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NO WALL, NO WAY: Emboldened by their gains in the midterm elections, Democrats are insisting there is no way Congress will give President Trump the money he wants to build a new wall along the Mexico border. And incoming chairman House Armed Service Committee Chairman Adam Smith D-Wash., says if Trump thinks he can simply order the military to do it he’s mistaken. “We can’t steal money from there,” Smith said referring to the Pentagon’s FY 2019 budget that Trump signed in September and is now law. “He can’t do it without a reprogramming request to Congress,” Smith told MSNBC yesterday. “So, he cannot do it on his own, legally, and Congress. Both Republicans and Democrats do not think the DoD money should go toward building a wall on the border.” On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was emphatic against a compromise that would give Trump the $5 billion he’s demanding. “President Trump should understand, there are not the votes for the wall in the House or the Senate. He is not going to get the wall in any form. Even the House, which is a majority Republican, they don’t have the votes for his $5 billion wall plan,” Schumer said. COUNTDOWN TO SHUTDOWN: Over on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller promised that Trump will make good on his threat to shut down the 25 percent of the federal government that will run of money Friday if he doesn’t get the funding for his southern border wall. “We’re going to do whatever is necessary to build the border wall, to stop this ongoing crisis of illegal immigration,” Miller told host Margaret Brennan. “And that means a shutdown?” she asked. “If it comes to it, absolutely,” Miller replied. “This is a very fundamental issue. At stake is the question of whether or not the United States remains a sovereign country, whether or not we can establish and enforce rules for entrance into our country,” Miller said. “The Democrat Party has a simple choice. They can either choose to fight for America’s working class or to promote illegal immigration. You can’t do both.” WHO’S IN JEOPARDY? Because the Department of Defense and 75 percent of the federal government were funding back in September, only about one-quarter of the government would actually shut down, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Agriculture, State, and Justice, as well as national parks. The Senate returns today after three days off. The House is back on Wednesday night, after an extended weekend break. That gives Congress just two days to work something out. The deadline is midnight Friday night. WHAT ABOUT THOSE TERRORISTS? In last Tuesday’s contentious Oval Office meeting with Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the likely next House speaker, Trump said the wall is desperately needed to keep out terrorists. “We need border security. People are pouring into our country, including terrorists,” Trump said. “We have terrorists. But we caught 10 terrorists. These are over the last very short period of time — ten. These are very serious people. All of our law enforcement have been incredible, but we caught 10 terrorists. These are people that were looking to do harm.” Pelosi later said she didn’t want to contradict the president in front of the TV cameras but added many of Trump’s statement were not factual. The Associated Press did a fact check on the president’s claim that the U.S. recent caught 10 terrorists, and concluded his relationship with the truth was “borderline at best.” “Trump is wrong about the government recently catching 10 terrorists. His statement is a mangling of federal statistics showing that U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped an average of seven to 10 people a day in the 2017 budget year who were denied entry to the U.S. because they were on a watch list. That average applied to all points of entry, and overwhelmingly from airports, and was not specific to the southern border. The standard for placing someone on the list is reasonable suspicion, a lower bar than the probable cause needed to arrest someone for an alleged crime. The statistics do not show how many might have been arrested or charged with anything. In any event, Trump rendered a daily average as 10 recently captured terrorists in the flesh.” Good Monday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense. |
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HAPPENING TODAY: Former FBI Director James Comey is scheduled to testify at a closed hearing of the House Judiciary and House Oversight committees. HAPPENING TOMORROW: Former national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn is due in federal court for sentences over his guilty plea on charges of lying the FBI about his discussion with Russians in the first weeks of the Trump administration. THE OTHER WAR, IN SOMALIA: The U.S. Africa Command reports this morning that over the weekend, the U.S. killed more than 60 al-Shabaab militants in Somalia. Two airstrikes Saturday killed 34 al-Shabaab militants in the vicinity of Gandarshe, Somalia, and then Sunday another 28 people were killed in four more airstrikes. “All six airstrikes were conducted in close coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia and targeted a known al-Shabaab encampment,” said U.S. Africa Command in a statement, adding the strikes were conducted “to prevent terrorists from using remote areas as a safe haven to plot, direct, inspire, and recruit for future attacks.” TRANSGENDER FIGHT IN 2020: The Justice Department is worried that without Supreme Court intervention an ongoing court battle could allow transgender people to continue joining the military well into 2020, according to a new court filing. The protracted fight could push the debate and legal fight over President Trump’s transgender military policy into the midst of the next presidential election and even into a new administration, according to attorneys for transgender plaintiffs. Trump’s Justice Department laid out the concern in a new filing Thursday asking the court to lift an injunction and clear the way for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to end the enlistments that began for the first time in January. “Absent a stay, the nationwide injunction would thus remain in place for at least another year and likely well into 2020 — a period too long for the military to be forced to maintain a policy that it has determined, in its professional judgment, to be contrary to the nation’s interests,” according to the DOJ’s Thursday filing with the Supreme Court. UNDUE COMMAND INFLUENCE: In a highly unusual move, President Trump says he will review the case of a formerly decorated Special Forces soldier who has been charged by the Army with premeditated murder in the death of a suspected Taliban bomb-maker. “At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a ‘U.S. Military hero,’ Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas,” Trump tweeted Sunday. The president’s tweet conflicts directly with the principle of military justice known as “unlawful command influence.” It basically bars superior officers from indicating the guilt or innocence of the accused before trial, because it could sway a military jury. As commander-in-chief, Trump is the ultimate superior officer. But it’s unclear what effect Trump’s intervention in the normal course of military justice will have. If Trump were indicating that Golsteyn was guilty, it would be a slam dunk case of Undue Command Influence. But since Trump is calling him a “hero,” and because Trump has the power to pardon and has shown a willingness to use it, he may be able to intervene as he pleases. It’s not the first time Trump has ignored the conventions of the military justice system. As a candidate, he labeled U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl “dirty rotten traitor.” Bergdahl was eventually given a dishonorable discharge but no prison time. Trump then tweeted that the sentence was “a complete and total disgrace.” In a statement yesterday, Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said that “the allegations against Major Matt Golsteyn are a law enforcement matter. The Department of Defense will respect the integrity of this process.” THE PENTAGON’S ‘NAUGHTY’ LIST: It’s hard enough recruiting for America’s all-volunteer military, but a good number of U.S. high schools are making the problem worse, according to Pentagon leaders. Last week the Navy Secretary Richard Spencer complained to Congress that local school districts containing more than 1,100 high schools have banned recruiters from campus, thwarting access to a prime target group: 18-year-olds with a high school degree and no immediate job prospects. “There’s an excess of 1,100 schools in school districts that deny access to the uniformed members to recruit on their campuses,” Spencer said in testimony before a joint session of two Senate subcommittees. “They’re all throughout the country; preponderance up in the Northeast and Northwest,” he said. “Whatever help anyone could do in helping us get the message out would be greatly appreciated.” We asked the Navy for a list of the school districts Spencer was referring to and got this response from said Lt. Christina Sears, a Navy spokesperson at the Pentagon: “The Navy values its relationship with the various educational institutions around the country to include those cited in the numbers you queried about. Because their decision to allow recruiters on campus is part of ongoing discussions, it would be inappropriate to provide a list of these schools.” MCSALLY’S STOCK RISING: There are reports this morning that former A-10 squadron commander GOP Rep. Martha McSally may be flying higher, having cleared the air with Cindy McCain, widow of the late Sen. John McCain. CNN is reporting McSally and McCain met in a “détente” meeting Friday, clearing the way for Gov. Doug Ducey to appoint McSally to fill out the remaining two years of the Senate term for the seat long held McCain. Cindy McCain was reportedly upset that McSally did not come to her late husband’s defense when he was attacked by President Trump. And the husband of the late senator’s daughter Meghan McCain tweeted Friday that McSally would be an “unwise choice an unwise choice for a number of reasons.” “She’s like an NFL team that plays down to its opponents’ level — and she’ll be tasked with running for re-election immediately,” Ben Domenech tweeted. NIELSEN’S STOCK FALLING: Meanwhile Former Department of Homeland Security officials expect Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen will be the next Trump administration official to be shown the door, now that Trump’s chief of staff is leaving. “I don’t expect her to stay long after Gen. Kelly departs,” said a former senior DHS official who worked in the agency during President Trump’s first year in office. PRIEBUS GOES NAVY: Trump’s former chief of staff Reince Priebus may have a new gig as a Navy reserve officer, the Washington Post reported. After losing his job at the White House and being replaced by John Kelly in July 2017, Priebus has completed a months-long process and won a recommendation from Mattis, after being inspired to serve by his Navy doctor sister. “He added that he especially felt called to serve after an Oval Office meeting in which Trump met with the wife and children of Senior Chief William ‘Ryan’ Owens, 36, a Navy SEAL who was killed early in the administration in a Special Operations raid in Yemen,” the Post reported. Another Trump White House alumnus, former Press Secretary Sean Spicer, is a naval reserve officer who has been spotted at the Pentagon from time to time. TRUMP VISITS SEC 60: President Trump walked through Arlington Cemetery’s Section 60 Saturday, the area of the cemetery that is filled with the graves of America’s war dead from U.S. wars on terrorism since 2001, especially from Iraq and Afghanistan. Saturday was Wreath Across America Day, which coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 1,400 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad. SOLDIER ID’d: The Pentagon identified the U.S. service member killed Thursday in a non-combat incident in Afghanistan as Pfc. Joshua Mikeasky, 19, a 10th Mountain Division soldier out of Fort Drum, N.Y. The Johnstown, Pa., native died at Bagram Airfield and the incident is being investigated. THE RUNDOWN AP: Next-generation of GPS satellites are headed to space Washington Post: Russia used every major social media platform to help elect, support Trump, report says Wall Street Journal: Republicans, Democrats at an Impasse on Border Wall as Shutdown Nears Washington Post: How a court battle between Amazon and Oracle could shape the Pentagon’s cloud computing Military.com: Back-to-Back Midair Malfunctions Caused Navy SEAL Parachutist’s Death: Investigation New York Times: How Peter Jackson Made WWI Footage Seem Astonishingly New Reuters: Saudi Arabia rejects U.S. Senate position on Khashoggi: statement Navy Times: Audit finds cyber vulnerabilities in US missile defense system The Hill: Pelosi faces pressure to act on Saudi Arabia Business Insider: The 15 wildest military prototypes from AK-47 maker Kalashnikov — from the flashy, to the bizarre, to the totally implausible Defense News: Modernization top priority in FY20 budget, Pentagon’s No. 2 official says AP: North Korea marks 7th anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s death |
CalendarMONDAY | DEC. 17 10 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. China’s Belt and Road in Context. heritage.org Noon. 1030 15th St. NW. The Future of US Policy in Syria. atlanticcouncil.org TUESDAY | DEC. 18 9:30 a.m. 1501 Lee Hwy. Mitchell Hour AFWIC and Future Force Design with Maj. Gen. Michael Fantini, Director of Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability. mitchellaerospacepower.org 10:30 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. U.S. China 2018 Year in Review: A New Cold War? wilsoncenter.org 2:30 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Is There Any Hope for Yemen? wilsoncenter.org |
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