Pentagon’s Shanahan, Dunford cancel overseas travel to plan for Venezuela contingencies

“The president’s made it clear that all options are on the table to date,” said Dunford in testimony yesterday before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, adding that while “most of our actions have been diplomatic and economic,” the Pentagon is “also prepared to support the president should he require more from the U.S. military.”

In the hearing, Shanahan underscored that when administration officials say “All options are on the table, they literally are,” but also said the primary emphasis remains diplomatic and economic pressure, even as he didn’t rule out some form of military intervention.

“We’ve done exhaustive planning. There’s not a situation or scenario that we don’t have a contingency for,” Shanahan told Congress. “I would also offer that we’re in close partnership with Colombia and Brazil, we’re taking a regional approach.”

ECHOING POTUS: Last night, Shanahan tweeted, “A free and stable Venezuela is a U.S. national security priority. Juan Guaidó is the legitimate leader of Venezuela, officially recognized by 54 countries around the world. It is not surprising that China, Russia, Cuba, and Iran recognize Nicolás Maduro,” adding, “This is an issue of freedom vs. tyranny. Echoing @POTUS, we’re considering all options in support of the Venezuelan people.”

U.S. BLAMES RUSSIA, CUBA: “Look, the Russians like nothing better than putting a thumb in our eye. They’re using the Cubans as surrogates. They’d love to get effective control of a country in this hemisphere. It’s not ideological, it’s just good old-fashioned power politics,” said national security adviser John Bolton yesterday on CNN. “That’s why we have the Monroe Doctrine, which we’re dusting off in this administration. That’s why the president indicated last night that the Cubans better think long and hard about what their role is.”

The Monroe Doctrine, as we all remember from high school, was enunciated by President James Monroe in 1823 and stated, among other things, that “any attempt by a European power to oppress or control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States.”

THE MILITARY OPTION: In a separate hearing, Adm. Craig Faller, head of U.S. Southern Command, told the House Armed Services Committee that the U.S. military is developing plans to be immediately ready for any contingency, the Washington Examiner’s Russ Read reports.

Faller told the committee he thinks it’s only a matter of time before Guaidó, president of the country’s National Assembly, takes control. “[T]here is going to be a day when the legitimate government takes over, and it’s going to come when we least expect it,” said Faller. “And it could be right now, so we are calling it ‘day now’ planning.”

POMPEO URGES RUSSIA TO BACK OFF: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called his Russian counterpart, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, and urged Russia to join the 54 nations, including the overwhelming majority of countries in the Western Hemisphere, that have ended support for Maduro.

“The Secretary stressed that the intervention by Russia and Cuba is destabilizing for Venezuela and for the U.S.-Russia bilateral relationship,” according to a statement from the State Department.

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HAPPENING TODAY: The Pentagon is releasing its annual report on China’s growing military strength, which will include updated assessments on areas, such as short-range missiles and hypersonics, in which China is pulling ahead of the United States. The report, “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China,” will be posted this afternoon on the Pentagon’s newsroom web page, under Publications.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver will conduct a rare on-the-record, on-camera press briefing tomorrow at 11 a.m., which should be livestreamed at www.defense.gov.

THIS WON’T AGE WELL: Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden may want to pick up a copy of the Pentagon’s China report to get up to speed on what’s happened since he was vice president and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. At a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, Biden scoffed at the notion that China is a major peer competitor to the United States.

“China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man,” Biden told the crowd. “They can’t figure out how they’re going to deal with the corruption that exists within the system. I mean, you know, they’re not bad folks, folks, but guess what, they’re not competition for us.”

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, — whose prescient warnings about the very real threat posed by Russia were mocked by Democrats, including Biden, during the 2012 presidential election — was quick to respond, tweeting, “This will not age well.”

Even Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., went on the attack, tweeting, “It’s wrong to pretend that China isn’t one of our major economic competitors,” without mentioning Biden by name.

RUSSIA STILL UP TO IT: In yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, Attorney General William Barr agreed with chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that Russia is still targeting U.S. elections.

“Do you think Russia is still up to it?” asked Graham.

“Yes,” Barr replied.

“Do you think other countries may get involved in our elections in 2020?” Graham followed up.

“Yes,” Barr said again, agreeing he would support an effort by Congress, working with the administration, to harden our electoral infrastructure.

CYBERCOM’S TOP PRIORITY: At yesterday’s House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dunford said there has been a major shift in thinking at U.S. Cyber Command, which no longer sees cyberwarfare as an “away game.”

“I can assure you that under the secretary’s leadership and his predecessor, our approach was: What’s the most important thing right now to our country? Defending our elections. What is United States CYBERCOM’s number-one priority? Defending our elections,” Dunford said.

$4.5 BILLION IN BORDER FUNDS NEEDED: The White House is requesting an extra $4.5 billion from Congress in emergency funding to tackle the crisis at the southern border. The money includes $3.3 billion to pay for food and shelter for unaccompanied children and the care of families, as well as $1.1 billion for personnel as the Department of Homeland Security says it is struggling to cope with an influx of migrants. The $1.1 billion includes $377 million for the Pentagon to defray the cost of border deployments.

“DHS projects it will exhaust resources well before the end of the fiscal year,” reads the formal request letter sent to Congress, which was obtained by the Associated Press. “Without additional resources, the safety and well-being of law enforcement personnel and migrants are at substantial risk.” It came a day after Border Patrol agents arrested a group of 424 people who crossed illegally into New Mexico — the largest number ever apprehended at once, according to authorities.

SHANAHAN GETS SOME GRIEF: Democrats are still fuming about President Trump’s plans to spend Pentagon funds on border security. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, pronounced himself “grossly offended” by what he called “the unconstitutional actions taken by the executive branch to fund the construction of an unauthorized wall on our southern border.”

Visclosky’s perch as committee chairman is situated behind a large sign inscribed with words from Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution, “No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.”

At the beginning of yesterday’s hearing, Visclosky complained Trump was using funds for a purpose Congress declined to authorize. “We are here to appropriate funds needed for the military, not to make good on a campaign promise,” he said.

Later, when pressed by Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., about whether he was defying the will of Congress, Shanahan said he was just following the law. “The simple version is I have a legal standing order from the commander in chief to deploy resources to support a national emergency,” he said. “It’s within the law for us to be able to utilize these funds. It’s within the law. I wouldn’t break the law.”

NO READINESS CONCERNS YET: Shanahan indicated dispatching 320 additional troops to the border will have little effect on readiness, but he did suggest there needs to be a longer-term solution to the problem of understaffing at Customs and Border Protection, which he said is short thousands of people.

“We’re driving buses. We’re serving food. We’re doing medical support. We’re doing logistics support. For now, we haven’t degraded any readiness, but we really need to get back to our, you know, primary missions and continue to generate readiness,” Shanahan said.

JUST TO BE CLEAR: Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., was confused about all the statements coming from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who insists he will take delivery of Russian S-400 air defenses despite the U.S. threat to expel Turkey from the F-35 if the sale goes through.

“Do the Turks understand that if in fact they go ahead with these Russian missiles that it is impossible for them to receive the F-35? Has that message been sent clear enough? Is there any possibility that they haven’t understood the message?” he asked.

“I think there’s very little possibility that they have a misunderstanding,” Shanahan replied.

Just to be clear, Diaz-Balart reiterated, “It’s one or the other, they cannot have the F-35?”

“There’s no confusion on our part,” Shanahan said.

WOLTERS TAKES COMMAND: With Shanahan and Dunford stuck in Washington dealing with the Venezuela crisis, it fell to Army Secretary Mark Esper to preside at today’s change of command ceremony for U.S. European Command. Under bright sunny skies at the command’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti relinquished command of EUCOM to Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters.

ICBM TEST FIRED: The United States fired off one of its Cold War-era Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles yesterday in a routine test designed to show that the U.S, nuclear deterrent is “modern, robust, flexible, and ready” to deter 21st-century threats.

The unarmed Minuteman III equipped with a test reentry was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 2:42 a.m. and traveled approximately 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

“These test launches verify the accuracy and reliability of the ICBM weapon system, providing valuable data to ensure a continued safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent,” said Air Force Global Strike Command.

BUREAUCRATIC ‘CRAP’: The fact that after years of promising to fix the problem the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs can’t share medical records digitally had several members of yesterday’s House subcommittee hearing seething.

“We’ve got young veterans dying, going blind, suffering interminable illness because of bureaucratic crap,” Hal Rogers, R-Ky., told a Shanahan and company hearing.

Rogers said that one of his constituents recently fell victim to the flawed system. The unnamed veteran suffered injuries to his eyes in Iraq, with one completely destroyed. He was transferred to Germany for surgery, which partially restored vision to his other eye. After leaving the military, the veteran got an infection in the remaining eye, which the VA was not able to treat because it could not get his records from Germany.

“There seems to be no sense of urgency, and our service members and veterans are the ones who are suffering while they’re waiting for the DoD and VA to get their act together,” said Kay Granger, R-Texas., who was incensed by recent testimony on the medical records problem by government officials. “There was really an amazing complacency. I think we all walked away very angry. Not just disappointed, but very angry with that panel that appeared before us.”

Shanahan apologized “for any lack of performance or the inability of the people that testify before you” and promised to return and give the committee an update.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Father of CIA officer slain after 9/11 calls for Trump to block release of ‘American Taliban’

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Navy Plans To Extends Its Reach In The Arctic

Reuters: China’s Vast Fleet Is Tipping The Balance In The Pacific

Defense News: U.S. Could Lose A Key Weapon For Tracking Chinese And Russian Subs

Bloomberg: China’s Stealth Jet May Be Ready This Year, U.S. Commander Says

Seapower Magazine: DARPA Director Praises Navy’s Aggressive Use Of Autonomous Sea Hunter

Bloomberg: Army’s Bid to Cut Boeing’s Copters Meets Resistance

Wall Street Journal: Iran Vows to Resist U.S. Oil Ban as Its Exports Decline

Air Force Magazine: Shanahan: F-22, F-35 Struggling to Meet Readiness Goal, While F-18s Show “Significant” Progress

USNI News: SECNAV, CNO Update Congress On Columbia SSBNs, New Large Surface Combatant

Air Force Magazine: Retired Generals Press Congress to Fund More F-35s, Discourage “Legacy” Buy

USNI News: Lockheed Martin: Sixth-Generation Fighter Could Have Laser Weapon

Washington Post: U.S.-Taliban peace talks reopen, but U.S. watchdog warns deal could bring more insecurity to Afghanistan

Calendar

THURSDAY | MAY 2

9 a.m. Rayburn. House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces hearing on “Department of the Air Force Acquisition and Modernization Programs.” Witnesses: Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition; Gen. James Holmes, air combat commander; Maj. Gen. David Nahom, Air Force director of programs; Lt. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, joint staff director; Vice Adm. Mathias Winter, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office; Robert Daigle, director, Pentagon’s cost analysis and program evaluation office; Robert Behler, director, operational test and evaluation office; and Michael Sullivan, director, defense weapon system acquisitions, GAO. armedservices.house.gov

9:30 a.m. SD-G50 Dirksen. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider the nomination of Gen. James McConville to be chief of staff of the Army. www.armed-services.senate.gov

4:30 p.m. 1740 Massachusetts Ave N.W. Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) will host “Leadership in the Context of National Security,” a discussion with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. Register at www.eventbrite.com.

FRIDAY | MAY 3

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Mitchell Space Breakfast Series discussion on “The Importance of Data in the Space Domain.” Speaker: Maj. Gen. Kimberly Crider, mobilization assistant to the commander, Air Force Space Command. Register at events.r20.constantcontact.com.

WEDNESDAY | MAY 8

9 a.m. 801 Wharf St. S.W. Foundation for Defense of Democracies event “Rising to the Threat: Revitalizing America’s Military and Political Power.” Speakers include retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, former national security adviser; Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, U.S. Central Command head; Rep. Mac Thornberry, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee; and retired Lt. Gen. Ed Cardon, former U.S. Army Cyber Command head. Invitation only.

12 p.m. 800 M Street N.W. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Brookings Institution sponsor an invitation-only discussion on Operation Tidal Wave II and its role in the destruction of the Islamic State’s finances. Speakers: Retired Gen. John Allen, president of the Brookings Institution; David Asher, former State Department official and FDD senior fellow; and retired Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, former commander of the coalition against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Moderated by Nancy Youssef, national security correspondent at the Wall Street Journal.