HOUSE VOTE TONIGHT? The House and Senate are back in session this week and the race is on to pass annual funding for the Pentagon before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. House lawmakers could take a crucial step this evening with a vote to go to conference on a $675 billion defense spending bill. The Senate could also move to begin negotiations when it returns this afternoon from the long holiday weekend.

HAPPENING TODAY — MISSILE DEFENSE FORUM: A trio of Pentagon officials will take part in a Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance forum at 1:30 p.m. in the Senate’s Dirksen office building. The discussion will feature defense undersecretaries John Rood and Michael Griffin, and Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, the director of the Missile Defense Agency.

COATS KEYNOTE: Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats will give the keynote address at 11:55 a.m. at the two-day Intelligence and National Security Summit at the Gaylord Convention Center. Rood will also participate in a discussion this afternoon at 3:15 p.m. Kari Bingen, the deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, is slated to speak on Wednesday.

MATTIS TO INDIA, UAE: After leaving Monday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is set to travel to India this week where he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will hold a 2+2 dialogue with their counterparts in the Indian ministries of foreign affairs and defense. The final stop on Mattis’ trip will be Abu Dhabi, where the Pentagon says he will meet with senior UAE officials.

TRUMP WARNS ASSAD: The president yesterday issued a warning to the Syrian regime and its backers Russia and Iran as they prepare for a major offensive in the country’s northwestern Idlib province. The expected assault against remaining rebel forces could be pivotal in the seven-year civil war.

“President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. Don’t let that happen!” Trump tweeted on Monday evening.

A United Nations envoy warned that the coming battle could be a “perfect storm” for the province and remaining civilian residents as Damascus musters military forces and a Russian naval flotilla waits off Syria, the New York Times reported. About 30,000 rebel fighters are believed to be in Idlib.

INSIDER ATTACK: A U.S. service member was killed and another was wounded Monday in an apparent insider attack against NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan, according to Operation Resolute Support. The deceased service member is the sixth American to be killed while serving in Afghanistan in 2018, and the attack came just a day after Gen. Scott Miller took command of the U.S.-led NATO mission.

HAQQANI DIES: The founder of the Taliban’s feared Haqqani network has died, according to a statement by the group, the AP reported. Jalaluddin Haqqani, 72, had been sick for years and rumors swirled about his death in the past. But the Taliban statement appeared to finally confirm his death. Haqqani’s son is believed to be leading the network, which has waged recent bloody attacks, and his death is not expected to affect the U.S. fight in Afghanistan.

FILLING McCAIN’S SHOES: Last month, Sen. John McCain quietly filed one last piece of legislation just a week before his death, proposing a cut to the littoral combat ship program. The amendment never got a floor vote, yet it was a final example of McCain’s intense scrutiny of Pentagon plans he deemed wasteful or misguided.

Now McCain is gone and his chairman seat is empty. But U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere continue apace, and programs such as the LCS replacement program and new Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers that drew his scorn lumber into the future with potentially billions more in Pentagon spending. So who will replace McCain as overseer and top critic of military programs and strategy? Read more in this week’s magazine.

SASC CHAIR: The late senator’s chairman’s seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee is also now empty. With McCain’s memorials and burial complete, the committee could vote to replace him as early as this week. Sen. Jim Inhofe, the senior Republican who has been heading the committee since last winter, is the most likely candidate.

BORDER TROOPS REAUTHORIZED: Mattis has re-authorized up to 4,000 National Guard troops to remain at the southern U.S. border until the fall of next year, Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said. Mattis’ original authorization and funding for the border force issued in April was set to expire on Sept. 30 when the fiscal year ends. The move means the force of about 2,000 troops now deployed can remain and could grow.

MATTIS AT REAGAN FORUM: Mark your calendars. Mattis will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Reagan National Defense Forum in California, the institute that runs the event announced. The premier forum is slated for Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

“Throughout his decades of service to our nation, both in our military and in the Defense Department, Secretary Mattis has exemplified the American martial principles of tenacity and diplomacy,” said Frederick Ryan Jr., chairman of the board of trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.

THE RUNDOWN

Washington Examiner: US alleges China is engaged in aggressive spy campaign on LinkedIn: Report

Associated Press: Maritime maneuvers, Air Force B-52 flights part of busy week in the South China Sea

Associated Press: Amsterdam: ‘Terrorist motive’ alleged in attack on Americans

New York Times: ‘Time for This War in Afghanistan to End,’ Says Departing U.S. Commander

CNN: After 17 years of war, Taliban field commanders signal openness to peace talks

Associated Press: US military chief visits Greece amid strain with Turkey