Pentagon prepares to defend Trump’s plan to evade military budget caps

OMB MADE US DO IT: Pentagon officials admitted yesterday it wasn’t their idea to move almost $100 billion in base budget items into the warfighting account to avoid congressionally mandated budget caps. They just drew up the overall $750 billion spending plan for defense, and the White House told them how to get around the Budget Control Act of 2011 for two more years, until it expires in 2021.

“We’ve built our budget based on what we needed in whole to support the NDS [National Defense Strategy], and then we receive direction on how that budget would be financed from OMB [Office of Management and Budget],” explained Pentagon comptroller Elaine McCusker at yesterday’s budget rollout.

THE ‘BIN’ DEFENSE: McCusker said the OCO money has been divided into four “bins” in the interest of transparency, “so that Congress will have everything that it needs to do its analysis and understand what we’ve done and why with our OCO budget.”

1. Direct War Requirements: $25.4 billion for one-time costs that end when combat ends
2. Enduring Requirements: $41.3 billion for war costs that will remain after combat ends
3. Base Requirements: $97.9 billion in base budget costs that are being shifted to skirt the Budget Control Act of 2011
4. Emergency Requirements: $9.2 billion in “unspecified construction” for emergencies, including repairing hurricane damage and building more barriers on the southwest border

• Total OCO/emergency request: $173.8 billion

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE: Trump is putting the Pentagon in an “impossible situation,” argues Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “The president is asking the department to go against its own best interest to raid military funds to pay for a campaign promise.”

“They must determine whether the construction of the wall furthers their mission. Meanwhile, they know that Fort Greely needs a new ground base mission interceptor field. They know that Fort Meade needs a security gate to stop unauthorized vehicles from coming onto the base. They know that Fort Campbell needs a new middle school so the kids can go to a school without asbestos and lead based paint,” Schatz said at a Capitol Hill news conference yesterday. “And the Department of Defense knows that each of these projects is more important than the president’s wall — that the people who will be hurt most if they go through with this are their own service members.”

THE BREAKDOWN: The Trump administration’s FY 2020 budget request for national security totals $750 billion, $718 billion of which is for the Department of Defense.

• Base: $545 billion
• OCO for Base: $98 billion
• OCO for actual overseas contingencies: $66 billion
• Emergency: $9 billion
• Department of Energy and other agencies: $32 billion
• Total DoD: $718 billion, up 4.9 percent, 2.8 percent real growth
• Total national defense: $750 billion

DoD BUDGET BY SERVICE:

• Army: $182.3 billion, up 2.5 percent
• Air Force: $165.6 billion, up 6.2 percent
• Navy/Marines: $205.6 billion, up 4.8 percent
• Missile Defense Agency: $9.4 billion
• Space Force: $74 million for startup

LINE ITEMS OF NOTE:

Aircraft

• 78 F-35 joint strike fighters: $11.2 billion
• 12 KC-46 tanker replacements: $2.3 billion
• 24 F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets: $2.0 billion
• 48 AH-64E attack helicopters: $1.0 billion
• 8 F-15EX fighters: $1.1 billion

Ships

• 1 CVN-78 Ford-class aircraft carrier: $2.6 billion
• 3 Virginia-class submarines: $10.2 billion
• 3 DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers: $5.8 billion
• 1 Frigate (FFG(X)): $1.3 billion
• 2 large unmanned surface vehicles: $447 million

Vehicles

• 4,090 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles: $1.6 billion
• 165 M-1 Abrams tank modifications: $2.2 billion
• 56 Amphibious Combat Vehicles: $0.4 billion
• 131 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles: $0.6 billion

Nuclear Triad

• B-21 long-range strike bomber: $3.0 billion
• Columbia-class submarine: $2.2 billion
• Long-Range Standoff missile: $0.7 billion
• Ground Based Strategic Deterrent: $0.6 billon

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 Kelly Jane Torrance (@kjtorrance). 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.

HAPPENING TODAY: The Senate appears poised to pass a bill that would revoke President Trump’s order declaring a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, thanks to the votes at least four Republicans who support a border wall but believe Trump is usurping the power of Congress. The bill is not expected to garner enough support to survive the veto the president has promised, so it will amount to a symbolic rebuke.

Trump is using the authority Congress granted the president in 1976, when it passed the National Emergencies Act, which was intended to give the president flexibility to respond to a wartime crisis or natural disaster.

“Most of my members believe this is not a constitutional issue but rather: Is this granting of authority to any president, not just this president, was it too broad back in the 1970s when it was passed?” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

To keep too many Republicans from defecting, McConnell is promising a future vote to change the law to reel in the president’s power. “We are in discussions about that,” he said.

Lawmakers might vote today on the “sense of the Senate” resolution by Ron Johnson, R-Wis., that states Congress should pass legislation to narrow the law at some point in the future.

HAPPENING FRIDAY: President Trump is expected to pay a visit to the Pentagon at the end of the week to meet with Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan and the joint chiefs in the secure Pentagon briefing room known as “the Tank.”

3,000 ISIS FIGHTERS GIVE UP: The last ISIS fighters to hold territory are not going down without putting up fierce, if perhaps futile, resistance in their last bastion in Baghouz, Syria. The tiny scrap of land has been reduced largely to rubble after days of pounding by artillery and air strikes.

“The #Coalition continues to conduct strikes to defeat Daesh, day or night, and no freedom of movement for the enemy,” tweeted the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve. “Combined with the #SDF ground movement, the final push in Baghuz continues.”

Reports from the scene say thousands of ISIS members in the group’s last holdout surrendered yesterday, as U.S.-backed Syrian forces continue the battle for a third day. “Number of Daesh members surrendered to us since yesterday evening has risen to 3,000,” Syrian Democratic Forces spokesman Mustefa Bali tweeted Tuesday evening.

TRANSGENDER RULES TO TAKE EFFECT: The Pentagon is issuing formal guidance on the interim policy regarding service by transgender troops while the legal challenges to the policy work their way through federal courts.

As we reported last week, currently serving transgender troops can continue to serve for now, and new recruits and currently serving troops who have not transitioned can stay only if they require no medical treatment for gender dysphoria and are willing to serve in their biological sex.

The Associated Press has obtained the implementation memo signed by David Norquist, acting deputy defense secretary.

“Under the new rules, currently serving transgender troops and anyone who has signed an enlistment contract by April 12 may continue with plans for hormone treatments and gender transition if they have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” the AP says. “But after April 12, no one with gender dysphoria who is taking hormones or has transitioned to another gender will be allowed to enlist.”

“It would be prudent for Acting Secretary Shanahan to delay implementing the Mattis policy until the courts have made their final determinations,” said Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

“Any other course of action not only undermines military readiness, but is also an insult to transgender individuals who have served and are still serving with distinction,” Smith said in a statement issued last night. “Make no mistake, this is a discriminatory ban on transgender people, not a ban on a medical condition and we will continue to fight against this bigoted policy.”

DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL REDUX: Advocates for transgender troops say requiring them to serve in the gender assigned at birth amounts to another version of the 1990s policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“Even leaders who supported ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ at the time later came to believe that it had failed, harming readiness rather than improving it. That will be the fate of this bigoted policy on transgender service as well,” said Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, in a statement.

“The Trump administration has chosen prejudice and politics over the truth of open service as revealed by the testimonies of dozens of medical and military leaders and the service and sacrifice of 14,700 transgender service members,” he said.

WHY BUY OLD JETS?: The decision to spend $1.1 billion on fourth-generation non-stealthy Boeing F-15X fighters while cutting the buy of fifth-generation stealthy F-35s made by Lockheed Martin has raised some eyebrows at the Pentagon, especially given Patrick Shanahan’s previous job as a top executive at Boeing and the fact the older design costs almost as much as the newer F-35.

But at yesterday’s Pentagon briefing, officials said it was former defense secretary Jim Mattis who made the decision about the mix of fourth- and fifth-generation jets, not Shanahan, who has pledged to recuse himself from decisions involving Boeing.

“The F-35 remains a critical program for the joint force as we look to the future and the kinds of capabilities we require,” said Lt. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, director of force structure for the joint staff. “The F-15X provides additional capacity and readiness, especially in the near years to mid years, as we look at the threats and the kinds of combat potential that we needed to bring to bear.”

GET BACK IN THE JCPOA: More than 50 retired senior officers and ambassadors have released a statement calling for the United States to reenter the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

“Subsequent to the United States’ withdrawal from the deal, Iran’s continued compliance is not ensured and the benefits from the agreement risk being lost,” they write. “Reentering the Iran nuclear deal advances the United States’ national interests by ensuring these benefits persist and enables us to work more closely with our European allies.”

“Re-entry into the nuclear deal will contribute to establishing a broader U.S. national strategy for the Middle East. We condemn Iran’s continued ballistic missile activities, human rights violations and support for terrorism, as they pose threats to the United States and the region. Reaffirming leadership in this area will improve the ability of the U.S. to develop and lead a multilateral effort to contain the Iranian threat,” the signers conclude.

POSTHUMOUS MoH: An Army soldier who gave his life to save three of his fellow soldiers from a suicide bomber in Iraq in 2007 will be awarded the Medal of Honor, President Trump announced yesterday.

Staff Sgt. Travis W. Atkins, 31, was killed after he “engaged in hand-to-hand combat” with a suspected insurgent in the Iraqi town of Abu Samak while his unit participated in a route clearance. Atkins was checking for weapons, but the encounter turned physical, and Atkins determined that the suspected insurgent had a bomb attached to him.

As the man attempted to set off his suicide vest, Atkins tackled him and used “his own body to shield his fellow soldiers from the imminent explosion,” the White House’s announcement said. Atkins will posthumously receive the military’s highest award for his actions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom at a March 27 event.

NO WORD YET: Conventional wisdom is congealing around the notion that Patrick Shanahan will eventually be nominated to be Trump’s second defense secretary.

The reasons seem obvious: 1. Shanahan wants the job. 2. Trump likes him. 3. Shanahan is unlikely to push back against Trump’s more controversial policies. 4. Many other qualified candidates don’t want the job.

Shanahan was asked about it yesterday as he met with the Qatari deputy prime minister.

“Mr. Secretary, has President Trump discussed with you the possibility of nominating you to be the formal secretary of defense?” the pool reporter queried. Shanahan would only say, “You know, the president speaks with me about defense matters and we have many ongoing discussions.”

On Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders didn’t deny that Shanahan could end up with the job. “I am not going to make any personnel announcements at this time,” Sanders said. “I can tell you that the president has a great deal of respect for Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan. He likes him. And when the president’s ready to make an announcement on that front, he certainly will.”

Stay tuned.

The Rundown

AP: Longest US-Taliban peace talks see ‘progress’ in Qatar

Washington Post: Pentagon Takes Aim At China And Russia In Proposed $750 Billion Budget

Bloomberg: Pentagon Puts Money Behind Research In $750 Billion Budget Plan

Breaking Defense: Army Lumbers Into Future: $33B In 2020-2024 For Big 6, Eventually

Air Force Magazine: No Sign of “The Air Force We Need” in USAF Budget; 80-Plus New-Old F-15s Coming

Breaking Defense: Navy Unveils Record Budget, Pushing Above 300 Ships

USNI News: FY 2020 Budget: Navy Cuts Ship, Aircraft Procurement; Vows High-End Weapons Procurement

Aerospace Daily and Defense Report: Truman Retirement Would Save Pentagon Billions

Wall Street Journal: Navy, Industry Partners Are ‘Under Cyber Siege’ by Chinese Hackers, Review Asserts

Reuters: China Using ‘Pay-Day Loan Diplomacy’ In The Pacific: U.S. Diplomat

Al-Monitor: Plan to charge allies for US troop presence carries risks for Americans in North Africa

Reuters: Turkey Says It Is Discussing Syria Offensive With Russia, U.S.

Washington Examiner: Georgia woman charged for alleged involvement in ISIS-allied group that distributed ‘kill lists’

Army Times: A Muslim soldier says her command sergeant major forced her to remove her hijab

New York Times: Treated Like a ‘Piece of Meat’: Female Veterans Endure Harassment at the V.A.

Military.com: No New Tricare Fees in Proposed DoD Budget

Stars and Stripes: Pentagon hazy on legality of pot company investments for servicemembers

Calendar

WEDNESDAY | MARCH 13

7 a.m. 1513 K St. N.W. McAleese/Credit Suisse 10th Annual FY2020 “Defense Programs” Conference. All-day speaker list includes: Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations; Gen. Robert Neller, Marine Corps commandant; Ryan McCarthy, under secretary of the Army; Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., Armed Services Committee chairman; Rep. Joseph Courtney, D-Conn; Rep. Robert Wittman, R-Va.; Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio; and many others. Registration closed.

8:15 a.m. 6715 Commerce St. Day two of 2019 AFCEA Army Signal Conference, Springfield, Va. Air Force Lt. Gen. Bradford Shwedo delivers the opening keynote address, and at 4:15 p.m. Lt. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, commanding general of U.S. Army Cyber Command, delivers the closing keynote. Waterford at Springfield. www.afcea.org

10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn. U.S. European and Supreme NATO Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti and Kathryn Wheelbarger, acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, testify before the House Armed Services Committee. armedservices.house.gov/hearings

10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid delivers remarks about challenges facing Europe and Estonia’s evolving role in the trans-Atlantic community at Brookings and then discusses the topic with Brookings President John Allen. Brookings Institution Falk Auditorium. www.brookings.edu

11:30 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Avenue N.E. “The Indo-Pacific after INF.” Keynote remarks by Sen. Tom Cotton. www.heritage.org

12:30 p.m. 529 14th St N.W. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a combat veteran, delivers remarks on maintaining America’s military preeminence at a National Press Club Newsmakers Luncheon. www.press.org

2 p.m. 2212 Rayburn. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness hearing on “Ensuring resiliency of military installations and operations in response to climate changes.” Witnesses: retired Rear. Adm. David Titley, Pennsylvania State University; Sharon Burke, International Security Program and Resource Security Program; and Nicolas Loris, Center for Free Markets and Regulatory Reform. armedservices.house.gov/hearings

2 p.m. Rayburn. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities hearing on U.S. Cyber Command and operations in cyberspace. Witnesses: U.S. Cyber Command Army Gen. Paul Nakasone and Kenneth Rapuano, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security. armedservices.house.gov/hearings

2:30 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. “The Future of U.S.-Afghanistan Relations: A View from Afghanistan.” www.hudson.org

4 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. “Putin’s World.” www.brookings.edu

THURSDAY | MARCH 14

9:30 a.m. SD-G50, Dirksen. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, and Pentagon comptroller Elaine McCusker testify before the Senate Armed Services on the Fiscal Year 2020 DoD Budget. www.armed-services.senate.gov

9:30 a.m. 1501 Lee Highway. Air Force Maj. Gen. David Krumm, director of strategic plans, speaks at AFA Mitchell Hour. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/mitchell-hour

10 a.m. 2212 Rayburn. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces hearing on “Department of the Air Force Fiscal Year 2020 budget request for seapower and projection forces.” Witnesses: William Roper, assistant secretary of Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics; Air Force Lt. Gen. Timothy Fay, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration, and requirements. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

10 a.m. 2200 Rayburn. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., hosts a panel on the costs of the U.S. war on terror, featuring speakers from Brown University’s Costs of War Project at the Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs.

2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “The future of the Army in an era of great power competition.” www.brookings.edu

3:30 p.m. 1717 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “The Price of Kindness: Lebanon and Syria’s Refugees.” www.sais-jhu.edu

5:30 p.m. 2425 Wilson Boulevard. Gen. Gus Perna, commanding general, Army Materiel Command, speaks at the Association of the U.S. Army Institute of Land Warfare Rogers Strategic Issues Forum. Reception and networking begin at 5:30 p.m., and the program begins at 6:00 p.m. www.ausa.org

FRIDAY | MARCH 15

9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W. CSIS Implementing Innovation Series: A Perspective from Will Roper, Air Force Acquisition Executive. www.csis.org

9:30 a.m. 1800 M Street N.W. Breakfast discussion on “America’s Missile Strategy, Countering and Defending Against Threats from Iran and North Korea,” sponsored by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, featuring Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at Hudson Institute; David Maxwell, senior fellow at FDD; and Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at FDD. Invitation-only event open to government officials, Hill staff, foreign policy professionals, members of the diplomatic corps, the think tank and foreign policy communities, and credentialed press. Advance registration and confirmation is required.

MONDAY | MARCH 18

12:30 p.m. 1779 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “Marking A Year of Protest in Gaza.” carnegieendowment.org

TUESDAY | MARCH 19

8 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “Religious Authority in the Middle East: Implications for U.S. Policy.” www.carnegieendowment.org

9:30 a.m. 2301 Constitution Avenue N.W. “Crimea after Five Years of Russian Occupation.” www.usip.org

10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “Defense spending in the 50 states.” www.brookings.edu

10:30 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “Tokyo’s Views on the Growing U.S.-China Rivalry.” www.carnegieendowment.org

WEDNESDAY | MARCH 20

12:30 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave N.W., 8th Floor. “The Future of Nuclear Arms Control.” www.stimson.org

FRIDAY | MARCH 22

10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “The end of an era? The INF Treaty, New START, and the future of strategic stability.” www.brookings.edu

TUESDAY | MARCH 26

8:30 a.m. 2301 Constitution Avenue N.W. “Overcoming War Legacies: The Road to Reconciliation and Future Cooperation Between the United States and Vietnam.” www.usip.org