America’s vulnerable energy grid

Washington Examiner: Blinken attacks Wagner Group to put Russia on defense in Africa

Washington Examiner: Biden must keep ‘Remain in Mexico’ immigration policy, Texas judge rules

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Washington Examiner: Mayorkas receives icy welcome from ‘lifeless’ Border Patrol agents

Washington Examiner: Democrats introduce bill to bar Trump from ever holding federal office again

Washington Examiner: Capitol Police officer injured on Jan. 6 gives reason for resignation

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Targeting Hamas, Israel tries to reestablish deterrence in Gaza

Washington Post: Russia is destroying Ukraine’s economy, raising costs for U.S. and allies

Washington Post: Wiped out’: War in Ukraine has decimated a once feared Russian brigade

Bloomberg: A Million Shells and More: Pentagon Revs Up Ukraine Weapons Aid and Bolsters Stockpiles

Bloomberg: Here’s How the Pentagon Is Speeding Up Weapons Contracts

Breaking Defense: US to Provide Advanced Combined Armed Training to Ukraine

PBS NewsHour: Indo-Pacific Commander Discusses Rising Tensions With China, Future Of The Region

Wall Street Journal: Japan to Build a More Powerful Military, Citing China as Its No. 1 Menace

Defense One: Inside the Army’s Newest Spy Plane

Space News: Space Acquisition Chief: DOD Will Buy Small Satellites, at Fixed Prices

New York Times: North Korea Says It Has Tested a New ICBM Engine

Air & Space Forces Magazine: New B-21 Test Aircraft Heraldry, Barely Visible at Rollout, Revealed

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Big BAH Boost Coming: Which Bases Get the Biggest Increase

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Severe Weather Hits Near Nuclear Bomber Bases; No Damage Reported

Defense News: Cloud-friendly Air Force Has Eyes on Pentagon’s JWCC Contract

19fortyfive.com: Putin Strikes Back: Russian Military Back on Offense in Ukraine?

19fortyfive.com: The Russian Military Is Committing Suicide in Ukraine

19fortyfive.com: North Korea and Russia: The Only Winners in a U.S.-China Cold War?

Forbes: Opinion: HII’s Tech Transformation Is Making It Much More Than America’s Biggest Shipbuilder

Calendar

FRIDAY | DECEMBER 16

8:45 a.m. 779 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion: “The Biden Foreign Policy at Two Years,” with national security adviser Jake Sullivan; Rana Foroohar, global business columnist and associate editor at the Financial Times and CNN global economic analyst; Kori Schake, senior fellow and director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute; former California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino “Tino” Cuellar, CEIP president; Matthew Duss, visiting scholar at the CEIP American Statecraft program; Evan Feigenbaum, CEIP vice president for studies; and Andrew Weiss, CEIP vice president for studies https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/12/16/biden-foreign-policy

9 a.m. 14th St. NW — Middle East Institute 11th annual Turkey Conference https://www.mei.edu/events/meis-11th-annual-turkey-conference

9 a.m. Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “Evaluating Taiwan’s Quest for International Space,” with Shelley Rigger, professor of Asian studies at Davidson College; Sara Newland, assistant professor of government at Smith College; Jacques deLisle, director of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s Center for the Study of Contemporary China; James Lee, assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica; and Wen-Ti Sung, lecturer at Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/evaluating-taiwan

9:15 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “The Capital Cable #61: Korea and East Asia,” with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Japan and Korea Mark Lambert; Sue Mi Terry, director of the Wilson Center’s Asia Program and the Wilson Center’s Center for Korean History and Public Policy; Mark Lippert, CSIS senior nonresident adviser and Korea chairman; and Victor Cha, CSIS senior vice president for Asia and Korea chairman http://www.csis.org