House Democrats set the stage for a $17 billion showdown with Senate over defense policy bill

Republicans have a number of amendments designed to bring the House version more in line with the version that enjoys bipartisan support in the Senate.

FLASHPOINTS:

Ohio Republican Mike Turner has submitted an amendment that would strike a Democrat-supported provision prohibiting the use of funds for the deployment of low-yield ballistic missile warheads on submarines.

A large group of Republicans have sponsored an amendment to strike another provision prohibiting the use of funds for construction of a wall, fence, or other physical barrier along the southern border of the United States.

A bipartisan amendment would repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, which would then require a new AUMF for ongoing counterterrorism missions.

Massachusetts Democrat Stephen Lynch has an amendment that would require the Pentagon to once again make data public relating to Afghanistan, including casualty figures of the Afghan security forces.

ROAD MAP TO PEACE: Taliban and Afghan negotiators have concluded a meeting in Qatar and agreed on a nonbinding road map for further talks aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, now in its 18th year.

An unofficial draft of the two-page document was posted to Twitter last night by Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. diplomat who has been brokering the peace talks. “It’s past midnight and the intra-Afghan Conference on Peace just concluded on a very positive note,” Khalilzad tweeted. “I congratulate the participants – Afghan society representatives across generations, senior govt officials, Taliban – for finding common ground.”

The joint declaration emphasizes a need to work toward reducing “civilian casualties to zero” and ensuring women their fundamental rights in “political, social, economic, educational, cultural affairs.”

A member of the Taliban delegation, Qari Din Mohammad Hanif, told Al Jazeera, “We have all agreed to the fact that the civilians should not be affected, war continues, but our aim is to reduce civilian casualties to zero.”

“There was a very friendly atmosphere and sincere atmosphere and everyone shared their views,” chief Taliban negotiator Sher Mohammad Abas Stanekzai told the New York Times. “When we finalize our negotiations with the Americans and get a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops, then we will enter direct negotiations with the Afghan side for the internal matters of our country.”

“This dialogue gives hope for further progress to end the 40-year long war and the terrible suffering of the Afghan people,” tweeted Khalilzad. “We will persist in our efforts by resuming our talks with the Taliban later today.”

Good Tuesday 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.

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HAPPENING TODAY: President Trump welcomes the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to the White House at noon to discuss “regional developments, bilateral security cooperation, and counterterrorism issues.” Later in the afternoon, the emir meets with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Last night, Trump attended a dinner for the emir and his delegation hosted by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department and praised the leader of one of the world’s richest nations as “my great friend” and Qatar as “a great ally.” Trump thanked the emir for hosting U.S. troops and planes at the sprawling Al Udeid Air Base in Doha.

Despite criticism from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt — who severed ties with Qatar in 2017 over its warm relations with Iran — Trump predicted his meetings today would be friendly. “From defense to purchases and trade, and I know everything’s going to be very positive,” Trump said, noting he knew the emir long before he entered politics.

Looking around the room at the business leaders sprinkled among the standard politicians, Trump said, “This is a who’s who of people in business.”

PERSONA NON GRATA: Notably absent from the evening’s festivities was British ambassador to the United States Sir Kim Darroch, who was disinvited after leaked private diplomatic cables revealed that he disparaged the Trump White House as “inept,” “dysfunctional,” and “unpredictable.”

Trump said on Twitter yesterday he would “no longer deal with” Darroch and took a swipe at outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, who he said created a “mess” with Brexit by failing to follow his advice.

May said yesterday she has “full faith” in Darroch, but she does not agree with his assessment, according to the BBC.

‘THE GULF RIFT’: The only mention of the tensions between gas-rich Qatar and its neighbors came in an anodyne readout of the emir’s visit to the Pentagon yesterday to meet with acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

The Pentagon statement mentioned it only in passing, saying the two “discussed a broad range of defense issues, including the importance of burden sharing, Qatari support to the NATO mission in Afghanistan and the Gulf rift.”

“By working together, we can find the ways and right means to deescalate the tension we have in our region,” the emir said, standing next to Esper.

Esper, breaking with a tradition set by former defense secretary Jim Mattis and continued by Patrick Shanahan, declined to take questions from pool reporters.

ALSO TODAY: Adm. Craig Faller, commander of U.S. Southern Command, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities at 3 p.m. on the implementation of the National Defense Strategy in the Southern Command area of responsibility.

STRAIT TOLL?: Iran is planning to charge foreign ships a toll in exchange for “protection” across the Strait of Hormuz, writes Russ Read in the Washington Examiner.

A member of the Iranian Parliament’s presidium said foreign commercial entities should compensate Iran as “the true provider of security in the region and international waters,” according to the state-run Tasnim News Agency. Amirhossein Qazizadeh Hashemi claimed ships enter Iranian waters on their way through the strait and should therefore pay a toll.

“There’s no question whatsoever about the rights of commercial vessels and tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz and that they have this right to transit unimpeded,” Tom Callender, a senior fellow for defense programs at the Heritage Foundation, told the Washington Examiner. “To be trying to charge essentially tax to pass through this is a form of extortion.”

TANKS AND MISSILES TO TAIWAN: In a move that has predictably angered China, the State Department has approved a possible sale of 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks and 250 Stinger missiles, along with related equipment, to Taiwan at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of this possible sale yesterday. China considers Taiwan a renegade province that is its territory and must eventually be reunited with the mainland.

The potential sale to TECRO (the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office) contains a vast arsenal of “related equipment” including:

• 14 M88A2 HERCULES vehicles
• 16 M1070A1 heavy equipment transporters
• 16 M1000 heavy equipment transporter semi-trailers
• 122 M2 Chrysler mounted machine guns
• 216 M240 machine guns
• 572 M1002 TPMP-T1 rounds
• 359 M831A1 HEAT rounds
• 621 M865 TPCSPS-T2 rounds
• 828 M830Al HEAT rounds

RUSSIAN SUBTERFUGE?: What was that super-secret Russian submarine doing when it caught fire in the Barents Sea last week? The 14 Russian crew members who died in the accident were buried over the weekend, but Moscow is not releasing any details of the mission of the nuclear-powered vessel, reportedly Russia’s most secret submersible, the Losharik.

Florida congressman Michael Waltz says he believes the spy sub was gathering intelligence by monitoring Internet traffic on undersea cables. “Most people think the Internet is in the cloud. It’s really under the ocean,” the Republican told Fox News Channel yesterday. “There are almost 400 of these cables, [which] are about the size of a really large garden hose that run several hundred thousand miles, and our entire modern economy is dependent on these fiber optic cables, from banking to insurance to financial markets.”

The Losharik submarine is designed to operate at extreme depths with the capability to intercept or sabotage global communications, Waltz said. “They are not going to take the United States on tank-to-tank or aircraft-carrier-to-aircraft-carrier. They are going to attack us asymmetrically — that’s attacking us in cyberspace, undermining our confidence in our elections, or in this case and what this sub was [very likely] doing was tapping into these cables to collect data and gather intel.”

VOTEL TO HEAD BENS: Former U.S. Central Command head retired Gen. Joseph Votel has been appointed the next president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit organization Business Executives for National Security. Votel, who retired from the Army in March, will take over the leadership of BENS in January, when current president, retired Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz, is scheduled to leave.

“Joe is one of our finest military minds and national security leaders,” said Schwartz in a statement. “His innovative spirit, grounded with deep experience in our current national security challenges and processes, make him ideal to spearhead BENS into the next decade.”

The Rundown

AP: Germany rebuffs US request for ground troops in Syria to fight ISIS

Al-Monitor: Top US general’s retirement marks turning point in Mideast operations

Washington Examiner: ‘A form of extortion’: Iran to charge foreign ships a toll to cross Strait of Hormuz

Bloomberg: BP Oil Tanker Shelters in Persian Gulf on Fear of Iran Retaliation

Defense News: Congress returns to budget stalemate

Bloomberg: Lawmakers Press Trump, Pentagon Over $10 Billion JEDI Cloud Deal

Task & Purpose: Warfighting with the backup squad: 20 of the Pentagon’s top officials are in temp or acting roles

Navy Times: Who’s the Navy’s next CNO?

USNI News: Navy faces time crunch in nominating Moran replacement for CNO job

Fox News: Pentagon weighing $250,000 bonuses, higher recommended recruit age in bid to transform the US infantry

Washington Examiner: Two Marines charged with attempting to transport undocumented immigrants

Stars and Stripes: Future is uncertain for ‘golf ball’ Sea-Based X-Band Radar ship

Defense News: Next phase of T-X testing begins

The Diplomat: Russia To Conclude Testing Phase Of RS-28 Sarmat ICBM In 2020

Forbes: Five Money-Pit Projects The U.S. Air Force Can Do Without

Air Force Magazine: Earthquakes Damage Edwards AFB Plant 42, Navy’s China Lake Base

Military.com: Pentagon delays big changes to post-9/11 GI Bill transfer rules

Calendar

TUESDAY | JULY 9

8 a.m. 801 Mt. Vernon Place N.W. Day two of Christians United for Israel’s 2019 Washington summit, with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.; and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas. www.cufi.org

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies discussion on “From Iran to Syria, from Hezbollah to Hamas to Houthis: Middle Eastern Missile Threats,” with Uzi Rubin, senior fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

10:30 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion on “Hypersonic Missiles: Assessing the Benefits and Risks,” with R. Jeffrey Smith, managing editor for national security at the Center for Public Integrity; Amy Woolf, nuclear weapons policy specialist at the Congressional Research Service; Dean Wilkening, physicist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; and James Acton, chairman and co-director of the CEIP Nuclear Policy Program. carnegieendowment.org

12:30 p.m. 1777 F Street N.W. Council on Foreign Relations discussion with former defense secretary Ash Carter on national security strategies in a rapidly changing world. Moderated by Margaret Brennan, moderator of CBS News’ Face the Nation and senior CBS foreign affairs correspondent. www.cfr.org

3 p.m. 222 Russell. Senate Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee hearing on “Implementation of the National Defense Strategy in the United States Southern Command Area of Responsibility,” with Adm. Craig Faller, commander of U.S. Southern Command. www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

3:30 p.m. Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford hosts Military District of Washington Full Honor Arrival Ceremony for Finnish Defense Chief Gen. Jarmo Lindberg, including an awards ceremony for the Legion of Merit. Streamed live at www.facebook.com/TheJointStaff.

WEDNESDAY | JULY 10

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies discussion on “Nuclear Arms Control and Deterrent Futures: An Assessment,” with Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, former energy undersecretary for nuclear security, and Madelyn Creedon, president of Green Marble LLC. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies event “Military Advice and the ‘Forever War’ in Afghanistan,” with retired Lt. Gen. David Barno, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Jonathan Schroden, research program director at CNA; Linda Robinson, senior international/defense researcher at the RAND Corporation; and Mark Cancian, senior adviser at CSIS. www.csis.org/events

10 a.m. HVC-210 Capitol. House Veterans’ Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee hearing on “Economic Well-being of Women Veterans.” veterans.house.gov

11:30 a.m. 2360 Rayburn. House Small Business Committee hearing on “Continuing to Serve: From Military to Entrepreneur.” Witnesses: Davy Leghorn, assistant director of the American Legion; retired Army Capt. Scott Davidson, managing principal and CEO of the GCO Consulting Group, McLean, Va.; Torrance Harrington Hart, owner of Teak and Twine, Springfield, Va.; and Laurie Sayles, president and CEO of Civility Management Solutions, Greenbelt, Md. smallbusiness.house.gov

THURSDAY | JULY 11

8 a.m. 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel. National Defense Industrial Association Integrated Air and Missile Defense Symposium “Defense Against Emerging Threats.” Speakers include: Navy Vice Adm. Jon Hill, director of the Missile Defense Agency, and Richard De Fatta, director of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command’s Future Warfare Center.

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies discussion on “Missile Defense and Directed Energy,” with former Missile Defense Agency director retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, executive vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

9 a.m. 8th & I Sts. S.E. Retiring Gen. Robert Neller relinquishes command of the U.S. Marine Corps to new commandant Gen. David Berger in a change of command ceremony at the Marine Barracks. www.marines.mil

9:30 a.m. G-50 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the nomination of Army Gen. Mark Milley for reappointment to the grade of general and to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

10:30 a.m. 1025 Connecticut Avenue N.W. SETA Foundation discussion on “U.S.-Turkey Relations Three Years After the July 15 Coup Attempt.” Speakers include Mehdi Eker, head of the Turkish Parliamentary Friendship Group for the USA. setadc.org/events

FRIDAY | JULY 12

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies a discussion on “Missile Defense: A Review and Assessment,” with Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

11 a.m. Pentagon River Entrance. Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper welcomes Uzbekistan’s Defense Minister Bakhodir Kurbanov to the Pentagon.