McCarthy threatens to delay defense policy bill unless military vaccine mandate lifted

“I laid out very clearly what the difference will be with the new Republican majority. And we’re working through what is the NDAA, the national defense bill. We will secure lifting that vaccine mandate on our military,” McCarthy told Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo. “Come next week, you will see that we have been able to. And that’s the first victory of having a Republican majority.”

While McCarthy expressed certainly the mandate would be dropped, he added a caveat. “Yes, it will,” he said. “Otherwise, the bill will not move. I have been very clear with the president.”

REPUBLICANS PUSH TO END MILITARY VACCINE MANDATE THROUGH ANNUAL DEFENSE BILL

AUSTIN, BIDEN OPPOSE REPEAL: At a White House briefing yesterday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the president continues to back the mandate that was imposed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as soon as the COVID-19 vaccines won final approval from the FDA.

“Vaccines are saving lives, including our men and women in uniform. So this remains very, very much a health and readiness issue for the force,” Kirby said. “And again, the president supports Secretary Austin’s opposition to a repeal of the mandate.”

Later, the White House said Biden was only considering McCarthy’s request and that “discussions about the NDAA are ongoing.”

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), current chairman and soon-to-be ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said over the weekend that he’s open to the possibility of relaxing the mandate.

“I was a very strong supporter of the vaccine mandate when we did it, a very strong supporter of the COVID restrictions put in place by DOD and others,” Smith told Politico at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday. “But at this point in time, does it make sense to have that policy from August 2021? That is a discussion that I am open to and that we’re having.”

Smith, however, drew the line at reinstating troops who have been booted over the past two years. “The one thing that I was adamant about, so were others, is there’s going to be no reinstatement or back pay for the people who refused to obey the order to get the vaccine,” he said. “Orders are not optional in the military.”

BIDEN TO ‘CONSIDER’ LIFTING VACCINE MANDATE DEFENSE SECRETARY WANTS TO KEEP

ANOTHER DELAY? Austin has been pleading with Congress to fund the Pentagon fully before the end of the year, something that requires the passage of separate appropriations and authorization bills.

Both the $847 billion NDAA along with the overall omnibus appropriations bill must be passed and signed by the president before the Pentagon can access the more than $45 billion the Congress intends to add to the defense budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has indicated he’s leaning toward passing the budget this year, McCarthy is urging another stopgap continuing resolution to freeze government funding until Republicans take over the House on Jan. 3.

The temporary funding measures are a source of continuing frustration at the Pentagon, where a host of new programs and initiatives remain on hold. “Spending will be limited to last year’s levels and priorities, imposing significant fiscal and managerial constraints on the department,” spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement emailed to reporters.

“Under a full-year CR, 192 new programs and projects cannot be started within the Procurement and Research and Development Titles, and production rates for 49 programs including weapons, equipment, and munitions cannot be increased,” said Ryder. “Additionally, 97 military construction projects cannot be started.”

“We’ve got more to do,” said Austin in a speech at the Reagan forum. “So let me urge Congress to pass an on-time appropriation so that we can get the capabilities to further strengthen our deterrence.”

‘WAIT UNTIL WE’RE IN CHARGE’: MCCARTHY SNIPES AT MCCONNELL OVER BUDGETING

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HAPPENING TODAY: Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin host their Australian counterparts at the State Department for the annual Australia-U.S. Ministerial.

After the daylong consultations, which include a working lunch, Blinken and Austin will hold a 4 p.m. press conference along with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles, which will be livedstreamed at both the Pentagon and State Department websites.

In remarks welcoming Marles to the Pentagon yesterday, Austin called the alliance between the U.S. and Australia “the strongest that it has ever been” and said the two democracies “share a common vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

“We’re meeting at a time of tension, especially from Russia’s reckless and lawless invasion of Ukraine, as well as from coercive and destabilizing military activities by the People’s Republic of China,” Austin said. “But the United States and Australia are stepping up to support the rules-based international order.”

RUSSIAN AIR BASES ROCKED BY EXPLOSIONS: Ukraine is not claiming credit, but Russia is blaming Ukrainian drones for explosions at two airfields deep inside Russia that damaged two Tupolev Tu-95 strategic nuclear bombers capable of carrying the type of cruise missiles used to target Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.

The brazen attack on installations southeast of Moscow and several hundred miles inside Russian territory marked another turning point in the war and infuriated Russian “milbloggers,” who saw the attack as another example of the military’s malfeasance, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.

“Russian milbloggers criticized Russian officials for failing to anticipate and prevent the drone strikes at the Engels-2 and Dyagilevo Air Bases,” the ISW said in its daily assessment. “Select milbloggers noted that Russian military officials have not adequately protected the airbases. … Several prominent Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups must have launched the strike against the Engels-2 air base from inside Russian territory, asserting either that Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups are active inside Russia or — if the UAVs were launched from Ukrainian territory [or] that Moscow is under threat from Ukrainian territory.”

“If Russia assesses the incidents were deliberate attacks, it will probably consider them as some of the most strategically significant failures of force protection since its invasion of Ukraine,” tweeted the British Defense Ministry in its daily intelligence assessment.

FORGOTTEN TROOPS: It’s been eight months since the U.S. deployed an additional 20,000 U.S. troops to Europe to bolster NATO defenses in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Pentagon has limited media coverage of the troops and their deterrence mission, and a new survey conducted by the USO found that a majority of people (62%) have no idea what the troops are doing on their overseas deployments.

Among the findings:

• 67% of people incorrectly believe that most U.S. troops deployed in response to the conflict are located in Ukraine. There are no U.S. troops in Ukraine.
• While 59% of people said they often follow news about the war, only 33% said they often follow news about U.S. troops deployed in Eastern Europe.
• 86% believe it is important to support individual U.S. military members and their families, but only around 4 in 10 currently do so.

INDUSTRY WATCH: The Army announced yesterday that Bell Textron’s Valor tiltrotor has been awarded the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft contract, valued at $1.3 billion, to provide the successor to the aging UH-60 Black Hawk.

“We are honored that the U.S. Army has selected the Bell V-280 Valor as its next-generation assault aircraft,” said Scott Donnelly, Textron’s chairman and CEO, in a statement. “We intend to honor that trust by building a truly remarkable and transformational weapon system to meet the Army’s mission requirements.”

“This down-select represents a strategic pivot for Army Aviation to the transformational speed and range our Army needs to dominate future battlefields,” said Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen, director of the Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team.

The V-280 Valor looks like a smaller version of the Marine Corps V-22 Osprey and is designed to combine the speed and range of a turboprop plane with advanced agility that is greater than a traditional helicopter.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Russia launches new wave of missile attacks on Ukraine

Washington Examiner: US seeing ‘reduced tempo’ of battleground movements in Ukraine, Haines says

Washington Examiner: Republicans push to end military vaccine mandate through annual defense bill

Washington Examiner: Biden to ‘consider’ lifting vaccine mandate defense secretary wants to keep

Washington Examiner: ‘Wait until we’re in charge’: McCarthy snipes at McConnell over budgeting

Washington Examiner: Retired MMA champ honored by Congress for saving 17,000 from Afghanistan

Washington Examiner: Ex-intel official still says China tried to influence 2020 election against Trump

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Russian troop movements prove John Mearsheimer wrong

New York Times: Missiles Fired By Russia Built Recently Despite Curbs

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Modified Launchers To Rein In Ukraine

Washington Post: Support slipping for indefinite U.S. aid to Ukraine, poll finds

Military Times: Satellite Images Show New Russian Military Facility In Mariupol

Seapower Magazine: Aquilino: Ukraine Situation Could Happen in Taiwan

Bloomberg: U.S. Upgrades Taiwan Weapons Package With Newer Patriot Missiles

Time: The Making of the US Military’s New Stealth Bomber

Inside Defense: Investing In Carriers And Decommissioning Cruisers: Del Toro On FY-24 Budget Priorities

Seapower Magazine: CNO on China: Shipbuilders Can Expect High Revenue for Foreseeable Future

Breaking Defense: Will U.S. Supply Australia With AUKUS Subs? ‘That’s Not Going To Happen,’ Key U.S. Lawmaker Says

Defense News: Fake Parts: A Pentagon Supply Chain Problem Hiding in Plain Sight

Breaking Defense: Rep. Wittman: Air Force Should Compete KC-Y Tanker Program

Breaking Defense: UK Financial Watchdog Says Military Can’t Afford Its Acquisition Wish List

Stars and Stripes: Corps Names First Female Sergeant Major To A Marine Expeditionary Force

Washington Post: Fearing scandal, Air Force blocked generals’ foreign consulting deals

Yonhap: N. Korea Fires Some 130 Artillery Shells Into Eastern, Western ‘Buffer Zones’: S. Korean Military

Washington Post: N. Korea’s First Daughter Emerges. Could Women One Day Run The Country?

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Report: F-16 Pilot Violated Air Force Rules While Intercepting Civilian Aircraft Before Crash

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Eight Features That Show the New Raider is Not the B-2.1

Air & Space Forces Magazine: F-22s Leave Poland, Head Home to Alaska After NATO Deployment

Air & Space Forces Magazine: The Near Nuclear War of 1983

Flapper Press: “Don’t Forget About Us,” They Said. As If I Could or Would

19fortyfive.com: Why the Winter War in Ukraine Will Be a Bloodbath

19fortyfive.com: Is Ukraine Starting a Drone War Against Russia?

19fortyfive.com: Ukraine Is Taking Out Russia’s ‘Terrorist’ Missiles

19fortyfive.com: Putin’s Biggest Fear: Russia Runs Out of Ammo to Fight Ukraine?

19fortyfive.com: Why the Russian Air Force Failed In Ukraine

Calendar

TUESDAY | DECEMBER 6

9 a.m. — U.S. Naval Institute Defense Forum Washington 2022, with Mara Karlin, assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and capabilities; and Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Kyle Ellison, vice chief of naval research, Office of Naval Research https://www.usni.org/events/defense-forum-washington-2022

11:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: “The Role of Digital Management Systems in Ukraine’s Reconstruction,” with Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandra Azarkhina; Maksym Nefyodov, head of CSO Technologies of Progress and Kyiv City Council member; Oleksii Dorogan, CEO of the Better Regulation Delivery Office and co-founder of RISE Ukraine; former Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Eka Tkeshelashvili, chief of party of Anti-Corruption Champion Institutions in Ukraine https://www.csis.org/events/role-digital-management-systems

12:30 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. — Hudson Institute discussion: “Australia’s Role in the China Struggle,” with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison https://www.hudson.org/events/australia-role-china-struggle

2 p.m. — Atlantic Council forum: “Securing space: Preparing for future space contingencies,” with Principal Defense Department Director of Space and Missile Defense Policy Travis Langster; Mariel Borowitz, associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of International Affairs; John Klein, faculty member at the George Washington University Space Policy Institute; Victoria Samson, director of the Secure World Foundation’s Washington office; and Daniel Tenney, vice president of strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin Space https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/securing-space/

WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 7

8:30 a.m. — German Marshall Fund of the U.S. virtual discussion: ”The role of NATO allies in supporting and defending Ukraine against Russian aggression,” with Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte https://www.gmfus.org/event/conversation-prime-minister-lithuania

9 a.m. — Brookings Institution virtual discussion: “South Korean foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific,” with Victor Cha, Korea chairman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Kuyoun Chung, assistant professor of political science at Kangwon National University; Andrew Yeo, senior fellow at the Brookings Center for East Asia Policy Studies; and Mireya Solis, director of the Brookings Center for East Asia Policy Studies https://www.brookings.edu/events/south-korean-foreign-policy-in-the-indo-pacific/

10:30 a.m. — U.S. Institute of Peace virtual discussion: “Prosecuting the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine,” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova; Lesia Zaburanna, member of the Ukrainian Parliament; Anton Korynevych, ambassador-at-large at the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; David Scheffer, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center; William Taylor, vice president of the USIP Russia and Europe Center; and Lise Grande, president and CEO of USIP https://www.usip.org/events/prosecuting-crime-aggression-ukraine

1 p.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion on a new report, “Precision and Posture: Defense Spending Trends and the FY23 Budget Request,” with Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Force Readiness Kimberly Jackson and Katie Wheelbarger, vice president for global program support at Lockheed Martin https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-event

12:53 p.m. 1750 Independence Ave. S.W. — Friends of the National World War II Memorial and the National Park Service wreath-laying ceremony commemorating the 81st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, with Jeff Reinbold, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks; and Jane Droppa, chairwoman of the Friends of the National World War II Memorial; and keynote address by Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff https://www.facebook.com/WWIIMemorialFriends

2:30 p.m. 562 Dirksen — The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing on “Crowdsourcing Victory: Inside the Civil Society Campaign to Improve the Lethality and Survivability of the Ukrainian Military,” with Dora Chomiak, president of Razom for Ukraine; Taras Chmut, director of the Come Back Alive foundation; Serhiy Prytula, founder and chairman of the Prytula Charity Foundation; and Jonas Ohman, founder and head of Blue/Yellow for Ukraine

THURSDAY | DECEMBER 8

8 a.m. 2401 M St. N.W. — George Washington Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conversation with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger Contact: Thom Shanker at [email protected]

8 a.m. 1700 Richmond Hwy., Arlington, Virginia — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Northern Virginia Chapter Air Force IT Day 2022 forum, with Air Force Chief Information Officer Lauren Knausenberger; Air Force Maj. Gen. John Olson, acting chief digital and artificial intelligence officer; Thomas Sasala, Navy chief data officer; and Kristyn Jones, comptroller and assistant Air Force secretary for financial management https://afceanova.swoogo.com/AirForceITDay2022

9 a.m. 801 Wharf St. S.W. — Aspen Strategy Group’s “Aspen Security Forum: D.C. Edition,” with Kathleen Hicks, deputy defense secretary; David Turk, deputy energy secretary; Sen. Todd Young (R-IN); Pekka Haavisto, Finnish foreign affairs minister; Zbigniew Rau, Polish foreign affairs minister; Tobias Lindner, German minister of state; Enrique Mora, deputy secretary-general, European External Action Service; Arati Prabhakar, director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Zoe Baird, senior counselor to the secretary for technology and economic growth, U.S. Department of Commerce https://web.cvent.com/event

10 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research discussion: on “Unpacking the Pentagon’s 2022 China Military Power Report,” with Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for China Michael Chase; Assistant Defense Secretary for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner; Zack Cooper, AEI senior fellow; and Mackenzie Eaglen, AEI senior fellow https://www.aei.org/events/unpacking-the-pentagons-2022-china-military-power-report

10 a.m. — U.S. Institute of Peace virtual discussion: “The History and Future of U.S. Sanctions Policy: What the Evolution of U.S. Sanctions Can Tell Us About Promoting Peace in Ukraine and Beyond,” with former Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Stephen Rademaker, senior counsel at Covington; former White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley; and Lise Grande, president and CEO of USIP https://www.usip.org/events/history-and-future-us-sanctions-policy

11 a.m. — Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe virtual briefing: “Demining Ukraine: A Prerequisite for Recovery,” with Michael Tirre, program manager for Europe in the State Department’s Political-Military Affairs Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement; Todd Biggs, vice president for munitions response at Tetra Tech; and Tony Connell, Ukraine country director at the Swiss Foundation for Demining DATE: Dec. 8, 2022 https://ushr.webex.com/webappng/sites/ushr/meeting/register

12 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Cato Institute discussion: “How Much Does China Really Spend on Defense,” with Eric Heginbotham, principal research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Frederico Bartels, consultant at Pantheon Integrated Solutions; and Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute https://www.cato.org/events/how-much-does-china-really-spend-defense

3 p.m. — American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research event: “Standing Up to China Means Standing with Taiwan, with Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Dan Blumenthal, senior fellow, AEI https://www.aei.org/events/a-conversation-with-sen-dan-sullivan

3 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: “Understanding the Broader Transatlantic Security Implications of Greater Sino-Russian Military Alignment,” with Max Bergmann, director of the CSIS Europe Program; Jude Blanchette, CSIS chairman in China studies; Bonny Lin; director of the CSIS China Power Project; and Brian Hart, fellow at the CSIS China Power Project https://www.csis.org/events/understanding-broader-transatlantic-security-implications

3:30 p.m. — Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe virtual briefing: “Russia’s Infrastructure Terrorists,” with Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandra Azarkhina https://tinyurl.com/447w272w

5 p.m. 111 Broadway, New York, New York — The Common Good virtual discussion with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Gillian Sorensen, member of the Common Good’s Honorary Advisory Board and former assistant secretary general special adviser for public policy at the U.N. https://www.thecommongoodus.org/upcoming-events/un-ambassador-linda-thomas-greenfield

6 p.m. — Economic Club of Washington, D.C., discussion: with French Ambassador to the U.S. Philippe Etienne https://www.economicclub.org/events/he-philippe-etienne

FRIDAY | DECEMBER 9

9 a.m. — German Marshall Fund of the U.S. virtual discussion: “A Marshall Plan Blueprint for Ukraine,” with Ukraine Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova; John Hewko, general secretary of the Rotary International and the Rotary Fund; David Ignatius, columnist at the Washington Post; and Heather Conley, GMFUS president https://www.gmfus.org/event/marshall-plan-blueprint-ukraine

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) telling Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that Republicans should not negotiate with Democrats on a budget deal until after the GOP takes over in the House on Jan. 3