RETURN OF THE ROUTINE BRIEFING: Chief Pentagon spokesman retired Rear Adm. John Kirby plans to return to the days when the Pentagon regularly held press briefings several times a week.
In days of yore, back before the turn-of-the-century, the Pentagon had a schedule of regular 1:30 p.m. briefings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, briefings were moved to an “as needed status,” and during the Trump years, on-camera press briefings by a spokesperson were deemed to be needed less and less, until at one point they disappeared entirely.
“I absolutely intend to return to a regular briefing schedule,” Kirby told the Washington Examiner in an interview Tuesday. “As a matter of fact, my intention at this point is to do three briefings a week. It’ll be most likely Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This week’s a bit of an anomaly just because we’re still kind of getting up to speed. I’m not sure when I’ll get up this week, but three briefings a week is the plan.”
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE: “Then on the days we’re not briefing, I’ll do an on-the-record but off-camera gaggle. We’ll try to shoot for those on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Kirby said. If you’re counting, that means Kirby will be meeting with Pentagon reporters every day most weeks.
And Kirby says he will put an end to the practice of recent years of putting a strict time limit on briefings, which resulted at times with the briefer calling an end to the briefing while reporters were still trying to ask questions.
“I don’t want to be up there briefing without a chance for everybody to get a shot. In the past, there has been a tendency to cut the briefings off after a certain amount of minutes, 30 minutes, whatever it is. But I’m not interested in having a time limit on it,” Kirby said. “Some briefings there may not be anything going on, and they may only go for 20 minutes. If everybody’s satisfied, then we stop at 20 minutes. If we have to go longer, we’ll go longer.“
AUSTIN WON’T BE A STRANGER: Kirby says his boss, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, will also make good on his pledge to regularly brief the media and report to the public.
“I am confident that you will be seeing Secretary Austin up at that podium in the briefing room as well as doing other media engagements not in the briefing room,” Kirby said. “I can promise you that he will be bringing media with him on his travels, and absolutely he’ll be on the Sunday shows.”
Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Victor I. Nava. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. 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.
Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine and get Washington Briefing: politics and policy stories that will keep you up to date with what’s going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue!
HAPPENING TODAY: Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to hold his first State Department press briefing at 3:30 p.m. after being confirmed by the Senate yesterday on a 78-22 vote.
While Blinken’s nomination was approved by a comfortable margin, still nearly half of the Republicans voted against him, the most so far for any Biden nominee.
“Though some Republicans raised concerns about his views, Blinken received ample bipartisan praise — a break from the combative years under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump,” reports the Washington Examiner’s Joel Gehrke.
Among the no votes was anti-war Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul. “I will vote against Mr. Blinken to be secretary of state, primarily because he has been in favor of every military intervention in the Middle East over the last 20 years — the Iraq War, the Libyan War,” Paul said during the Foreign Relations Committee markup.
“His complaint about the Syrian War was not that we were involved, but that we didn’t get enough involved to actually win the war, so he was actually for more involvement to get to regime change.”
TODAY ON THE HILL: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee meets at 10 a.m. to hold a confirmation hearing for Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be the representative to the United Nations.
At 3 p.m., the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee will conduct a confirmation hearing for Denis McDonough, nominated to be the Department of Veterans Affairs secretary.
And at 10 a.m., the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has a full committee markup to vote on the nomination of Pete Buttigieg to be the Department of Transportation secretary.
BIDEN, PUTIN CALL: President Biden spoke by phone yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the two leaders agreed “to have their teams work urgently” to extend the New START nuclear arms treaty for five years, before it expires Feb. 5. “They also agreed to explore strategic stability discussions on a range of arms control and emerging security issues,” according to a White House readout of the call.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted Biden took a firm line with Putin, “His intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia,” Psaki told reporters at yesterday’s daily briefing.
Among the subjects Biden brought up, according to Psaki, were “support for Ukraine’s sovereignty in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression … the SolarWinds hack, reports of Russia placing bounties on United States soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 election, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, and treatment of peaceful protesters by Russian security forces.”
THE G-7 CALL FOR NAVALNY’S RELEASE: Biden’s call to Putin came after Blinken was confirmed by the Senate and after the U.S. joined other G-7 nations protesting the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
“It is deplorable that Mr. Navalny is being detained in relation to court decisions which the European Court of Human Rights determined in 2017 to be arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable,” the group said in a statement. “We the G7 Foreign Ministers call upon the Russian authorities for Mr Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release. Russia is bound by its national and international obligations to respect and ensure human rights.”
GUARD COMMANDER’S HANDS WERE TIED: The commanding general of the D.C. National Guard told Congress that his authority to respond to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol was restricted by the Pentagon, preventing him from quickly shifting resources to back up overwhelmed police, according to a report in the Washington Post.
“All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and in my case, federal functions — federal property and life,” Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, told the Washington Post. “But in this instance I did not have that authority.”
“On my own, I started preparing people to be ready, but I had to wait for specific approval to go out to launch,” Walker was quoted as testifying by the New York Times. “I was in constant communication with the U.S. Army leadership who was acting on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.”
Walker and former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, along with other top officials, briefed the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday behind closed doors.
CAPITOL POLICE CHIEF APOLOGIZES: At that hearing, Yogananda Pittman, the acting chief of the U.S Capitol Police, apologized for the failure to properly prepare to protect the Capitol from what police had been warned was coming.
“Let me be clear: The department should have been more prepared for this attack. By Jan. 4, the department knew that the Jan. 6 event would not be like any of the previous protests held in 2020. We knew that militia groups and white supremacist organizations would be attending. We also knew that some of these participants were intending to bring firearms and other weapons to the event. We knew that there was a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target,” Pittman said, according to her prepared testimony. “I am here to offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of the department.”
WHAT DOES THAT SUPER BOWL FLYOVER COST THE TAXPAYERS? Every year this question comes up, especially in times of tight budgets. Why are we spending hundreds of thousands of dollars flying military planes over the Super Bowl when the display will be visible less than a minute in person and just a few seconds on TV?
This year the Air Force will send three of its front-line bombers, a B-1B Lancer, a stealthy B-2 Spirit, and a B-52 Stratofortress, over Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, during the National Anthem performance at Super Bowl LV.
But while there is a cost associated with the flyover, the flights count as part of the required flying hours for the pilots, and so it’s all part of the regular training budget. “These flyovers are done at no additional cost to the taxpayer and serve as time-over-target training for our pilots, aircrew and ground control teams,” said the Air Force Global Strike Command in a statement. “The U.S. Air Force performs close to 1,000 flyovers a year that serve as a way to showcase the capabilities of our aircraft while also inspiring patriotism and future generations of aviation enthusiasts.”
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Senate confirms Biden confidant Antony Blinken as secretary of state
Washington Examiner: White House: Biden discusses SolarWinds hack and Navalny detention in first call with Putin
Washington Examiner: Putin’s police ‘deliberately targeted’ media during violent Navalny protests
Washington Examiner: Defense secretary offers cryptic clue on nuclear arsenal modernization
Washington Examiner: Head of Israeli military cautions against US return to the Iran nuclear deal
Washington Examiner: Texas man pleads guilty in plot to attack White House and Trump Tower
Wall Street Journal: Defense Secretary Austin to Review Trump’s Last-Minute Withdrawal of Troops From Afghanistan, Iraq
New York Times: Blinken Takes Over at State Dept. With a Review of Trump’s Policies
Defense One: Raytheon Expects Biden to Block $500M Bomb Sale to Saudi Arabia
AP: First Biden-Putin call shows both cautious on big concerns
AP: China: Military Flights Warn Against Interference In Taiwan
Reuters: Taiwan Air Force Flexes Muscles After Latest Chinese Incursion
Task & Purpose: Marine Veteran Accused Of Being One Of The Most Violent Rioters At The Capitol Hill Riots
New York Times: From Navy SEAL to Part of the Angry Mob Outside the Capitol
Newsweek: U.S. Military Has ‘White Supremacy’ Problem Says House Armed Services Chair
Roll Call: Capitol Police chief, sergeant-at-arms acknowledge failure to protect against Jan. 6 riot
Washington Post: Pentagon restricted commander of D.C. Guard ahead of Capitol riot
Military Times: Guard Response Not To Blame For Deadly Capitol Riot, Former Army Secretary Testifies
Air Force Magazine: Lawmakers Urge Biden to Rethink USSPACECOM’s Move to Alabama
McClatchey: Congress Asks Pentagon To Restore Military Base Construction Funds From Border Wall
Army Times: Ponytails and lipstick: Sweeping changes to Army grooming standards are coming
Military.com: The Marines Could Be the Next Military Service to Get New Grooming Rules
Air Force Magazine: F-35s, F-16s to Operate from Austere Airfield on Guam During Cope North
Washington Examiner: Opinion: The real problem with Robert Malley’s potential Iran envoy appointment
Washington Post: Opinion: Biden’s U.N. ambassador nominee to face criticism for past praise of China
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 27
12 p.m. — Brookings Institution and George Washington’s Mount Vernon virtual conference: “Leadership for a More Perfect Union,” with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md.; Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; former Secretary of State Colin Powell; former Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., director, president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Center; David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-executive chairman of the Carlyle Group; Brad Smith, president of Microsoft; Douglas Bradburn, president and CEO of George Washington’s Mount Vernon; and John Allen, president of Brookings. https://www.mountvernon.org
1 p.m. — Association of Old Crows EMSO (Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations) Leadership series virtual discussion with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown. https://www.crows.org/general
1 p.m. — Center for Security Policy webinar: “Outlook for President Biden’s National Security Policies After Week One,” with Fred Fleitz, president and CEO, Center for Security Policy; Nile Gardiner, director, Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom; and Claudia Rosett, foreign policy fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. https://register.gotowebinar.com/register
1 p.m. — Politico webinar: “Ready to Launch – Space Policy in the Biden Era,” with Jacqueline Feldscher, national security reporter at Politico; and Bryan Bender, senior national correspondent at Politico. https://readytolaunch.splashthat.com
2 p.m. — Brookings Institution virtual discussion: “Challenges for the Biden Administration: Addressing the Evolving Air and Missile Threat,” with retired Rear Adm. Archer Macy, former director of the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization; Laura Grego, senior scientist in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Global Security Program; Tom Karako, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Missile Defense Project; and Frank Rose, co-director of the Brookings Center for Security, Strategy and Technology. https://www.brookings.edu/events/challenges
3 p.m. — Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks to the media in the press briefing room at the Department of State. Livestreamed at https://www.state.gov.
4 p.m. — Institute of World Politics webinar: “Negotiating the North Korean Nuclear Crisis: Where Are We Headed?” with John Park, director of Harvard University Belfer Center’s Korea Project. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/negotiating-the-north-korean-nuclear-crisis
4:30 p.m. — Intelligence National Security Alliance “Wednesday Wisdom” series virtual discussion with Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare in the Office of the Director of Naval Intelligence, on “the Navy’s plans for strengthening its cybersecurity posture.” https://www.insaonline.org/event/wednesday-wisdom
THURSDAY | JANUARY 28
9 a.m. — Vanguard Canada Media virtual conference on “C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) and Beyond,” with Canadian Army Lt. Gen. Michael Rouleau, vice chief of the defense staff at the Canadian Armed Forces; and Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, commanding general of the U.S. Army Cyber Command. https://vanguardcanada.com/c4isr2021
10:30 a.m. — U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing on “U.S.-China Relations at the Chinese Communist Party’s Centennial.” Full agenda and webcast at: https://www.uscc.gov/hearings/us-china-relations
FRIDAY | JANUARY 29
10 a.m. — Aspen Security Forum virtual event: “The View from Kabul: A Live Conversation with the President of Afghanistan,” with Ashraf Ghani; Carol Lee, NBC News correspondent; and Nicholas Burns, executive director, Aspen Strategy Group. https://aspeninst.zoom.us/webinar/register
MONDAY | FEBRUARY 1
12 p.m. — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conference call conversation with Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander, Air Mobility Command. https://nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu/
TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 2
11:50 a.m. — National Defense Industrial Association Virtual Expeditionary Warfare Conference, with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger. Full agenda at: https://www.ndia.org/-/media/sites/ndia/meetings-and-events
WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 3
11 a.m. Rayburn 2118/WebEx — House Armed Services Committee meets to organize for the 117th Congress.
TBA — The Navy releases nearly 60 recommendations from the final report of Task Force One Navy, which for six months has been examining systemic racism and the needs of underserved communities in the ranks, with an eye toward dismantling barriers and equalizing professional development opportunities.
MONDAY | FEBRUARY 8
9:15 a.m. — The Middle East Institute MEI-CENTCOM Annual Conference, with keynote remarks by Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, moderated by Amb. Gerald Feierstein, MEI senior vice president. https://www.mei.edu/events/keynote-address
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I absolutely intend to return to a regular briefing schedule. As a matter of fact, my intention at this point is to do three briefings a week. It’ll be most likely Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
