GOP Candidates Pledge To Fix Unready, Rudderless US Military

GOP Candidates Pledge To Fix Unready, Rudderless US Military
GOP Candidates Pledge To Fix Unready, Rudderless US Military

WASHINGTON: The men who urgently want to be commander in chief of the United States military offered a glum vision of the state of the armed services last night. Jeb Bush: In this administration, every weapon system has been gutted, in this administration, the force levels are going down to a level where we can’t…

Don’t Expect Much About DoD From Obama’s Last SOTU

Don’t Expect Much About DoD From Obama’s Last SOTU
Don’t Expect Much About DoD From Obama’s Last SOTU

WASHINGTON: You never know til they deliver the speech, but all the indications are that President Obama is not going to discuss much of interest tonight about the Defense Department or the Pentagon budget and will mostly talk to Congress and to us about America’s future and how much better it could be. What does that…

Army 2016 Forecast: A Year of Peril

Army 2016 Forecast: A Year of Peril
Army 2016 Forecast: A Year of Peril

  The Army has gotten smaller every year since 2011, while the threats have gotten greater. Simply put, America’s Army – our nation’s foundational force since 1775 – is asked to face a dangerous and uncertain world with reduced and uncertain resources. It is confronted by turmoil abroad and hindered at home by politicians unable or…

Is Winter Coming? Or, Our Russia Strategy

Is Winter Coming? Or, Our Russia Strategy
Is Winter Coming? Or, Our Russia Strategy

In Washington, and across the globe, many ask if Russian actions represent a new challenge to international order, and, if so, what is the best course of action to respond to it. Defense Secretary Ash Carter cited Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Georgia, and most recently, Syria in his speech at the Reagan Defense Forum…

Budget Deal Shows Obama Hypocrisy On NDAA Veto

Budget Deal Shows Obama Hypocrisy On NDAA Veto
Budget Deal Shows Obama Hypocrisy On NDAA Veto

This week Congress should pass the 2016 defense authorization bill –again. It will be virtually identical to the one that President Obama vetoed just weeks ago.  The only change: a $5 billion reduction in costs so it complies with the budget deal reached last week. But passage of the up-dated authorization is no done deal. If Mr.…

NDAA Veto Override Vote In Doubt; CR Deadline Looms

NDAA Veto Override Vote In Doubt; CR Deadline Looms
NDAA Veto Override Vote In Doubt; CR Deadline Looms

UPDATED 4:40 pm with Bob Work comments WASHINGTON: The budget deal saved the day for defense. Now let’s never do that again. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 bought two precious years of stability, House Armed Services chairman Mac Thornberry and Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said today at the Defense One summit, but it hurt like…

House Divided: Budget Deal Passes, But HASC Leaders Split

House Divided: Budget Deal Passes, But HASC Leaders Split
House Divided: Budget Deal Passes, But HASC Leaders Split

UPDATED Deal passed, Forbes voted “no” WASHINGTON: With hours to go before the House vote on the budget deal — assuming it doesn’t get derailed — the Republican caucus is deeply divided. A central selling point is the deal ups the defense budget, but one leading legislator on national security issues, House seapower subcommittee chairman Rep.…

Budget Deal Saves The Day For Defense – If It Passes

Budget Deal Saves The Day For Defense – If It Passes
Budget Deal Saves The Day For Defense – If It Passes

WASHINGTON: The budget deal announced late last night is unmixed good news for the Defense Department, our sources say — for a year, at least, and if it actually passes the ever-more-erratic House of Representatives. “This ‘October Surprise’ is a better deal for defense than I expected,” said one of Washington’s leading budget experts, Todd…

Obama NDAA Veto Strengthens White House In Budget Talks

Obama NDAA Veto Strengthens White House In Budget Talks
Obama NDAA Veto Strengthens White House In Budget Talks

WASHINGTON: The most intriguing assessment of President Obama’s veto yesterday of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act comes from a Republican. While Mackenzie Eaglen, defense expert at the American Enterprise Institute, clearly doesn’t think much of Obama’s move — citing “his intransigence at anything less than is being demanded of him” — she also concludes that he’s…

As NDAA Poised For Veto, Ryan Challenges Intransigents

As NDAA Poised For Veto, Ryan Challenges Intransigents
As NDAA Poised For Veto, Ryan Challenges Intransigents

WASHINGTON: What will happen if President Obama vetoes the National Defense Authorization Act? No one really knows. We’ve pinged a number of experienced staff and other experts and no one really knows the likely consequences of a veto. It looks likely that troops will get paid, weapons bought, and operations paid for, albeit at lower…

Full-Year CR Will Hurt 400 Army Programs; Helos Hit Hard: Shyu & Via

Full-Year CR Will Hurt 400 Army Programs; Helos Hit Hard: Shyu & Via
Full-Year CR Will Hurt 400 Army Programs; Helos Hit Hard: Shyu & Via

AUSA: If Congress can’t pass proper spending bills for 2016, it will hurt more than 400 Army programs and damage combat readiness, two senior officials said here today. “I have a binder yea-thick of impacts,” Heidi Shyu, the Army’s senior acquisition official, told reporters today, holding her fingers several inches apart. “Over 400 programs are impacted if…

McCarthy’s Exit: Budget Deal Or Disaster?

McCarthy’s Exit: Budget Deal Or Disaster?
McCarthy’s Exit: Budget Deal Or Disaster?

Updated with Loren Thompson & Byron Callan comment WASHINGTON: Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s sudden exit from the House Speaker race raises the chance of a fiscal disaster — but it also raises the odds of a desperate budget deal. Both extremes just got more likely. Ironically, this deepening leadership void elevates the role of Rep. John…

President Obama Will Veto Defense Policy Bill

President Obama Will Veto Defense Policy Bill
President Obama Will Veto Defense Policy Bill

WASHINGTON: One day after House and Senate conferees finally came to agreement on the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, President Obama appeared ready to make good on half a decade of threats to veto the annual defense policy bill. Hours after that bad news hit, Congress cleared a Continuing Resolution this evening, allowing everyone to breath for a…

Summits Over Substance: Obama Yields To Chinese President Xi

Summits Over Substance: Obama Yields To Chinese President Xi
Summits Over Substance: Obama Yields To Chinese President Xi

  As Washington gears up for the visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, right on the heels of the Pontiff, there is a growing urgency for the United States to make clear to Beijing that its behavior is leading to increased tension at both the bilateral and regional level. But, there appears little appetite for…