MILITARY SHOPPING LISTS: Today begins a string of budget hearings on the the Hill, when members of Congress will be grilling Pentagon officials about whether the president’s $575 billion baseline budget is an adequate down payment on rebuilding America’s beleaguered military. This week, it’s the service secretaries and chiefs appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and next week it’s Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, beginning with a rare 7 p.m. hearing of the House Armed Services Committee Monday night, and at least one other daytime appearance later in the week.
Today is Air Force day with newly sworn-in Secretary Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein before the SASC at 9:30 a.m. Tomorrow, Army Chief Gen. Mark Milley and Acting Secretary Robert Speer appear before the same committee. And on the House side Wednesday, Vice Adm. Jim Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, appears before the HASC. Thursday, it’s Navy day with CNO Adm. John Richardson and acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley back before the SASC. In between there are a series of subcommittee and other full hearings on issues such as aviation modernization and military construction.
NOT-SO SECRET WISH LISTS: Officially, the civilians and military officers are there to support the president’s budget request and explain why it’s sufficient to meet current needs and address critical shortfalls. But it’s Washington’s worst-kept secret that all the services have lists of items they want that are not requested by the Trump administration budget, and that they are hoping Congress will add to the final package. For the Army, that wish list is topped by a desire for 17,000 more soldiers, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner. Army officials and some members of Congress were disappointed that the president’s budget delayed an increase in the size of the Army until the next fiscal year, 2019. The $3.1 billion in the wish list would pay for an additional 10,000 active-duty, 4,000 National Guard, and 3,000 reserve soldiers.
The Navy’s unfunded wish list is heavy on requests for more aircraft, according to Defense News, which calls for more Boeing F/A-18s, P-8As, Lockheed Martin F-35Cs, and Bell Boeing V-22s, but doesn’t ask for any new warships, despite the promises of the Trump administration to put the Navy on course for a 350-ship Navy.
ALL EYES ON COMEY: The other big driver of the week is the James Comey show, which is expected to air live on all three broadcast networks, as well as all the cable and live streaming outlets at 10 a.m. Thursday. The White House announced yesterday that, after due consideration, President Trump will not invoke executive privilege to try to stop his fired FBI director from testifying before Congress, Alex Pappas writes. “The president’s power to assert executive privilege is very well established,” Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday. “However, in order to facilitate a swift examination of the facts sought by the intelligence committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey’s scheduled testimony.”
What Sanders didn’t say is that Trump may have been on shaky ground if he had tried to block Comey’s testimony, according to legal experts. For one thing, Comey is now a private citizen, not subject to White House jurisdiction. In addition, many of the things Congress wants to discuss about the Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election happened before Trump took office, and therefore arguably do not fall under his executive privilege. And Trump, it could be argued, has already opened the door to discussion of Comey’s firing buy discussing it publicly in tweets and interviews. But the biggest factor in Trump’s decision to allow Comey to testify may have been that to do otherwise would just feed the perception that the president is trying to muzzle Comey because he has something to hide.
THE LATEST LEAK, AND A SWIFT ARREST: Meanwhile a classified document has surfaced that shows Russian hackers may have more deeply penetrated U.S. voting systems during last year’s election than previously reported, including trying to hack election officials. The “top secret” National Security Agency document leaked to The Intercept was dated May 5, and details hacking efforts by Russian military intelligence that includes a cyber attack against at least one U.S. voting software supplier. The report indicates Russian military intelligence, specifically the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, also sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials days before the November presidential election.
As soon as the Intercept showed the document to the NSA, the spy agency was able to figure out the document had been printed and mailed to the news site, and was able to backtrack and figure out who did it. Now a 25-year-old federal contractor is facing charges she violated federal law in providing the report to The Intercept. The charges against Reality Leigh Winner came about an hour after the publication of the story. Winner, of Augusta, Ga., is facing serious charges that she removed classified material from a government facility and mailed it to a news outlet. She was arrested on Saturday and appeared on the charge Monday.
Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense.
BREAKING THIS MORNING: As was foreshadowed last week by Pentagon officials, the long-awaited liberation of the Islamic State’s self-declared capital of Raqqa by U.S.-backed Syrian fighters has begun. “The Syrian Democratic Forces and their Syrian Arab Coalition partners launched the offensive to unseat ISIS from its so-called ‘capital’ of Raqqah in northern Syria, June 6,” said a statement from Operation Inherent Resolve. “The SAC and SDF began marching on Raqqa in November and have been rapidly tightening the noose around the city since their daring air assault behind enemy lines in Coalition aircraft in March,” the statement said.
The fight for Raqqa will be “long and difficult,” Lt. Gen. Steve Townsend, commanding general of CJTF-OIR, said in the statement, but he promised the offensive would deliver “a decisive blow to the idea of ISIS as a physical caliphate.”
Last week, the Pentagon reported that Raqqa was effectively surrounded on three sides, and that nearly 200,000 civilians had fled the northern Syrian city in anticipation of what promises to be a long and deadly fight to kill ISIS fighters before they can escape, under the “annihilation” strategy outlined recently by Mattis.
“Where before we were shoving them from one town to another and just falling back, we now take the time to invest now and to make certain that foreign fighters cannot escape for return to Paris, France, to Australia, to wherever they came from, and bring their message of hatred and their skills back to those places and attack innocent people,” Mattis said while attending a U.S.-Australia defense summit in Sydney. Mattis returns to Washington late today.
DIPLOMATIC CRISIS OVER QATAR: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Arab countries to mend ties after a diplomatic fissure opened between U.S. allies, just weeks after Trump’s visit to the region, Joel Gehrke writes. “We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences, and we — if there’s any role that we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the [Gulf Cooperation Council] remain unified,” Tillerson told reporters in Australia, where he is on diplomatic travel.
Saudi Arabia led a bloc of Gulf countries in cutting diplomatic and economic ties with neighboring Qatar, which the Saudis accuse of supporting terrorism. The split is also driven by the major regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran; the Saudis accused Qatar of aligning with the Iranian side of a civil war in Yemen. That’s an uncomfortable fissure for the United States, which has major military operations based in both countries. “I think what we’re witnessing is a growing list of some irritants in the region that have been there for some time, and obviously they have now bubbled up to a level that countries decided they needed to take action in an effort to have those differences addressed,” Tillerson said in an obvious understatement.
The break goes well beyond the usual recall of ambassadors. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the U.A.E. are effectively blockading Qatar, cutting all commercial air service, and maritime access, as well as denying Qatari airlines from flying over Saudi airspace. Thousands of international air passengers have been stranded at Doha’s airport, a main hub for air travel though the region, and there’s a run on grocery at stores, because Qatar imports 40 percent of its food from it neighbors.
AL-UDEID IS STILL OPERATING: The Pentagon says U.S. military operations at the sprawling Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar are unaffected by the raging diplomatic firestorm. The air base in Doha is the forward operation headquarters of U.S. Central Command, which is overseeing the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. About 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed there.
“We haven’t seen any impact on today’s operations,” said Col. John Thomas, a Central Command spokesman at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.
TRUMP VS. KHAN: Trump isn’t backing off in his running feud with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and won’t concede that he has taken Khan’s comments — urging Londoners to remain calm and not be alarmed by all the extra police — out of context. “Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his ‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement. MSM is working hard to sell it!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
When reporters asked Sanders whether the president misunderstood Khan’s comments, she stuck by her boss. One reporter pressed Sanders, “He was saying, ‘Don’t be alarmed by the armed police presence on the street,’ and the president directly misrepresented what the mayor of London said.” Sanders pushed back. “I don’t think that’s actually true,” Sanders said. “I think that the media wants to spin it that way.”
Meanwhile in London yesterday, Khan said the British government should no longer “roll out the red carpet” for Trump and should cancel any future state visits. “I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for,” Khan told Britain’s Channel 4 News. “When you have a special relationship, it is no different from when you have got a close mate,” Khan added. “You stand with them in times of adversity, but you call them out when they are wrong. There are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong.”
But today, British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said the president’s upcoming state visit will go ahead and that Trump is still welcome, adding he saw “no reason” to rescind the offer after the White House has already accepted.
MONTENEGRO NO-SHOW: Trump did not attend the ceremony at the State Department’s Treaty Room that officially made Montenegro the 29th member of NATO less than two weeks after a controversial speech at the alliance’s headquarters. Thomas Shannon, a State Department undersecretary and the third-highest official in the State Department, met with Prime Minister Dusko Markovic and Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovic for the ceremony. This comes after a NATO summit in which Trump criticized NATO members and appeared to push Markovic out of the way for a photo opportunity. Markovic later said that the push was a “harmless situation.”
In contrast, Republican Sen. John McCain, a frequent critic of the president, hailed the ascension of tiny Montenegro as a big deal, and a rebuke of Russia. “The North Atlantic Treaty Organization became one member stronger today as the organization formally accepted the accession of Montenegro to the alliance. The first NATO enlargement in eight years represents a significant step toward greater transatlantic integration at a pivotal time. Given the increasingly complex challenges we face on both sides of the Atlantic, NATO has never been more important. In the face of renewed Russian aggression, increasingly frequent terror attacks, and looming cybersecurity threats, the transatlantic alliance must stand together. We welcome the assistance of Montenegro as the 29th NATO member state in combatting these threats,” McCain said in a statement.
HYPERSONIC THREAT: It travels at more than five times the speed of sound, more than a mile per second, below U.S. missile defenses. It can carry conventional or nuclear weapons, able to reach anywhere in the world in three hours or less, and both China and Russia are developing them, as is the U.S. The scary weapon of the near future is what’s known as a hypersonic glide vehicle, sometimes called a “wave rider,” because its aerodynamics allow the winged projectile to skip along the atmosphere, or glide on a smooth, flat trajectory after being launched via missile. Read more about the hypersonic threat that keeps US commanders up at night.
THE MOST D.C. THING EVER: Shaw’s Tavern is hosting a watch party for former FBI Director Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. On Facebook, the bar, located at 520 Florida Avenue NW, is billing the event, as “The Comey Hearing Covfefe,” a mocking reference to Trump’s nonsensical tweet last week in which he appeared to make a typo. The event begins at 9:30 a.m., ahead of Comey’s scheduled testimony.
THE RUNDOWN
Politico: Trump National Security Team Blindsided by NATO Speech
Reuters: Trump’s ‘been clear to me’ to try to rebuild Russia ties: Tillerson
Military.com: F-15Es, A-10s Leading Air War Against ISIS
Bloomberg: Air Force Chief Vows to Avoid Excess Secrecy Over U.S. Bomber
Associated Press: S. Korean Official Suspended Over US Missile Defense Report
Defense One: New U.S. Air Force secretary sounds a lot like the old one
New York Times: ISIS says it’s behind abduction and killing in Australia
Reuters: U.S. State Department approves $1.4 billion in military sales to Saudi
Task and Purpose: Third aircraft carrier steams toward Pacific as U.S. armada looms near North Korea
UPI Security News: Mitsubishi completes construction of first F-35A
Defense News: Embraer confident Trump’s ‘America First’ policy won’t damage Super Tucano’s U.S. prospects
Wall Street Journal: Syria’s Assad presses offensive on opposition in wake of U.S. strikes
Daily Beast: Being Michael Flynn
Foreign Policy: The Arab world has never recovered from the loss of 1967
Washington Post: The Daily 202: James Mattis emerges as the most un-Trumpian member of the cabinet
War on the Rocks: Come hell or high water: The Pentagon’s posture toward climate change
Calendar
TUESDAY | JUNE 6
8:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The 6th annual symposium on the European Union’s common security and defense policy. csis.org
9:30 a.m. Dirksen G-50. Posture of the Air Force with Secretary Heather Wilson and Gen. David Goldfein, chief of staff. armed-services.senate.gov
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The growing threat from cyber weapons and what the United States needs to do to prepare. brookings.edu
10 a.m. Dirksen 342. Department of Homeland Security budget request for 2018. hsgac.senate.gov
12:30 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. Are there any steps forward in Syria? cfr.org
2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. A new nuclear review for a new age. csis.org
2:30 p.m. Dirksen 124. Defense budget request for military construction and family housing. appropriations.senate.gov
2:30 p.m. Russell 232-A. Marine Corps ground modernization. armed-services.senate.gov
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 7
8 a.m. 300 1st St. SE. Nuclear deterrence series event on U.S. and allied nuclear and BMD initiatives. mitchellaerospacepower.org
8:30 a.m. 901 17 St. NW. The future of defense and deterrence in Europe with retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, former supreme allied commander of NATO, and the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. atlanticcouncil.org
8:45 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Energy security in central and eastern Europe. atlanticcouncil.org
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Meeting security challenges in a disordered world. csis.org
10 a.m. House Visitor Center 210. Secretary John Kelly testifies on the Trump administration’s priorities for the Department of Homeland Security. homeland.house.gov
10:30 a.m. Dirksen 192. Hearing to review the budget request for the Army with Gen. Mark Milley, chief of staff, and Robert Speer, acting Army secretary. appropriations.senate.gov
10:30 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Regional perspectives on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. atlanticcouncil.org
2 p.m. Rayburn 2212. Priorities and posture of missile defeat programs and activities for 2018 with Vice Adm. James Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency. armedservices.house.gov
2:30 p.m. Russell 222. Defense Department nuclear acquisition programs and the nuclear doctrine with Gen. Robin Rand, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, and Vice Adm. Terry Benedict, director of Strategic Systems Programs. armed-services.senate.gov
3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2118. Combat aviation modernization programs and the fiscal 2018 budget request with Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps leaders. armedservices.house.gov
6 p.m. 1301 S. Joyce St. Networking Series event with Dana W. White, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs. militaryreporters.org
THURSDAY | JUNE 8
9:30 a.m. Dirksen G-50. Posture of the Navy with acting Secretary Sean Stackley, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. armed-services.senate.gov
10 a.m. Hart 216. Former FBI Director James Comey testifies about his recent firing. intelligence.senate.gov
10:15 a.m. Dirksen 419. ISIS’ global reach beyond Iraq and Syria. foreign.senate.gov
12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. A lecture by author Roger Kimball on populism and the future of democracy. heritage.org
12:30 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Nuclear weapons and coercive diplomacy. stimson.org
1 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Development as a U.S. national security imperative with retired Adm. Mike Mullen, Gen. James Jones and Gen. Carter Ham. atlanticcouncil.org
2 p.m. House Visitor Center 210. Secret Service Director Randy Alles testifies on how he will reform and improve the agency. homeland.house.gov
FRIDAY | JUNE 9
10 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Book talk on Russia: Three Years After Crimea. wilsoncenter.org
MONDAY | JUNE 12
10:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. A daylong forum on religion and violence in Russia. csis.org
7 p.m. Rayburn 2118. Defense Department budget request hearing with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. armedservices.house.gov
TUESDAY | JUNE 13
9 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. A conversation about countering Putin’s Russia with Rep. Adam Smith. aei.org
10 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Preserving and building on the Iran nuclear deal. atlanticcouncil.org
1 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Climate, conflict and refugees: Examining the impact of environmental change on human security. stimson.org
