Republicans continue unrelenting assault on Biden’s ‘shortsighted’ and ‘paltry’ defense budget

“With this budget, the Army’s topline decreases by $4 billion from the previous year, putting at risk the gains in readiness made after we hit rock bottom in 2017. Procurement funding decreases $4.2 billion, a debilitating 11% cut, and military construction is cut by 15%,” Inhofe said. “Every time we cut the Army, we end up reversing those cuts soon after. It’s a shortsighted approach.”

“We all know we go to war with the Army we have, and we had to grow that Army during the conflicts in Afghanistan, in Iraq,” said McConville, noting the size of the active-duty Army is “frozen” at 485,000 soldiers. “Would we like to have a bigger Army, depending on the strategy? Absolutely, but with the budget we have, we are trying to bring forward the best Army to fight tonight and win.”

But McConville also argued that trade-offs are needed to transform the Army so it is equipped to fight future high-tech wars. “Most of the weapon systems we’re using are 1980 vintage,” he said “So, we have done all we can … to protect the modernization of the Army, and we believe we must do that.”

NOT GETTING ITS SHIPS TOGETHER: Over on the House side, it was Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, ranking member, taking aim at the Navy’s proposed spending plan.

“Rather than keeping pace with the threat from China, the president’s budget would let them lap us,” Rogers said. “One need not look much further than the request for the Department of the Navy. The president requests a paltry eight battle force ships, two of which are tugboats. At the same time, the president wants to retire 15 other battle force ships, including seven cruisers. Those seven cruisers provide more afloat missile capability than almost the entire British fleet.”

“You said you’re growing the Navy? From what I’m reading, the Navy is shrinking under this budget,” said Rogers as he grilled Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations.

“Sir, for the ‘22 budget itself, the Navy’s numbers are declining. That’s correct,” Gilday conceded, adding that “the last several studies that have been done, going back five years, call for a larger, more capable fleet.”

“And this budget doesn’t get you there?” said Rogers. “No, sir. It does not,” Gilday admitted.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? At one point in the hearing, Ohio Rep. Mike Turner, ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, delivered a dressing down to outgoing, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker for his June 4 memo suggesting the Navy “defund” development of a nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile.

Turner grilled Harker over the memo, which alarmed many members of Congress and which Turner argued undermined President Joe Biden on the eve of his summit with Vladimir Putin.

“Do you have the expertise to conduct the assessment and analysis of the alternatives of the Sea Base launch cruise missile?” Turner asked Harker. “No, sir. I do not,” he replied.

“Who in the Pentagon did you discuss this with?” Turner pressed. “Nobody,” said Harker.

“Do you understand the extent to which you have undermined the president of the United States in his arms negotiations undertaking what can only be described as the unilateral disarmament recommendation?” Turner continued. “Yes, sir,” Harker conceded.

JIM BANKS CONFRONTS TOP NAVY OFFICER ON ‘WOKE’ CRITICAL RACE THEORY BOOK RECOMMENDATION

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 this week by Tim Collins. 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.

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NOTE TO READERS: Daily on Defense will not publish on July 5 as we observe the long Independence Day holiday weekend. Back on July 6.

HAPPENING TODAY: About the time this newsletter hits your email inbox this morning, President Joe Biden will be sitting down for his much ballyhooed face-off with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a lakeside villa in Geneva, Switzerland.

The plan is for the two leaders to arrive separately — Putin first, then Biden — and after a short on-camera greeting by the Swiss president, Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will begin what is expected to be four or five hours of talks.

“We’re not expecting a big set of deliverables out of this meeting. We are seeking three basic things,” a senior administration official told reporters ahead of the meeting. “First, a clear set of taskings about areas where working together can advance our national interest and make the world safer. Second, a clear laydown of the areas of America’s vital national interests, where Russian activities that run counter to those interests will be met with a response. And third, a clear explication of the president’s vision for American values and our national priorities.”

Biden and Putin will be holding separate news conferences after the afternoon discussion wrap-up.

BIDEN BRIEFED BY SOME OF TRUMP’S RUSSIA EXPERTS AHEAD OF PUTIN SHOWDOWN

WHAT’S ON THE AGENDA: White House officials are not providing a detailed agenda for the Biden-Putin meeting. They won’t say how Biden might raise the case of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny or the recent act of air piracy by Belarus’s Putin-backed President Alexander Lukashenko.

But one issue sure to come is the fate of the New START arms treaty, which expires for good in 2026. “A big part of the question that the two presidents are trying to answer through these talks is what will come after New START,” said an administration official. “I think, ultimately, we are going to need to have a sustained conversation with China on arms control-related issues. But the president has made clear that, at the outset, a bilateral discussion between the two biggest nuclear powers in the world is the way to start.”

Another “significant topic of conversation” will be the recent ransomware attack on the Colonial pipeline, which emanated from Russia. “They will also discuss the broader issue of cyber norms, cyber rules of the road tomorrow in the discussion,” an official briefed reporters. “The president will make clear that if we see significant types of cyber activity, like we did with SolarWinds, he will respond like we did with SolarWinds.”

WHAT TO WATCH FOR DURING BIDEN-PUTIN SUMMIT

‘WE WERE NOT POSITIONED TO RESPOND’: A three-star general who was coordinating the DOD response to the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election told Congress yesterday the violent attack caught the Pentagon flat-footed.

“The Army’s role on 6 January began as unarmed support by the D.C. National Guard to Metropolitan Police,” said Gen. Walter Piatt, director of the Army Staff in testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. “By midday, the mission had changed drastically to respond to an attack on the Capitol. That change of mission was unforeseen, and we were not positioned to respond with immediate support.”

Piatt said he never denied a request for backup forces to be dispatched to the Capitol but that the dispatch of reinforcements required a plan and approval of the Army secretary.

“Now, when people’s lives are on the line, two minutes is too long,” he said. “But we were not positioned to respond to that urgent request. We had to re-prepare so we would send them in prepared for this now, this new mission.

HASC MARKUP SCHEDULE: The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee have released the schedule for full committee and subcommittee markup of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act

Subcommittees will have markup sessions on July 28 and 29, with the full committee markup set for Sept. 1.

NATO AMBASSADOR NOMINATED: Among the list of ambassadorships announced by the White House yesterday as Biden’s pick to be the U.S. ambassador to NATO was Julianne “Julie” Smith, acting national security adviser during the Obama administration as well as deputy national security adviser to then-Vice President Biden. Smith currently serves as a senior adviser to Secretary of State Blinken.

Previously, Smith served as the director of the Asia and geopolitics programs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. And prior to that, she was director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

Also on the list is Thomas Nides, a former State Department official, nominated to be ambassador to Israel.

OVERSEEING SOF: Retired Lt. Gen. David Barno and his partner Nora Bensahel, contributing editors at War on the Rocks, are weighing in on what they call the “growing range of disciplinary and entitlement issues” that have marred the reputation of American special operations commandos.

With the culture and ethics of the elite forces under question, Barno and Bensahel are making a provocative argument: The best way to resolve the long-running problems with civilian oversight of U.S. Special Operations Forces is to give that responsibility to the secretary of the Army.

“Since special operations forces largely behave like a service, they should be overseen like a service,” they write in an opinion piece published yesterday. “And the Department of the Army makes the most sense, since the Army already provides almost half of SOF, most special operations take place on land, and it is already responsible for preserving lessons and capabilities for irregular warfare.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Biden wobbles before Putin summit

Washington Examiner: Allies ‘sprinting to keep up’ during Biden’s Europe trip as US accelerates Afghanistan withdrawal

Washington Examiner: What to watch for during Biden-Putin summit

Washington Examiner: Biden briefed by Trump Russia experts ahead of Putin showdown

Washington Examiner: ‘A common market for tech’: US and EU begin preparations for high-tech divorce from China

Washington Examiner: China’s maritime militia breaks rules and charts course for global dominance

Washington Examiner: NATO pivots toward China as it seeks to avoid repeat of mistakes on Russia

Washington Examiner: Israel launches airstrikes against Gaza nearly one month after ceasefire

Washington Examiner: Jim Banks confronts top Navy officer on ‘woke’ critical race theory book recommendation

Washington Examiner: Airman who tried to sell LSD on Ramstein Air Base sentenced to confinement

Washington Post: Generals cast military response to Capitol riot as an ‘unforeseen’ change in mission

Washington Post: North Korea’s Kim calls food situation ‘tense’ as reports of shortages mount

Politico: Pentagon considering permanent naval task force to counter China in the Pacific

CBS News: Ahead Of Biden-Putin Summit, Russia Conducts What It Calls Its Largest Naval Exercise In The Pacific Since Cold War

New York Times: With Expanding Military Strength, Beijing Accuses NATO of Hypocrisy

AP: China Sends Record 28 Fighter Jets Toward Taiwan

Air Force Magazine: Next National Defense Strategy Should Return to Two-War Force Construct

Washington Post: Norway says it will operate Kabul medical facility after troop withdrawal if security of personnel is assured

Bloomberg: U.S. Marines’s New Hovercraft Sees ‘Significant’ Cost Increases

Stars and Stripes: New Domestic Terrorism Strategy Calls For Enhanced Screening, Training For Troops To Root Out Extremists In The Ranks

War on the Rocks: Fixing Oversight of Special Operations Forces

AP: U.S. Military’s Elite Commando Forces Look To Expand Diversity

New York Times: Pentagon Weighs Proposal To Send Dozens Of Troops Back To Somalia

Forbes: Why The Air Force’s Plan For Fighting China Could Make Nuclear War More Likely

19fortyfive.com: Russia’s Only Aircraft Carrier Is a Joke (Its Fighter Jets Might Be Even Worse)

19fortyfive.com: Joe Biden’s Plan for the U.S. Navy Has Two Big Fans: Russia and China

19fortyfive.com: Why the UAE F-35 Stealth Fighter Deal Might Be in Trouble (Thank China)

Military.com: Acting SecNav Doubles Down on Denying Naval Academy Grad’s NFL Request

Calendar

WEDNESDAY | JUNE 16 

7 a.m. EDT (1 p.m. Geneva) — President Joe Biden will meet face to face with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since assuming office.

9 a.m. — International Institute for Strategic Studies virtual discussion: “The United States – Keeping the Defense Innovation Edge?” with former Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work; and Fabrice Pothier, consulting senior fellow for defense policy and strategy at IISS. http://www.iiss.org/en/iiss-us/iiss-us-s-events

10 a.m. 216 Hart — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the nominations of Gina Ortiz Jones to be undersecretary of the Air Force; Meredith Berger to be assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment; Shawn Skelly to be assistant secretary of defense for readiness; Ely Ratner to be assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs; and Caroline Krass to be Pentagon general counsel. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

10 a.m. 192 Dirksen — Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies hearing: “Review of the FY 2022 Budget Request for Military Construction and Family Housing,” with Paul Cramer, performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for sustainment; Lt. Gen. Jason Evans, deputy chief of staff; Vice Adm. Ricky Williamson, deputy chief of naval operations for fleet readiness and logistics; Lt. Gen. Charles Chiarotti, deputy commandant, installations & logistics; and Lt. Gen. Warren Berry, deputy chief of staff for logistics, engineering, and force protection. https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings

10 a.m. — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and George Mason University virtual 2021 Critical Issues in C4I Symposium, with Col. Charles Destefan, chief architect in the Air Force Chief Data Office and liaison officer at the Air Force Materiel Command; and Rand Waltzman, senior information scientist at the Rand Corporation. https://www.afcea.org/event/GMU-Registration

11 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “Department of the Air Force Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request,” with John Roth, acting secretary of the Air Force; Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chief of staff of the Air Force; and Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

11:30 a.m. — Washington, D.C., Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association virtual discussion: “Space Force: Information Technology Orchestration in a Multi-Domain Environment,” with Reb Butler, strategic adviser to Space Force at the Chief Technology and Innovation Office; Michael Dickey, director of the U.S. Space Force’s Force Design Integration Office; Army Brig. Gen. Charles Parker, deputy director of J6; and Chris Beauregard, founder and principal at Aerospace Advocates. https://dcevents.afceachapters.org/SpaceForce

12 p.m. — Institute for Defense and Government Advancement virtual discussion: “Countering Drones Used by Criminals, Terrorists, and Bad State Actors,” with Wayne Phelps, author of On Killing Remotely: The Psychology of Killing with Drones; and Gary Watson, vice president of solutions at Fortem Technologies https://www.idga.org/aviation/webinars

1 p.m. — Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments virtual discussion: “The Fiscal Year 2020 Defense Budget,” with Rachel Hoff, policy director at the Ronald Reagan Institute; Travis Sharp, director of defense budget studies at CSBA; Eric Edelman, counselor at CSBA; and Thomas Mahnken, president and CEO of CSBA. https://csbaonline.org/about/events/csba-webinar

2 p.m. House Triangle — Press conference on Afghan Special Immigrant Visas, with Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla.; Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.; the American Legion, and Matt Zeller, co-founder of No One Left Behind.

3 p.m. 418 Russell — Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing: “Review of the FY2022 Budget and 2023 Advance Appropriations Requests for the Department of Veterans Affairs,” with VA Secretary Denis McDonough; Assistant VA Secretary for Management and Chief Financial Officer Jon Rychalski; Shane Liermann, deputy national legislative director of Disabled American Veterans; Patrick Murray, director of the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Legislative Service; and Roscoe Butler, associate legislative director of government relations for Paralyzed Veterans of America. http://veterans.senate.gov

3 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Preventing Catastrophe in Afghanistan,” with Earl Anthony Wayne, nonresident senior adviser at the Brookings Project on Prosperity and Development; Annie Pforzheimer, nonresident senior adviser at the Brookings Project on Prosperity and Development; Richard Olson, nonresident senior adviser at the Brookings Project on Prosperity and Development; and Daniel Runde, director of the Brookings Project on Prosperity and Development. https://www.csis.org/events/preventing-catastrophe-afghanistan

4:30 p.m. 222 Russell — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “United States nuclear deterrence policy and strategy, Sharon Weiner, associate professor at the school of international service American University; Matthew Kroeing, professor of government and foreign service Georgetown University; Lisa Gordon Hagerty, former administrator National Nuclear Security Administration; Madelyn Creedon, nonresident senior fellow on foreign policy Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings Institute; Tom Collina, director of policy Ploughshares Fund. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

THURSDAY | JUNE 17

9:30 a.m. G50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “Posture of the Department of the Air Force in Review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2022 and the Future Years Defense Program,” with John Roth, acting Air Force secretary; Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Air Force chief of staff; and Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

10 a.m. 106 Dirksen — Senate Appropriations Committee hearing: “A Review of the FY 2022 Department of Defense Budget Request,” with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings

11 a.m. 2018 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces hearing: “Department of the Navy Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request for Seapower and Projection Forces,” with Jay Stefany, acting assistant secretary of the Navy; research, development and acquisition; Vice Adm. James Kilby, deputy chief of naval operations warfighting requirements and capabilities; and Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, commanding general, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

11 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual National Security Conference, with Chris Dougherty, senior fellow with the CNAS Defense Program, and former senior adviser to the deputy assistant defense secretary for strategy and force development. https://conference.cnas.org/schedule/

11 a.m. — Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies virtual discussion: “Great Power Competition in the Baltic Sea Region,” with Latvian Ambassador to the United States Maris Selga. https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

5 p.m. — Politics and Prose Bookstore virtual book discussion on Future War and the Defense of Europe, with co-authors John Allen, president of the Brookings Institution; Frederick Ben Hodges, chairman in strategic studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis; and Julian Lindley-French, senior fellow at the Institute of Statecraft. https://www.politics-prose.com/event/book

FRIDAY | JUNE 18

12 p.m. — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “The Future of America’s Defense Industrial Base,” with former Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord, senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; former Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Industrial Policy Jeffrey “Jeb” Nadaner, executive vice president for government and public affairs at Security America’s Future Energy; Arthur Herman, director of the Hudson Quantum Alliance Initiative; and Bryan Clark, director of the Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology. https://www.hudson.org/events