Biden insists he’s open to compromise on border policy to secure Ukraine aid

“We can’t let Putin win,” Biden said. “Any disruption in our ability to supply Ukraine clearly strengthens Putin’s position. We’ve run out of money to be able to do that.”

“Extreme Republicans are playing chicken with our national security, holding Ukraine’s funding hostage to their extreme partisan border policies,” Biden said while insisting he’s ready to negotiate. “I support real solutions at the border … and I’m willing to do significantly more. I’m willing to change policy as well.”

Biden said Sen. James Lankford (R-OH), lead negotiator for the Republicans, was sticking to an all-or-nothing position on what he called an extreme proposal. “Lankford is a decent guy. It looked like he was prepared to move in a way, in a direction that we could come up with a compromise both changing in substance — changing policy on the border as well as security at the border. But they’ve walked away.”

BIDEN SCOLDS HOUSE REPUBLICANS FOR HOLDING UP UKRAINE FUNDING: ‘THIS CANNOT WAIT’

LANKFORD: ‘IT’S TIME TO RESOLVE THIS’: In an appearance on Fox News yesterday morning, Lankford said Republicans are united in demanding the broken immigration system is fixed, especially when it comes to the policy for dealing with people who cross the border seeking asylum.

“Everyone has been very, very clear on this to say we’re standing firm. … We’re completely out of control at our southern border. It’s time to resolve this,” Lankford told Fox’s Maria Bartiromo. “We as Republicans are actually listening to the American people to say absolutely — if we’re going to do national security, it starts with American national security.”

“Yesterday, there were 12,080 crossings in a single day — 12,000 crossings. That’s an all-time record high. We’ve seen the numbers continue to skyrocket,” Lankford said, citing the latest numbers from the Department of Homeland Security. “The administration literally has no ability to be able to manage the border, no willingness to be able to manage the border.”

“Those people are saying the same thing that I hear from people over and over again when I’m at the border, ‘I’m coming for opportunity. I’m coming for a job. I’m coming to be able to have a better life.’ That is not asylum. They don’t qualify for asylum,” Lankford said. “Many of them don’t even have documents. They just walk in and say what country they’re from and say what their name is, and they take on a brand new identity here in the United States.”

SENATE FAILS TO ADVANCE UKRAINE AND ISRAEL PACKAGE OVER BORDER DEAL DISPUTES

DWINDLING AID PACKAGES: As the last of the funding authority runs out, military assistance to Ukraine continues to come in smaller and smaller packages. The latest announcement, valued at $175 million, was made yesterday at the Pentagon as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

“To support Ukraine’s immediate needs, I am announcing our 52nd drawdown of equipment and services from U.S. stocks,” Austin told Umerov. “The package includes additional munitions for your defense, artillery and tank weapons, and small arms munitions.”

A big part of their discussion was about how to bolster Ukraine’s industrial base, including partnerships with U.S. defense contractors so that over the long term it can build more of its own weapons. “This just underscores America’s commitment to a free and sovereign Ukraine, one that can defend itself today and deter further Russian aggression in the future,” Austin said.

“We consider this … a significant breakthrough in the development of our military-technical cooperation,” Umerov said. “It’s one of our key elements of increasing self-sufficiency in Ukraine.”

US ANNOUNCES AID TO UKRAINE AS BIDEN URGES CONGRESS TO PASS SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING REQUEST

Good Thursday 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 Conrad Hoyt. 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 me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE

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: The House Intelligence Committee meets at 9 a.m. to mark up the “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023.” Section 702 of FISA, which permits warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals outside the borders of the U.S., is scheduled to expire at the end of December.

On Tuesday, in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray urged renewal of the authority despite concerns by some lawmakers that it has been abused in the past.

“As this committee knows, 702 allows us to stay a step ahead of foreign actors located outside the United States who pose a threat to national security. And the expiration of our 702 authorities would be devastating to the FBI’s ability to protect Americans from those threats,” Wray said. “When it comes to foreign adversaries like Iran, whose actions across a whole host of threats have grown more brazen, seeking to assassinate high-level officials, kidnap dissidents, and conduct cyberattacks here in the United States, or the People’s Republic of China, which poses, in my view, a generational threat to our economic and national security, stripping the FBI of its 702 authorities would be a form of unilateral disarmament.”

ALSO TODAY: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Council spokesman John Kirby will hold a press briefing at 1 p.m.

Also at 1 p.m., Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) will hold a news conference on border security. Livestream at https://www.youtube.com/channel.

And at 3:50 p.m., Secretary of State Antony Blinken will have a joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. Livestream at http://www.state.gov.

V-22 OSPREYS GROUNDED: In the wake of another fatal crash of a V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, the U.S. is grounding its fleet worldwide as it investigates whether a mechanical problem, not pilot error, could be the cause of the latest mishap.

“Preliminary investigation information indicates a potential materiel failure caused the mishap, but the underlying cause of the failure is unknown at this time,” the Air Force Special Operations Command said in a statement. “The standdown will provide time and space for a thorough investigation to determine causal factors and recommendations to ensure the Air Force CV-22 fleet returns to flight operations.”

The Navy and Marine Corps have joined the Air Force in ordering what’s known as an “operational standdown.”

The Air Force has also released the names of the eight airmen who were killed in the crash of the CV-22 Osprey on Dec. 6, 2023, off the southern coast of the Japanese island of Yakushima.

HISTORIC INDICTMENT OF RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES. In a historic move, the Justice Department has indicted four Russian nationals who are accused of war crimes for torturing an American in Ukraine following Moscow’s invasion last year.

The indictments are the first brought by the U.S. based on a war crimes statute passed by Congress nearly 30 years ago. “We have charged four Russia-affiliated military personnel with war crimes against an American citizen living in Ukraine,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing the first charges under the statute.

“That victim was living in Mylove, a small village in southern Ukraine, and was not participating in the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. As such, the victim was what is known as a ‘protected person’ under international law,” Garland said. “During his 10 days detained by Russia-affiliated forces, the victim in this case was tortured, threatened with sexual assault and execution, forced to perform manual labor, and beaten in the head, chest, and stomach with the soldiers’ feet, their fists, and their guns. Again and again, he believed he was going to die.”

“The charges include conspiracy to commit war crimes, including war crimes outlawed by the international community after World War II — unlawful confinement, torture, and inhuman treatment,” Garland said.

DOJ CHARGES FOUR RUSSIAN-AFFILIATED TROOPS FOR ALLEGED WAR CRIMES AGAINST AN AMERICAN IN UKRAINE

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Senate fails to advance Ukraine and Israel package over border deal disputes

Washington Examiner: Biden scolds House Republicans for holding up Ukraine funding: ‘This cannot wait’

Washington Examiner: US announces aid to Ukraine as Biden urges Congress to pass supplemental funding request

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Three things Biden could do to move Republicans on Ukraine aid

Washington Examiner: Netanyahu and US split on who should run Gaza if Hamas is removed

Washington Examiner: White House: ‘Safe to assume’ Hamas is sexually violating remaining hostages

Washington Examiner: Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy leaving Congress at end of year: ‘Leaving the House but not the fight’

Washington Examiner: Italy says arrivederci to China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative

Washington Examiner: White House: ‘Obviously not OK’ to be in US illegally

Washington Examiner: US Navy destroyer shoots down drone in Red Sea

Washington Examiner: DOJ charges four Russian-affiliated troops for alleged war crimes against an American in Ukraine

Washington Examiner: Israeli leaders split over settler violence in West Bank

Washington Examiner: Start of new Space Race? First private spacecraft will land on moon next month

Washington Examiner: House passes bill tightening rules on foreign gifts to universities

Wall Street Journal: Israel Says It Has Killed Half Of Hamas’s Battalion Leaders

AP: Russian lawmakers set presidential vote for March 17, 2024, clearing a path for Putin’s 5th term

The Economist: How Putin is reshaping Russia to keep his war-machine running

Task & Purpose: What happens when an American dies in Ukraine but can’t be recovered?

Politico: Biden Team Wary of Retaliating Against Houthi Attacks at Sea

Reuters: Yemen’s Houthis Say They Launched Ballistic Missiles At Israel

AP: Who are the Houthis and why hasn’t the US retaliated for their attacks on ships in the Middle East?

ABC News: How The US Is Protecting Red Sea Shipping Lanes As Israel-Hamas War Continues

Defense One: China Is Using U.S.-Allied Exercises To Find ‘Soft Targets’: U.S. Army’s Pacific Chief

CNN: The First Chinese Warships Have Docked At A Newly Expanded Cambodian Naval Base. Should The U.S. Be Worried?

Wall Street Journal: Congress Moves Forward On Roughly $900 Billion Defense Bill

Stars and Stripes: Senate Hearing On Recruiting More Troops Includes Call To Confirm Remaining Military Promotions Before Holidays

Defense One: Lawsuit Could Further Delay F-35 Deliveries

Defense News: Stalled F-35 Upgrades Will Delay Next Improvements, Wittman Warns

The War Zone: Taiwan’s Final Upgraded F-16V Completes Test Flights

Air & Space Forces Magazine: With Hold Lifted, What Happens Next for New Air Force, Space Force Generals?

Bloomberg: SpaceX’s Starlink Clears Military Tests, Paving Way for Contracts

Washington Post: A growing global footprint for China’s space program worries Pentagon

Air & Space Forces Magazine: X-37’s Next—and 7th—Launch Could Be Its Last

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Experts: New Disruptive, Asymmetric Approaches Needed to Rebuild US Advantages

Breaking Defense: Space Acquisition Review Calls for Cutting Red Tape, Empowering Acquisition Chief

Military Times: DOD Watchdog Report Warns of Issues across Military Health Care System

DefenseScoop: US Central Command Recruits Michael Foster as Chief Data Officer

New York Post: A Chinese Pearl Harbor-style attack could end America’s days as a superpower

The Cipher Brief: Who’s Really Winning the Global 5G and Cloud Computing Infrastructure Race?

The Cipher Brief: The U.S. Has Both a Duty to Warn and a Duty to Ask

The Cipher Brief: 702 is the Spy Tool that Americans Need Now

Calendar

THURSDAY | DECEMBER 7

8 a.m. 801 Wharf St. SW — Aspen Security Forum D.C. Edition with Doug Beck, director, Defense Innovation Unit; Gen. Bryan Fenton, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; Michele Flournoy, co-founder and managing partner, WestExec Advisors; former undersecretary of defense for policy; Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander, U.S. Strategic Command; Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID); David Cameron, secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth, and development affairs, United Kingdom; John Podesta, senior adviser to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation; ​Katherine Tai, U.S. trade representative; Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant, U.S. Coast Guard; Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA); Mara Karlin, assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and capabilities; Elizabeth Rosenberg, assistant secretary of treasury for terrorist financing and financial crimes https://www.aspensecurityforum.org

8 a.m. 2401 M St., NW — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group breakfast conversation with Benedetta Berti, head of NATO policy planning in the office of the NATO Secretary-General. RSVP: Thom Shanker at [email protected]

8:30 a.m. 700 L’Enfant Plaza SW — U.S. Naval Institute: Defense Forum Washington 2023, with Marine Gen. Christopher Mahoney, assistant Marine Corps commandant; Ronald O’Rouke, specialist in naval affairs, Congressional Research Service; and others https://www.usni.org/events/defense-forum-washington-2023

8:30 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. — Hudson Institute discussion: “The B-21 Bomber and Its Deterrence Mission,” with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow and director of the Hudson Institute’s Keystone Defense Initiative https://www.hudson.org/events/senator-mike-rounds-b-21-bomber

9 a.m. 2212 Rayburn — House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing: “Regional Missile Defense Assets — Assessing COCOM and Allied Demand for Capabilities,” with testimony from John Hill, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space and missile defense policy; Army Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey, director of the Department of the Army’s Management Office (DAMO)-Fires and Joint Capabilities (G-3/5/7); Navy Rear Adm. Douglas Williams, acting director of the Missile Defense Agency; and Army Brig. Gen. Clair Gill, deputy director for regional operations and force management for the Joint Staff J-3 https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings/str-hearing-regional-missile-defense

11 a.m. 419 Dirksen — Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Kurt Campbell to be deputy secretary of state https://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/nominations

11 a.m. — National Security Space Association “SpaceTime Series,” with Derek Tournear, director, Space Development Agency, and Chris Williams, chairman of NSSA’s Moorman Center for Space Studies https://nssaspace.org/event/tournear-2023

12 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Egypt and the War in Gaza,” with Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry and Jon Alterman, CSIS senior vice president

1:30 p.m. 600 New Hampshire Ave. NW — Defense One forum: “The Future of Defense Acquisition,” with Douglas Bush, assistant secretary of the Army; Dave Tremper, deputy assistant defense secretary for acquisition integration and interoperability; and Will Roper, CEO of Istari Digital and former assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics https://events.defenseone.com/do-the-future-of-defense

3:50 p.m. State Department — Secretary of State Antony Blinken joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, former U.K. prime minister. Livestream at http://www.state.gov

5:30 p.m. New York, New York — Common Good discussion: “Ukraine, Russia, and the Future of Putin,” with William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital Management and head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, and Richard Salomon, founder and CEO of Vantage Point Consultants https://www.thecommongoodus.org/upcoming-events/ukraine-russia-and-the-future-of-putin

6:30 p.m. 2301 Constitution Ave. NW — Washington Film Institute and the U.S. Institute of Peace screening and discussion of the documentary, “Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom,” with director Evgeny Afineevsky and Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine https://www.usip.org/events/screening-freedom-fire-ukraines-fight-freedom

FRIDAY | DECEMBER 8

9 a.m. 801 N. Glebe Rd. — The Intelligence and National Security Alliance “Leadership Breakfast,” Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander, U.S. Cyber Command, and director, NSA/Chief, CSS. https://www.insaonline.org/detail-pages/event

11 a.m. 789 Massachusetts Ave., NW— American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in-person and virtual discussion: “American Democracy and a Fragile World Order,” with John M. Owen IV, author of The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile World Order; and Colin Dueck, nonresident senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute https://www.aei.org/events/discussing-american-democracy

SATURDAY | DECEMBER 9

3 p.m. and 7 p.m. — The U.S. Air Force Band, the U.S. Air Force Concert Band, and Singing Sergeants present a free-to-the-public holiday concert series, “Season of Hope” at DAR Constitution Hall, with the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir, the Alexandria School of Highland Dance, and a special visitor from the North Pole. Tickets: https://usafband.ticketleap.com

SUNDAY | DECEMBER 10

3 p.m. — The U.S. Air Force Band, the U.S. Air Force Concert Band, and Singing Sergeants present a free-to-the-public holiday concert series, “Season of Hope” at DAR Constitution Hall, with the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir, the Alexandria School of Highland Dance, and a special visitor from the North Pole. Tickets: https://usafband.ticketleap.com

TUESDAY | DECEMBER 12 

9 a.m. Orlando, Florida — Day one of the Space Force Association’s inaugural Spacepower Conference, with Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations; Gen. James Dickinson, commander, U.S. Space Command; Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander, Space Operations Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado; Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear, U.S. Space Force; Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, deputy chief of space operations, strategy, plans, programs, and requirements, U.S. Space Force; Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander, Space Systems Command; Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, military deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration; and others https://attendspacepower.com

9:30 a.m. 14th and F Sts. NW — Arms Control Association and Embassy of Kazakhstan in Washington discussion: “Reinforcing the Beleaguered Nuclear Nonproliferation and Arms Control System,” with Yerzhan Ashikbayev, Kazakhstan ambassador to the U.S.; Thomas Countryman, chairman of the board of directors of the Arms Control Association; Amb. Elayne White Gomez, president of the negotiating conference for the 2017 Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons; Nomsa Ndongwe, research fellow, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies; and Daryl Kimball, executive director, Arms Control Association https://www.armscontrol.org/events

2 p.m. — Defense Priorities Foundation virtual discussion: “What: Rocks, reefs, and resolve? Examining the purpose of U.S. policy in the South China Sea,” with Lyle Goldstein, director, Asia Engagement, Defense Priorities; Shuxian Luo, assistant professor, Asian Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Lisa Curtis, senior fellow and director, Indo-Pacific Security Program, Center for a New American Security; and moderator Benjamin Friedman, policy director, Defense Priorities https://southchinasea.splashthat.com

WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 13

7:15 a.m. 2425 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, Virginia — Association of the U.S. Army “Coffee Series” discussion with Gen. James Rainey, commanding general of U.S. Army Futures Command https://www.ausa.org/events/coffee-series/gen-rainey

9 a.m. Orlando, Florida — Day two of the Space Force Association inaugural Spacepower Conference, with Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations; Gen. James Dickinson, commander, U.S. Space Command; Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander, Space Operations Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado; Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear, U.S. Space Force; Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, deputy chief of space operations, strategy, plans, programs, and requirements, U.S. Space Force; Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander, Space Systems Command; Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, military deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration; and others https://attendspacepower.com/

9 a.m. — Counter Extremism Project webinar: “Houthi Procurement and Terror Finance — The Yemeni Arm of Iran’s Proxy Forces,” with Ari Heistein, author, CEP report series, Yemen specialist and defense technology professional; Raz Zimmt, research fellow, Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies; and moderator Hans-Jakob Schindler, CEP senior director https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register