The Democrats controlling the House Appropriations Committee want to ban further diversion of military funding to build a border wall. Republican members warned this — and other items — could derail the entire bill.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.A major overhaul is coming in software for missile warning
Space Systems Command’s FORGE program is the first, major missile-warning software modernization effort in 20 years.
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB: The Pentagon’s top buyer is praying that Congress will only be three months late enacting a 2017 budget, instead of six. Frank Kendall’s frank comments made clear that on-time is off the table. Kendall’s got cause for concern. Just yesterday, the Senate failed for the third time to pass a defense funding…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
CAPITOL HILL: Congress will pass the annual defense bill, and that bill must increase defense spending, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said this morning. While Rep. Mac Thornberry was characteristically cautious about details, he made those goals clear enough to the audience at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “The bottom line is we’re…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
UPDATED to clarify WASHINGTON: Senate authorizers will probably go along with the House in adding $18 billion to the base defense budget, setting up a veto fight with the White House. After all, it was Senate Armed Services chairman John McCain himself who sponsored the $18 billion plus-up in the Senate, where it was narrowly defeated. Today,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: The defense bill that passed the Senate today might just end the long and bitter wrangle over Russian rocket engines. Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain has called for an end to Pentagon purchases of the RD-180 rocket engine, charging it enriched “Putin’s cronies.” His committee unanimously passed a draft National Defense Authorization Act…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: Worried by Sen. John McCain’s efforts to slash the general officer corps, abolish Frank Kendall’s job and restrict the size of the National Security Council, the White House today threatened to veto the Senate defense policy bill. Accusing the Senate Armed Services Committee of trying “to micromanage DOD” by taking those and other measures, the…
By Colin ClarkUPDATED with SecDef, HASC, & SASC comments WASHINGTON: Last night, the White House issued a veto threat against the draft defense bill that just went to the House floor, which takes an $18 billion bite out of the Overseas Contingency Operations fund. This afternoon, Defense Secretary Ash Carter blasted both the House draft of the National Defense Authorization Act…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Future inevitability of quantum computers is a security problem today
‘Store Now, Decrypt Later’ attacks must be thwarted now with Zero Trust cybersecurity.
STUTTGART, GERMANY: In a last minute-announcement before his meeting with 10 anti-Daesh coalition members, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters that Norway has made a “very significant” pledge to contribute to the fight. He also hinted that American troop commitments would increase in the future. “Norway’s decision to deploy special operations forces to Jordan to…
By Colin Clark 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…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
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…
By Colin Clark
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…
By Colin Clark and Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: The chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees made a rare joint appearance today and urged President Obama not to veto their policy bill for 2016. But Sen. John McCain and Rep. Mac Thornberry held out little hope Obama would back off, and if they have a plan for what to do if he…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
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…
By Colin Clark
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.…
By Justin Johnson