GETTING GOING ON APPROPRIATIONS: The Senate began what is likely to be days of debate on the Pentagon’s annual appropriations bill on Thursday. The chamber is set to weigh the first three amendments when it reconvenes on Monday and then holds a final vote on the $675 billion piece of legislation next week, as senators stay in Washington to toil through the end of summer. “The fiscal year 2018 defense bill enacted earlier this year contained the largest increase in military spending in 15 years. The bill now before us … does even better by providing an additional $16 billion above the 2018 level. The funding sustains U.S. force structure and improves military readiness,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman.

STICKER SHOCK: It seems that cost estimates running as high as $92 million for Trump’s November military parade were too much for the White House to stomach. Hours after CNBC reported that costs could jump as high as $80 million beyond earlier estimates, the Pentagon last night released a short statement saying there won’t be a parade this year and that next year there may be … something.

“The Department of Defense and White House have been planning a parade to honor America’s military veterans and commemorate the centennial of World War I. We originally targeted Nov. 10, 2018 for this event but have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019,” the statement from the press duty officer said.

BREAKING DOWN THE COST: The high-end estimate for the parade projected a requirement of $50 million from the Defense Department and $42 million from the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies, according to CNBC. It would pay for security, transportation of assets for the parade, aircraft and temporary duty for U.S. troops.

AND TANKS: Among the military equipment considered for the event were roughly eight tanks and tracked M113 armored personnel carriers, according to CNBC. That would be a significant turnaround for the Pentagon, and something the District of Columbia government might take a keen interest in. In a March memo, the Pentagon said it would use only wheeled vehicles in the parade to avoid the severe damage tanks and other heavy, tracked military vehicles can do to road surfaces.

The D.C. City Council gave a frosty reception to Trump’s announcement of a parade this year and openly worried about being left on the hook for expenses such as road repair. “We would always be concerned about the impact on the city, the impact on safety, the impact on pulling personnel, the impact on our roadways, and quite frankly, the attention it would attract,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in February.

FOR PERSPECTIVE: Trump this summer referred to canceled joint U.S.-South Korean exercises as costing “a fortune.” The Pentagon later said the exercise would have cost about $14 million. By that measurement, a $92 million parade would have cost about six and a half fortunes. It’s also roughly the cost of one F-35A joint strike fighter.

A PLEA: The American Legion, one of the country’s largest veteran groups, said Thursday evening that the money could be used in better ways, and urged Trump to reconsider. “The American Legion appreciates that our president wants to show in a dramatic fashion our nation’s support for our troops. However, until such time as we can celebrate victory in the war on terrorism and bring our military home, we think the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veteran Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care possible,” Denise Rohan, the group’s national commander, said in a statement.

WHAT WERE THEY SMOKING? On a flight to Colombia, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis pushed back hard on the higher cost estimates. “Whoever told you that is probably smoking something that is legal in my state, but not in most states. … I’m not dignifying that number with any reply. I would discount that. And anybody who said that, I almost guarantee you one thing, they probably said ‘I need to stay anonymous.’ No kidding, because you look like an idiot. And No. 2, whoever wrote it needs to get better sources. I’ll just leave it at that. But I don’t know who wrote it. I haven’t seen it. But I guarantee you there’s been no cost estimate.”

BUT: There actually have been cost estimates. In February, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told Congress that the parade would cost $10 million to $30 million, based on previous events. What’s unclear at this point is, if the new cost was too high, why didn’t the White House just go for a leaner event?

EXPECT MORE FIGHTING FROM THE TALIBAN: Mattis also told reporters that he expects the Taliban to continue fighting right up through elections scheduled for October, according to the AP.

“If you go back and study insurgencies, when they get close to negotiation or an imposed end … here I’ll just point to there is a ceasefire coming up, there is an election coming up, you’ll often see an uptick in violence because that’s the only thing they can do,” Mattis said.

Mattis said some Taliban fighters were still holed up in houses in Ghazni “trying to get resupplied.” He said businesses are reopening, and overall, “it’s much more stable” in Ghazni, showing that the Taliban have fallen short.

“They have not endeared themselves, obviously, to the population of Ghazni,” Mattis said. “They use terror. They use bombs because they can’t win with ballots.”

TRAINING THE TURKS: Despite tensions between Washington and Ankara, Mattis said the U.S. plans to start conducting joint patrols with Turkish troops in Manbij, Syria, within the next three days, according to Voice of America.

“I would say within 72 hours actually. Very soon, could be sooner,” Mattis told reporters

BOEING BUYS SATELLITE FIRM: Boeing has bought a company that builds small satellites, the type that could be carried by a reusable space plane it is developing. The Chicago-based planemaker didn’t say how much it would pay for Millennium Space Systems, which builds high-performance satellites weighing from 50 to 6,000 kilograms for national security clients. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Millennium has about 260 employees who will join Boeing’s $21 billion Defense, Space and Security Division.

McRAVEN TEARS INTO TRUMP: Retired Adm. William McRaven became the president’s newest critic among former officials on Thursday with a searing open letter in the Washington Post about the revocation of former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance. “I would consider it an honor if you [Trump] would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency,” McRaven wrote. The retired flag officer oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and later rose to command all U.S. special operations forces.

“A good leader tries to embody the best qualities of his or her organization. A good leader sets the example for others to follow. A good leader always puts the welfare of others before himself or herself,” McRaven wrote. “Your leadership, however, has shown little of these qualities. Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.” He said the president will not be able to silence critics such as Brennan. “If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken.”

OTHERS JOIN IN: Later on Thursday, a bipartisan group of former senior intelligence officials registered their disgust. “We have never before seen the approval or removal of security clearances used as a political tool, as was done in this case. Beyond that, this action is quite clearly a signal to other former and current officials” to stay silent. The names include retired Gen. David Petraeus and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

NEW SOUTHCOM LEADER: Navy Vice Adm. Craig Faller has been nominated to be the next head of U.S. Southern Command and to receive a fourth star, the Pentagon announced yesterday. Faller is a senior assistant to Mattis and his nomination would have to be approved by the Senate.

IRAN ACTION GROUP: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is establishing an Iran Action Group to coordinate the Trump administration’s strategy to counter and “change the Iranian regime’s behavior” in the wake of the withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement. “It will report directly to me,” Pompeo told reporters on Thursday. “We are committed to a whole-of-government effort to change the Iranian regime’s behavior.”

The group will be led by Brian Hook, the director of policy planning and now special representative for Iran. Hook, who played a leading role in the effort to negotiate a “fix” to the Iran deal before Trump decided to exit, will now lead the State Department’s efforts against Iran and orchestrate the broader administration’s movements.

ISIS REFUGEE: An Iraqi national who fought for the Islamic State and pretended to be a refugee to enter the United States during former President Barack Obama’s second term was arrested Wednesday and has begun legal proceedings to be deported to face murder charges for killing a police officer in his home country.

FBI agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Omar Abdulsattar Ameen at an apartment building in Sacramento, Calif., on a warrant an Iraqi federal court had issued in May. The FBI had been investigating Ameen since 2016, according to a release by the Justice Department.

“This is just one example of how raising the bar on our security standards has directly increased our ability to protect and secure our nation from terror groups abroad,” Department of Homeland Security press secretary Tyler Q. Houlton said in a statement.

THE RUNDOWN

CNN: China ‘likely’ training pilots to target US, Pentagon report says

Washington Post: China has a new message for the U.S.: Don’t be alarmed, we’re not that great.

Bloomberg: China Developing Satellites to Monitor Territory in South China Sea

Foreign Affairs: North Korea’s Nuclear Program Isn’t Going Anywhere

Task and Purpose: CENTCOM Investigation: ‘Most Plausible’ Explanation For SDF Shooting A Marine In Syria Was That It Was Intentional

Associated Press: IS deadly new front in Pakistan’s decades-old terror war

War on the Rocks: Negotiations with the Taliban Won’t Give Afghanistan What it Needs

Daily Beast: CIA Chief Gina Haspel Silent as Trump Attacks Her Predecessor and Patron

Breaking Defense: Despite Trump’s Signature, NDAA Fights Still Brewing

Defense News: Can the US track how its weapons are used in Yemen? Elizabeth Warren wants to know.

Marine Corps Times: How immigrant children were housed on military bases

Defense One: We Regret to Inform You That Russia Is (Probably) At It Again

Roll Call: Meghan McCain Calls McSally’s Snub of Her Father ‘Disgraceful’

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