Austin makes more moves to put his stamp on the Pentagon

Among the last-minute appointments were Trump defenders retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, who could not win Senate confirmation as Pentagon policy chief, and former F-16 pilot. Scott O’Grady, who Trump had nominated to be an assistant secretary of defense and who retweeted former national security adviser Michal Flynn’s call for Trump to declare martial law to stop Joe Biden’s election victory from being certified.

Both men were sworn in to the Defense Policy Board the day before Biden was inaugurated. Read more in the Washington Examiner.

HEADING HOME, VIA CHINA: Austin yesterday also reversed another of Miller’s final orders, cutting loose the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its associated strike group from their extended 10-month deployment in the Persian Gulf.

Miller originally said the ship could head home after Christmas, having completed its scheduled deployment in the Gulf, but on Jan. 3, he reversed the order based on what he said were “threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other U.S. government officials.”

The movement of the Nimitz strike force means there will be no carrier in the Persian Gulf for the time being, but Kirby said the U.S. maintains “a robust presence” in the Middle East to respond to any Iranian provocation.

“Secretary was mindful of the larger geostrategic picture when he approved the movement of the carrier strike group from the Central Command area of responsibility to the Indo-Pacom area of responsibility,” Kirby said. “This particular carrier and the strike group have been at sea for quite some time, a much longer deployment than is typically required, and so there are those considerations to make as well.”

While the carrier will be available for operations while in transit from the Pacific, it is expected to proceed to its home port in Bremerton, Washington, for a well-earned crew rest.

“It’s about to be ten months,” said Kirby of the ship’s deployment, which is usually closer to six months. “So you have to consider the wear and tear on the ship itself, as well as the effect on sailors who are incredibly resilient.”

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HAPPENING TODAY: The Afghanistan Study Group releases its final report and will discuss its findings at a 2:30 p.m. event hosted by the United States Institute of Peace. This is not just another think-tank report. The bipartisan study group, convened by USIP at the request of Congress, has spent the last 10 months developing recommendations for U.S. policy regarding ending the 19-year war in Afghanistan.

The recommendations are expected to carry significant weight with the Biden administration, given the heavy-hitters among the group’s members, including co-chairs, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican from New Hampshire.

In an Aspen Security Forum event last Friday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani expressed the hope that U.S. commanders, past and present, would advise President Biden to maintain forces in Afghanistan past the May 1 deadline for withdrawal, and he specifically mentioned Dunford.

“The views of those generals, including general Dunford, who just retired as chief of staff, but was commanding in Afghanistan, once they are taken into account, I think that the right decision on the numbers would be made,” Ghani said, arguing against a full U.S. and NATO withdrawal in three months. “If the initial announcements from Pentagon, that said that the level of violence is unacceptable and Taliban is responsible for this, then it is likely to be a decision to send a signal to the Taliban that the U.S. is here to secure peace and not to retreat and leave the field open to them.”

ALSO TODAY: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a full committee markup at 9:45 a.m. to vote on the nomination of Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be U.S. representative to the United Nations.

MAYORKAS IN AT DHS: The Senate has confirmed Alejandro Mayorkas to be homeland security secretary on a vote of 56-43, the smallest margin yet for any of President Biden’s Cabinet nominees.

Mayorkas, the first immigrant and first Latino to serve as DHS head, will oversee immigration policy, including a task force on family separation focused on reuniting thousands of parents and children separated at the border during the Trump administration.

Mayorkas was sworn-in last night by Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House, with his wife and two daughters looking on.

‘I’M NOT MAKING NEW LAW, I’M ELIMINATING BAD POLICY’: Last night at the White House, Biden signed a second batch of executive orders restoring policies that had been changed by Trump via executive orders during his four years as president, bringing to nine the number of Biden orders dealing with immigration and border security.

“There’s a lot of talk, with good reason, about the number of executive orders that I have signed,” Biden said. “I’m not making new law. I’m eliminating bad policy.”

WOLF’S WARNING: On Fox yesterday, Chad Wolf, the former acting DHS secretary, expressed concern that Biden’s blizzard of executive orders would lead to a new crisis at the southern border.

“I think the executive actions or executive orders that you see today, as well as the ones that he did on the first day, are problematic for a number of reasons, because they’re weakening not only the critical reforms that we made to the asylum process, they`re weakening the security on the southwest border, halting that border wall construction,” Wolf told Fox’s Neil Cavuto.

“They`re weakening our ability to deport dangerous individuals, dangerous criminals,” Wolf said. “At the end of the day, I’m concerned that they’re creating a crisis on that southwest border in the middle of a pandemic crisis, in the middle of an economic crisis as well.”

PERFECT RECORD: And the award for most implacable Biden adversary in Congress goes to Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who voted against certifying Biden’s Electoral College victory and now has a perfect record opposing all six of the Biden’s Cabinet picks confirmed so far, reports the Washington Examiner’s Emily Brooks.

The first-term senator is the only one to vote against all the nominees so far, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Austin had the largest approval from the Senate, confirmed 93-2, with only Hawley and Utah Sen. Mike Lee voting against.

NO WAY HUAWEI: The House Foreign Affairs Committee lead Republican Rep. Michael McCaul and 20 of his GOP colleagues in the House are calling on the Senate to place a hold on the nomination of Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo to be commerce secretary until she gives “a clear and direct answer” on whether the Biden administration plans to keep the Chinese communications company Huawei on the Commerce Department’s Entity List.

“The fact that the Biden Administration has still refused to commit to keeping Huawei on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List is incredibly alarming and dangerous. There have been repeated, bipartisan calls to keep Huawei on the Entity List in the past, with Members on both sides of the aisle referring to the company as a national security threat,” said a statement issued yesterday. “We urge those Senators who have a history of calling for Huawei to remain on the Entity List to stick to their principles and place a hold on Ms. Raimondo’s confirmation until the Biden Administration clarifies their intentions for Huawei and on export control policies for a country that is carrying out genocide and threatening our national security.”

HICKS LOOKS LIKE A SHOO-IN: It was a smooth confirmation hearing yesterday for Kathleen Hicks, Biden’s nominee to be the No. 2 civilian at the Pentagon. After glowing introductions from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates and New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Hick deftly fielded questions from members of the Armed Services Committee and appeared on a path for quick confirmation.

Gates, who called Hicks “exceptionally well-qualified” and a “superb manager of complex processes,” awarded Hicks the Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the highest award for civilians in the Department of Defense, when she worked for him in 2011.

Hicks identified China as “the pacing challenge of our time” and said modernization is the key to deterring war with China. “Armed conflict between the United States and China is not desirable, and it is not inevitable. The U.S. military plays a critical role in preventing that outcome.”

On the critical question of whether the Biden administration might scrap parts of the nuclear triad of bombers, missiles, and submarines, Hicks offered her personal view that “the triad has served us very well, it has created stability and it has a value,” while noting that every incoming administration reviews the nuclear modernization program.

“I understand that there will be a relook, as there is in every administration, at the various aspects of nuclear policy and modernization. I think that’s appropriate. The Trump administration did that as well.”

Hicks did confirm that some members of the Trump team at the Pentagon were less than forthcoming with the information the incoming Biden team will need to prepare the FY 2022 defense budget submission.

“Let me first say that the vast majority of folks that we worked with in the Pentagon were incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, forthcoming,” Hicks said, while noting “a handful of folks that made things difficult.” She did not name any names, but she did say the lack of cooperation would likely delay the timing of the budget this year. “So that would be the area I would ask for a little relief on understanding.”

RNDF CANCELED: One of the premier annual gatherings of defense and national security officials has fallen victim to the coronavirus. The executive committee of the Reagan National Defense Forum has announced this year’s event has been called off, as California remains a COVID hot spot.

“Given the current state of the COVID 19 pandemic in California and nationally, the Reagan National Defense Forum scheduled for March 5-6, 2021 at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif, has been cancelled,” the board said in a memo. “We look forward to hosting the annual RNDF 2021 as planned on December 3-4, 2021.”

SHIFTING FORTUNES: House Intelligence Committee Chairman and Trump antagonist California Democrat Adam Schiff is reportedly angling for the state attorney general job being vacated by Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s pick for secretary of Health and Human Services.

Axios reports that Schiff is quietly lobbying Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint him to the job, which would, in theory, better position him to run for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat in 2024, should the 87-year-old decide not to stand for reelection.

If Schiff were to leave, it would further narrow the Democrats slim 221-211 majority in the House until a replacement was appointed.

INDUSTRY WATCH: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will follow the same procedure his predecessor Mark Esper employed to ensure he does not exert undue influence on Pentagon decisions involving Raytheon Technologies, on whose board of directors he served.

“He will recuse himself from Raytheon-related decisions, not unlike, in fact, the same way that the previous secretary, Secretary Esper, did,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. “And as a matter of fact, he intends to use the same sort of decision-making, vetting process for Raytheon decisions that Secretary Esper had in place.”

Esper was a former lobbyist for Raytheon, and he used a system where staff would vet policy papers involving his former employer and steer decisions to others, such as the deputy defense secretary.

“Same screening process. He’s committed to doing that,“ said Kirby. “He’s made that direction to the staff so that he can be absolutely, 100% committed to abiding by his agreement to recuse.”

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Defense secretary signals China will be major focus and plans visit to region

Washington Examiner: State Department spokesman flouts China’s ‘red line’ in first briefing

Washington Examiner: Biden administration declares Myanmar crisis ‘a military coup d’etat’

Washington Examiner: Antony Blinken calls American hostage families as administration starts work on their return

Washington Examiner: Biden Pentagon chief says ‘no, thank you’ to Trump’s parting advisory board appointees

Washington Examiner: Can Biden avoid repeating these Obama-era national security missteps?

AP: Senate confirms Mayorkas as Biden’s homeland security chief

Reuters: Biden Administration Indicates In No Hurry To Engage China

Financial Times: Beijing Lays Down A Marker In South China Sea

AP: Russia Hints It May Return To Open Skies Treaty If U.S. Does

Reuters: Iran Deepens Breach Of Nuclear Deal At Underground Enrichment Site

ABC: Navy Review Of Bias Recommends Ways To Keep Minorities And Women In The Ranks

Military Times: This Is Why So Few Troops Have Gotten The COVID-19 Vaccine

USNI News: Acting SECNAV: Navy Shipbuilding Faces Review From Incoming Biden Officials

USNI News: Berger: Marines Need To Trust Unmanned, AI Tools For Future Warfare

Military.com: Top Marine General: We Need to Get Comfortable with ‘Throwaway’ Equipment

Reuters: Suspected Chinese hackers used SolarWinds bug to spy on U.S. payroll agency – sources

Air Force Magazine: Hicks Says She Will Oversee Nuclear Modernization, Commits to Triad

Air Force Magazine: Boeing F-15EX Makes First Flight

AP: US Navy drops rape charges against SEAL pulled from Iraq

Calendar

WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 3

9 a.m. — Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, commander, U.S. European Command; and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe briefs the media by phone from Brussels, Belgium, to provide an update on NATO military operations, missions, exercises and capabilities. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/telephonic-press-briefing

9:45 a.m. — National Defense Industrial Association virtual Expeditionary Warfare Conference, with Vice Adm. William Galinis, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, delivering remarks on “Designing the Next Generation Surface and Amphibious Combatant: Capabilities Challenges and Opportunities.” https://www.ndia.org/events

10 a.m. — Association of Old Crows virtual discussion with Air Chief Marshal Stuart Peach, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations Leadership series. https://www.crows.org/general/custom

11 a.m. Rayburn 2118/WebEx — House Armed Services Committee meets to organize for the 117th Congress. http://www.armedservices.house.gov

12 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army Commander “Noon Report” webinar, with Gen. Christopher Cavoli, commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command. Register at: https://info.ausa.org/e/784783/rg-AUSA-Noon-Report

1 p.m. — Space Foundation Space Symposium 365 virtual event with Lt. Gen. John Shaw, deputy commander, U.S. Space Command. https://spacesymposium365.org/agenda

2:30 p.m. — United States Institute of Peace webinar on the release of the final report of the Afghanistan Study Group, with former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., co-chair of the Afghanistan Study Group; former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, co-chair of the Afghanistan Study Group; Nancy Lindborg, co-chair of the Afghanistan Study Group; and former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, chair of the USIP Board of Directors. https://www.usip.org/events/afghanistan-study-group

THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 4

9 a.m. — Georgetown University webinar, “The North Korea Issue in U.S.-China Relations: New Directions Under the Biden Administration,” with Avery Goldstein, professor of global politics at the University of Pennsylvania: Jean Lee, director of the Wilson Center’s Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy; former National Security Council Korea Director Sydney Seiler; and Victor Cha, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://www.georgetown.edu/event

10 a.m. — House Homeland Security Committee hearing on “Examining the Domestic Terrorism Threat in the Wake of the Attack on the U.S. Capitol.” http://homeland.house.gov

10 a.m. — Woodrow Wilson Center virtual China Fellowship Conference, with panel discussions on “China’s Foreign Policy Along a Contested Periphery,” “The Belt and Road Initiative and Chinese Influence in Southeast Asia,” and “Is a New Cold War Inevitable: Chinese Intentions and the Role of Misperception.” https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event

10 a.m. — Air Force Association Mitchell Institute “Aerospace Nation”, virtual event with Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, commander, Air Force Research Laboratory; and retired Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Video posted afterward at website: https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

12 p.m. — Atlantic Council webinar: “Exploring Innovative Measures to Map and Mitigate Illicit Weapon Transfers,” with Tim Michetti, investigative researcher on illicit weapon transfers; Rachel Stohl, vice president for conventional defense at the Stimson Center; Jay Bahadur, former coordinator of the UN Panel of Experts on Somalia; and David Mortlock, nonresident senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event

FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 5

9 a.m. — Wilson Center Middle East Program conversation with Amb. James Jeffrey, chair of the Middle East Program, former ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, and Special Envoy to the Global Coalition To Defeat ISIS, to discuss the Biden Administration’s Middle East policy. https://engage.wilsoncenter.org/a/media-briefing

9:30 a.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace webinar: “Nuclear Policy and Posture in the Biden Administration,” with former Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy, co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisers; George Perkovich, vice president for studies at CEIP; and Pranay Vaddi, fellow in the CEIP Nuclear Policy Program. https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/02/05/nuclear-policy

10 a.m. — Hudson Institute webinar: “The Afghan Peace Process: Progress or Peril?” with Afghanistan Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Javid Ahmad; Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; and former Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani, director for South and Central Asia at Hudson. https://www.hudson.org/events

12 p.m. — Georgetown University virtual book discussion on “The Return of Great Power Rivalry: Democracy versus Autocracy from the Ancient World to the U.S. and China,” with author Matthew Kroenig, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Center for Strategy and Security; former Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, senior fellow at Harvard University’s Future of Diplomacy Project; and Abraham Newman, director of the Georgetown Mortara Center for International Studies. https://www.georgetown.edu/event/book-talk

MONDAY | FEBRUARY 8

9:15 a.m. — The Middle East Institute MEI-CENTCOM Annual Conference, with keynote remarks by Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, moderated by Amb. Gerald Feierstein, MEI senior vice president. https://www.mei.edu/events/keynote-address