SCALED-BACK VICTORY DAY: Russian President Vladimir Putin showed up in person in Moscow’s Red Square to oversee the annual Victory Day parade, which unlike previous extravaganzas featured a scaled-back display of military hardware, including a single tank, an old World War II-era Soviet T-34.
Putin spoke for less than 10 minutes and trotted out his frequent talking points that Russia is acting in self-defense in Ukraine because “a real war has been unleashed against our motherland,” and he blamed “Western elites” for backing Kyiv. “Today, civilization is at a critical juncture,” he said in his first public appearance since a drone strike on the Kremlin that Russia labeled an assassination attempt against the Russian leader.
Western elites, Putin said, “put people against each other and divide society, provoke bloody conflicts and coups, sow hatred, Russophobia, aggressive nationalism, destroy those family, traditional values that make humans human,” according to Tass.
FOR VICTORY DAY, RUSSIA PLAYS UP ITS PRETEND CONNECTION BETWEEN TODAY’S UKRAINIANS AND NAZIS
A SECOND DAY OF MISSILES STRIKES: The muted celebration in Moscow came just hours after Russia unleashed another volley of cruise missiles targeting Ukraine’s capital fired from ships in the Black Sea and from planes over Russian territory.
“The enemy launched eight winged missiles ‘Caliber’ from carriers in the Black Sea aimed at the eastern regions of the country. All eight were destroyed by air defense forces and means of the East Air Command,” the Ukraine General Staff said on its Facebook page. “At close to 04:00 a.m. on May 9, the occupiers launched 17 X-101/X-555 wing missiles from strategic aviation aircraft — four Tu-95ms.”
Ukraine said 25 Caliber and H-101/H-555 winged missiles were fired overnight, with 23 shot down by its air defenses.
MORE AMMUNITION FOR THE LONG HAUL: The Biden administration is set to announce today another commitment designed to keep Ukraine supplied with weapons and ammunition over the long term as it continues to prepare for a counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces occupying its eastern and southern regions.
The $1.2 billion aid package will be funded under the provisions of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which purchases equipment and munitions directly from defense contractors.
The arms package will include Hawk air-defense systems, air-defense munitions, and drones for air defense, along with artillery, rockets, satellite imagery assistance, and funding for maintenance and spare parts, according to the officials who spoke to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported the United Kingdom appears to be preparing to send longer-range missiles to Ukraine, even as the Biden administration has repeatedly refused Kyiv’s request for the capability to strike deeper behind Russia’s front lines.
“In a procurement notice posted May 2 by the British-led International Fund for Ukraine, a group of northern European countries that has set up a mechanism to send weapons to the battlefield, the United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry asked for ‘expressions of interest’ in providing strike capabilities with a range of up to 300 kilometers, or nearly 200 miles,” the Washington Post reported. “The notice asked for responses within three days” and that specifications “closely match” Britain’s air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
The report quoted a British official as saying there has been no final decision about supplying the longer-range missiles.
UKRAINE’S COUNTEROFFENSIVE CHOICE BETWEEN THE BOLD AND THE VERY BOLD
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HAPPENING TODAY: DEBT CEILING SHOWDOWN: President Joe Biden meets this afternoon with congressional leaders to begin the first talks about how to avoid fiscal disaster as it appears the nation is just weeks away from defaulting on its debt for the first time in history.
The meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is set for 4 p.m., after the markets close.
Both sides have dug in. McCarthy says there will be no raising of the debt ceiling without deep spending cuts that gut what Biden sees as key accomplishments of his first two years in office, including tax breaks for clean energy and student debt relief.
Biden insists he will only sign a “clean” bill that ensures the nation can pay its debts as required by the Constitution, without any strings attached, and only then will negotiate on reducing the federal deficit.
“There is no Plan B,” Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the National Economic Council at the White House, told CNN yesterday.
WHITE HOUSE SAYS CONGRESS MUST ‘GET TO WORK’ ON RAISING DEBT CEILING
ALSO TODAY: As a Thursday deadline looms for the expiration of the pandemic-era asylum restrictions known as Title 42, which is expected to trigger a surge of migrants at the southern border, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is scheduled to deliver remarks at a memorial ceremony honoring the law enforcement community, beginning at 9 a.m.
Mayorkas blames the problem on a “broken immigration system” and insists the Biden administration has done what it can to prepare for the wave of migrants that has already begun to form on the border. “We’ve been preparing for this for quite some time,” he told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday.
Republicans and even some Democrats disagree, arguing the Biden administration has essentially put out a “welcome mat” for illegal immigration. “It will lead to an incredible amount of people coming across the border illegally,” said Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), who predicted the lack of a coherent response by the Biden administration will result in “a catastrophic disaster.”
In his news conference, Abbott said he would be deploying a specially trained elite unit of the National Guard, dubbed the “Texas Tactical Border Force,” to El Paso.
The Washington Examiner’s Homeland Security Reporter Anna Giaritelli has been documenting the lead-up to Thursday’s deadline, reporting from downtown El Paso, on Twitter.
BIDEN VOWS TO VETO HOUSE GOP IMMIGRATION BILL
GRAHAM: POLICY IS ‘LITERALLY INSANE’: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is blaming “the rise of the radical Left” for the inability of the Biden administration to reach an agreement to deal with the border crisis.
“The Left will not allow the Biden administration to change policies that will slow down illegal immigration. He is held captive by the extreme left. That’s why we have this problem,” Graham said in an interview on Fox News.
“In the last 90 days, there have been over 550,000 illegal crossings. They expect, after Title 42 expires, that to jump up from 10,000 to 13,000 a day. This policy of repealing Title 42 and not replacing it is literally insane,” he said. “The only reason we may not have an explosion of illegal immigration after May the 11th is that the cartels may slow down who comes in because they don’t want to ruin their business model. The cartels control illegal immigration completely, and they may actually stop the surge because they think it might be bad for business to have a surge.”
ERNST: ‘FINISH THE WALL’: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said one solution to the problem would be to finish the border wall that was begun under the Trump administration and abandoned by the Biden administration.
The BUILD IT Act, she said, would allow states to finish the border wall by using already purchased materials.
“This week, due to President Biden’s failure, the southern border will go from crisis to catastrophe,” Ernst said in a press release. “Instead of securing the border, the Biden administration canceled border wall projects and left materials to rack up dust and dollars. Here’s a simple solution, Mr. President: Let’s put the border materials to use, end the taxpayer-funded waste, stop the unprecedented flow of illegal migrants, and finish the wall!”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Ukraine’s counteroffensive choice between the bold and the very bold
Washington Examiner: For Victory Day, Russia plays up its pretend connection between today’s Ukrainians and Nazis
Washington Examiner: China warns EU not to sanction companies aiding Russia in Ukraine: ‘Extremely dangerous’
Washington Examiner: UN nuclear watchdog agency sounds alarm over evacuations near Zaporizhzhia power plant
Washington Examiner: Wagner Group chief backtracks on threat to pull troops from Bakhmut
Washington Examiner: Detention hearing for alleged military leaker Jack Teixeira to resume Thursday
Washington Examiner: White House says Congress must ‘get to work’ on raising debt ceiling
New York Times: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan was arrested by paramilitary troops in a major escalation of a political crisis.
Wall Street Journal: China And Russia Encourage Iran To Go Nuclear
New York Times: Chaos and Shortages in Parts of Occupied Ukraine Amid Russian Evacuation Orders
New York Times: Homemade, Cheap and Lethal, Attack Drones Are Vital to Ukraine
Washington Post: Russia Prepares To Evacuate From Ukraine Nuclear Plant, Operator Says
Washington Post: China Says Relations with US Must Be Stabilized, Avoid ‘Downward Spiral’
Reuters: Joint Philippines-U.S. Patrols In South China Sea May Begin By Third Quarter: Envoy
Gizmodo: China Finally Lands Its Mysterious Spaceplane After Nearly 300 Days in Orbit
Bloomberg: Pentagon Scales Back Covid Era Fast-Track Contractor Funds
Defense News: US-Finnish Defense Pact Could Bolster Nordic F-35 Footprint
Stars and Stripes: U.S., NATO Missile Defense Exercise Kicks Off In Atlantic Amid Russian Show Of Force
USNI News: ACMC Smith: USMC Weighing Changes How it Recruits Marines in the Future
Defense One: Air Force Is Working on Rules for Using ChatGPT
Defense News: Pentagon’s AI Office Rebooting Global Experiments for JADC2
Space News: From Japan to the Philippines: US Expands SSA Cooperation with Asian Countries
Military Times: FBI probes how failed soldier turned Texas mall shooter
Washington Post: Oath Keepers founder Rhodes asks for leniency in sedition sentence
AP: Soldier to be sentenced for murder in Texas protest shooting
Navy Times: Navy error upends pay for more than 1,200 retirees
Reuters: Fears Mount For The Arctic As Cooperation With Russia Stalls
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Video Shows F-16 Crash in Flames, Pilot Safely Eject in S. Korea
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Bentivegna Named Next Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force
Air & Space Forces Magazine: F-22 Raptor Returns to the Skies, 5 Years After Severe Damage from Botched Takeoff
The War Plan: Inflatable Hangar Points to Air Force’s New Focus on Deception
The Cipher Brief: The Stakes in Ukraine Are Greater Than You Think
Calendar
TUESDAY | MAY 9
9:30 a.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “The United Kingdom’s role in an increasingly adversarial world,” with U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/a-conversation-with-uk-foreign-secretary
9:30 a.m. 14th St. and F St. NW — National Press Club “Headliners Newsmaker” event with Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Koji Tomita on “issues for the upcoming G7 Hiroshima Summit” https://www.press.org/events/npc-headliners
10 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW — Atlantic Council discussion: “Security, Freedom, and Prosperity in Eastern Europe,” with NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/natos-mircea-geoana
10:15 a.m — Center for Strategic and International Studies conference call briefing for journalists: “Previewing G7 Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima,” with Matthew Goodman, CSIS senior vice president for economics; Christopher Johnstone, CSIS Japan chairman; Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow at the CSIS Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program; and Gregory Allen, director, CSIS Center for AI and Advanced Technologies. RVSP: Andrew Schwartz [email protected]
1 p.m. — House Armed Services Committee staff bipartisan virtual background briefings for journalists ahead of subcommittee markups for the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. 1 p.m. Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation Subcommittee; and 4:30 p.m. Strategic Forces Subcommittee RSVP to [email protected]
1:30 p.m. 1957 E St. NW — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs discussion: “Finland as a NATO Member: Implications for the Alliance and Northern European Security,” with Mika Aaltola, director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/finland
4:45 p.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing: “Department of Defense Missile Defense Activities in Review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2024 and the Future Years Defense Program,” with testimony from John Plumb, assistant defense secretary for space policy; Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command; Vice Adm. Jon Hill, director of the Missile Defense Agency; and Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, commanding general of the U.S. Space and Missile Defense Command https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
6:30 p.m. 950 New York Ave. NW — 2023 Freedom House Annual Awards dinner to recognize leaders who have championed freedom and democracy, including imprisoned Russian Opposition Leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, the women of Iran, and U.S. Ambassador to Liberia Michael McCarthy, with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX); Secretary of State Antony Blinken; former Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), chairwoman of the Freedom House Board of Trustees and president emerita of the Wilson Center; Jason Rezaian, global opinions writer at the Washington Post; actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi; and singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin https://freedomhouse.org/event/freedom-house
WEDNESDAY | MAY 10
2:30 a.m. EDT Brussels, Belgium — NATO’s highest military authority, the Military Committee, meets in person at NATO Headquarters, with opening remarks by Dutch navy Adm. Rob Bauer, chairman, NATO Military Committee, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news
8:30 a.m. 1615 H St. NW — U.S. Chamber of Commerce 13th annual China Business Conference, with Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK); Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Ely Ratner, assistant defense secretary for indo-pacific security affairs; Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI); and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). “All sessions in this conference are off the record and not open to the press, unless otherwise specified.” https://events.uschamber.com/cbc2023/3350490 Full agenda at https://image.uschamber.com
9 a.m. — House Armed Services Committee staff gives bipartisan virtual background briefings for journalists ahead of subcommittee markups for the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. 9 a.m. Military Personnel Subcommittee; 10 a.m. Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee; 11 a.m. Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee; 12 p.m. Readiness Subcommittee; and 4 p.m. Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. RSVP: [email protected]
10 a.m. — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “Modernizing U.S. Arms Exports and a Stronger AUKUS,” with testimony from Jessica Lewis, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, and Mara Karlin, assistant defense secretary for strategies, plans, and capabilities https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/modernizing-u-s-arms-exports
10 a.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies “Schriever Spacepower Series,” with Maj. Gen. Shawn Bratton, commander, Space Training and Readiness Command https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/event/5-10
11:30 a.m. EDT Brussels, Belgium — Press conference with Dutch navy Adm. Rob Bauer, chairman, NATO Military Committee; NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg; U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, supreme allied commander Europe; and French Gen. Philippe Lavigne, supreme allied commander transformation https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news
2 p.m. 310 Cannon — House Homeland Security Transportation and Maritime Security Subcommittee hearing: “Evaluating High-Risk Security Vulnerabilities at our Nation’s Ports,” with testimony from Rear Adm. Wayne Arguin, assistant Coast Guard commandant for prevention policy; Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; and Neal Latta, assistant administrator for enrollment services and vetting programs at the Transportation Security Administration https://homeland.house.gov
2 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Secure World Foundation virtual discussion: “A Contested Domain: From Space Theory to Practice,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Shawn Bratton, commander of U.S. Space Force’s Space Training and Readiness Command; Victoria Samson, director of the Secure World Foundation’s Washington Office; Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation; Kaitlyn Johnson, deputy director of the CSIS Aerospace Security Project; and Makena Young, associate fellow at the CSIS Aerospace Security Project https://www.csis.org/events/contested-domain-space-theory-practice
2:30 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution in-person/virtual discussion:: “The U.S. Coast Guard in an increasingly complex world,” with testimony from Adm. Linda Fagan, Coast Guard commandant, and Melanie Sisson, fellow, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings https://connect.brookings.edu/register-to-watch-us-coast-guard
THURSDAY | MAY 11
8:30 a.m. — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association annual U.S. Marine Corps IT Day forum, with Lt. Gen. Matthew Glavy, Marine Corps deputy commandant for information, and Louis Koplin, deputy chief technology officer on the Navy Department’s Chief Information Office https://www.afcea-qp.org/usmc-it-day/usmc-it-day-2023
9 a.m. 124 Dirksen — Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing: “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request for the Department of Defense,” with testimony from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings
10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn — House Oversight and Accountability National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing: “Strengthening the Fleet: Challenges and Solutions in Naval Surface Ship Construction,” with testimony from Rear Adm. Thomas Anderson, program executive officer for ships, and Rear Adm. Casey Moton, program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants http://oversight.house.gov
1 p.m. — National Defense Industrial Association virtual forum on the launch of a report: “Hypersonics Supply Chains: Securing the Path to the Future,” with Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Charles Ormsby, chief of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies Division. RSVP: [email protected]
5:30 p.m. 1250 S Hayes St., Arlington, Virginia — Intelligence and National Security Alliance discussion: with Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director, Defense Intelligence Agency. https://www.insaonline.org/detail-pages/event
FRIDAY | MAY 12
12 p.m. — Washington Institute for Near East Policy virtual discussion: “Turkey’s Historic May 14 Elections: What to Expect,” with Seren Selvin Korkmaz, executive director of IstanPol; Emre Peker, director for Europe at the Eurasia Group; Ragip Soylu, Turkey bureau chief at Middle East Eye; and Soner Cagaptay, director of the WINEP Turkish Research Program https://washingtoninstitute-org.zoom.us/webinar/register
12 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Cato Institute discussion: on “Turkey’s Centennial Election: What Is at Stake?” with Gonul Tol, director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies; Ian Vasquez, vice president for international studies at Cato; and Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow at the Cato Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity https://www.cato.org/events/turkeys-centennial-election-what-stake
12:30 p.m. 1957 E St. NW — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs discussion: on “Cross-Strait Relations and U.S. Strategy at a Crossroad?” with Joel Wuthnow, senior research fellow at National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs; Rosalie Chen, assistant professor at Dominican University of California; and John Dotson, deputy director of the Global Taiwan Institute https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/taiwan_roundtable
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Twenty years ago this year, President Bush proclaimed in his State of the Union address that free people will set the course of history. Suppose a member of the House of Representatives had stood up that night, warning us that in 20 years’ time, Chinese police stations would be found in the heart of New York City, Chinese spy balloons would fly over American neighborhoods, and Chinese surveillance spyware would track dissidents across our land on 150 million American cellphones. No one would have believed in such an outrageous erosion of our national sovereignty to a genocidal Leninist adversary. And yet, that is exactly where we find ourselves today, with wall-to-wall postmortems of how American strategy over the last 20 years has fundamentally misread the Chinese Communist Party.”
Commissioner Jacob Helberg, at a May 4 meeting of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
