Debt ceiling brinkmanship threatens delay of defense spending increases demanded by Republicans
Jamie McIntyre
NDAA ON HOLD: Consideration of the most important piece of legislation passed every year by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy for the Pentagon, has been put on hold in the House as the nation teeters on the brink of default for the first time in its 247-year history.
“Providing for our nation’s defense is the most important responsibility that Congress has been tasked with under the U.S. Constitution. I look forward to beginning the FY24 NDAA process in the near future to fulfill this critical responsibility and strengthen our national security,” said Mike Rogers (R-AL), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in a statement postponing the markup of the 2024 NDAA.
Markup of the must-pass had been scheduled for May 23, with the seven House Armed Services subcommittees marking up portions of the bill today and tomorrow.
‘A MANUFACTURED CRISIS’: The delay comes as President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) are at an impasse over McCarthy’s demands for sweeping cuts in domestic spending in return for lifting the debt ceiling so the country can pay its bills on time.
“They’re literally, not figuratively, holding the economy hostage by threatening to default on our nation’s debt — a debt we’ve already incurred,” Biden said in a speech in Valhalla, New York.
Biden conceded that McCarthy and House Republicans have agreed to exempt the Pentagon from cuts but said setting overall spending at 2022 levels will impact troops and veterans in other ways.
“The difference between the 2022 budget, which they want to get back to, and the 2023 budget is I increased the funding for the Veterans Administration by $22 billion … This amounts to a $22 billion cut in veterans’ healthcare,” Biden said. “They say I’m ‘lying’ when I say that. Well, the truth is: Why do so many veterans’ groups — why have they spoken out in opposition to the Republican proposal?”
Biden is scheduled to meet again tomorrow with McCarthy and other congressional leaders. As he departed New York, Biden told reporters he hoped “to find out what our staffs agreed upon and begin further discussion.”
“I believe in cutting spending and cutting the deficit,” Biden said in his speech. “This is a manufactured crisis … we should be cutting spending and lowering the deficit without a needless crisis in a responsible way.”
BIDEN HAMMERS ‘EXTREME’ MAGA REPUBLICANS IN NEW YORK AS DEBT CEILING TALKS STALL
SMITH: ‘NO WAY’ THIS DOESN’T DO ‘GREAT HARM TO THE DEFENSE BUDGET’: The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee blasted McCarthy for engaging in what he called a “ridiculous, hypocritical fantasy.”
“There is no way to make the substantial cuts to discretionary spending the Republican majority is vaguely proposing without doing great harm to the defense budget and the national security of this country,” said Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) in a statement. “The Republican leadership’s decision to take the debt ceiling increase hostage, to basically play chicken with the full faith and credit of our country, also cannot do anything but jeopardize our national security.”
“Apparently not having a sense of hypocrisy, Republican leadership has been arguing both that President Biden’s very substantial defense budget proposal is somehow billions of dollars less than it must be to meet our defense needs, and that we must make massive cuts to our discretionary budget to meet their idea of what fiscal responsibility would look like,” Smith said. “You cannot increase the defense budget while refusing to take the steps necessary to actually raise the debt ceiling, and while proposing to make massive cuts to the discretionary budget.”
“It is way past time to end these games,” he said. “The debt ceiling must be raised, the budget discussion must be had in the normal budget authorization and appropriations processes.”
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HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley appear before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense at 9 a.m. to support the president’s request for an $842 billion Pentagon budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
MCCONNELL: ‘I DON’T SUPPORT PUTTING A HOLD ON MILITARY NOMINATIONS’: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he doesn’t support Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) blockade of military nominees, which Austin argues is hurting national security.
Asked by a reporter about Austin’s “stern warnings about readiness” and “profound confusion and disturbance for service members and their families,” McConnell replied, “No, I don’t support putting a hold on military nominations. I — I — I don’t support that, but as to why, you need to ask Senator Tuberville.”
Tuberville has vowed to block all three and four-star military promotions until Austin rescinds a policy that reimburses troops for travel expenses and grants time off to obtain legal abortions.
ALSO TODAY, TITLE 42 EXPIRES: The pandemic-era health measure that allowed the U.S. to refuse entry to the United States expires at midnight, and the Biden administration is trying to send a message that the end of Title 42 does not mean the southern border is open.
Bracing for a surge of asylum seekers, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced new restrictions that will penalize migrants who do not first seek asylum in countries they pass through on the way to the United States.
“Our use of our immigration enforcement authorities under Title 8 of the United States Code means tougher consequences for people who cross the border illegally,” Mayorkas said at a news conference yesterday. “Unlike under Title 42, an individual who is removed under Title 8 is subject to at least a five-year bar on re-entry into the United States and can face criminal prosecution if they attempt to cross again.”
“We are finalizing a new rule to encourage individuals to use available, lawful, safe, and orderly pathways to enter the United States,” he said. “The rule presumes that those who do not use lawful pathways to enter the United States are ineligible for asylum.”
“We are in the process of surging personnel to the border, including more than 1,400 DHS personnel, 1,000 processing coordinates and an additional 1,500 Department of Defense personnel. All of these individuals will allow our law enforcement officers to stay in the field and focus on their critical mission.”
BORDER PATROL CHIEF SAYS WORST OF TITLE 42 SURGE HAS ALREADY PASSED
ZELENSKY: ‘WE NEED TO WAIT’: In an interview with public broadcasters who are members of Eurovision, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the timing is not yet right to begin the much-anticipated counteroffensive to dislodge Russian forces from Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions.
Zelensky told the broadcasters that while the nine combat brigades trained and equipped by NATO countries for the operation were basically ready, they are still awaiting shipments of some crucial equipment, including armored vehicles, which he said were still arriving in “batches,” according to the BBC.
“With [what we already have] we can go forward and, I think, be successful,” the BBC quoted Zelensky as saying. “But we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time.”
NATO: QUALITY VS QUANTITY: When the offensive eventually comes, NATO’s senior military chief predicts it will be a battle between a smaller, more nimble Ukrainian force and a larger dispirited poorly-equipped Russian army.
“On the materiel side, you actually see that the Russians are now starting to use very old materiel, very old capabilities. The T-54 tanks that we now see in the battlefield, the 54 is actually related to the year of design, 1954,” said Dutch Adm. Rob Bauer, head of NATO’s Military Committee.
“I think that is what we will see now, is that the Russians will have to focus on quantity, larger number of conscripts and mobilized people, not well-trained, older materiel but large numbers, and not as precise and not as good as the newer ones,” Bauer said in a news conference at NATO headquarters. In contrast, he said the Ukrainians will “focus on quality with Western weapons systems and Western training.”
TRUMP’S TOWN HALL: Cheered on by an audience packed with supporters who gave him a standing ovation, former President Donald Trump appeared in a prime time Town Hall on CNN, in which he spent most of the 70-minute program sparring with CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins, who at one point he called “a nasty person.”
Here are some key quotes on national security-related issues, from the CNN transcript:
Vladimir Putin’s mistake: “He’s not a stupid person. He’s very smart. He’s very cunning. And Putin made a bad mistake, in my opinion … His mistake was going in. He would have never gone in if I was president.”
Is Putin a war criminal? “I think it’s something that should not be discussed now. It should be discussed later. Because right now we have to get a war — if you say he’s a war criminal, it’s going to be a lot tougher to make a deal to get this thing stopped, because if he’s going to be a war criminal, where people are going to go and grab him and execute him, he’s going to fight a lot harder than he’s fighting, you know, under the other circumstance.”
Does he want Ukraine to win? “I don’t think in terms of winning and losing. I think in terms of getting it settled so we stop killing all these people and breaking down … I want everybody to stop dying. They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying.”
How he’d end the war: “I’ll meet with Putin, I’ll meet with Zelenskyy. They both have weaknesses and they both have strengths. And within 24 hours that war will be settled. It will be over. It will be absolutely over … I’ll have that done in 24 hours. I’ll have it done. You need the power of the presidency to do it.”
Pardons for the Jan. 6 rioters: “I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one because a couple of them, probably, they got out of control … I’m not trying to justify anything, but you have two standards of justice in this country … And then what they’ve done to these people, they’ve persecuted these people … If I get in, I will most likely, I would say it will be a large portion of them.”
Keeping classified documents: “I had every right to do it. I didn’t make a secret of it … I took the documents. I’m allowed to. You know who else took them? Obama took them. Nixon took them. Reagan took them.” (Collins corrected Trump, stating Obama did not take documents)
Did he show the documents to anyone? “Not really. I would have the right to, by the way, they were declassified after … not that I can think of.”
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Biden administration finalizes rule to deter illegal border crossings ahead of Title 42 ending
Washington Examiner: Border Patrol chief says worst of Title 42 surge has already passed
Washington Examiner: First US troops arrive at southern border ahead of immigrant surge
Washington Examiner: Japan in talks to open NATO office with eyes on Beijing
Washington Examiner: Senators propose classification system shake-up after Biden and Trump scandals
Washington Examiner: Trump unrepentant on all counts in return to CNN for 2024 campaign
Washington Examiner: Trump says he would pardon Jan. 6 Capitol protesters
Washington Examiner: Iran threatens Israel during Russia summit amid Gaza rocket barrage
Washington Examiner: Israel deploys David’s Sling air defense system against Gaza rocket for first time
Washington Examiner: Mysterious Chinese spacecraft makes return after 276-day journey
BBC: Zelensky says Ukraine needs more time for counter-offensive
New York Times: Ukraine Makes Gains Near Embattled Bakhmut, a First in Months
Reuters: Biden To Sign Defence Pact In Papua New Guinea, With Eyes On China
Financial Times: China Pours Cold Water On Bilateral Meeting With US Defence Secretary
South China Morning Post: China Plans To Boost Naval Ties With Pakistan. How Will India Respond?
Washington Post: Findings: Pyongyang’s Drones Exposed Seoul’s Weakness
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Austin: Senator’s Hold on General Promotions ‘Harms America’s National Security’
Stars and Stripes: NATO’s New Plans Will Help To Better Defend ‘Every Inch’ Of Allied Territory, Cavoli Says
Breaking Defense: SOCOM Acquisition Chief: AI Will Be ‘Key to Every Single Thing’
Air & Space Forces Magazine: NORAD Boss: Over the Horizon Radar ‘Not the End-All, Be-All’ For Defending Homeland
Air & Space Forces Magazine: ‘Kill Chain’ Fails Without More 5th, 6th-Gen Platforms, Experts Warn
Defense One: US Military Now Has Voice-Controlled Bug Drones
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Developing New Training Capabilities for Guardians
Breaking Defense: GE’s Lobbying Message to Congress on F-35 Engine: ‘Take This to the Next Logical Milestone’
Red Snow: Caissons stop rolling, as Army scrambles to reverse, improve conditions that put arlington horses in jeopardy
Defense News: Navy Eyes Private Capital To Modernize Dated Facilities
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Relieves Commander at 19th Air Force
19fortyfive.com: Pakistan Has Lots of Nuclear Weapons (And It Could Collapse)
The Cipher Brief: The Pentagon Needs a Real Budget, Not Stop-Gap Solutions, says top DoD official
The Cipher Brief: Living in an Age of Danger
Calendar
THURSDAY | MAY 11
8:30 a.m. — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association annual U.S. Marine Corps IT Day forum, with Lt. Gen. Matthew Glavy, Marine Corps deputy commandant for information, and Louis Koplin, deputy chief technology officer on the Navy Department’s Chief Information Office https://www.afcea-qp.org/usmc-it-day/usmc-it-day-2023
9 a.m. 124 Dirksen — Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing: “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request for the Department of Defense,” with testimony from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings
10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn — House Oversight and Accountability National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing: “Strengthening the Fleet: Challenges and Solutions in Naval Surface Ship Construction,” with testimony from Rear Adm. Thomas Anderson, program executive officer for ships, and Rear Adm. Casey Moton, program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants http://oversight.house.gov
1 p.m. — National Defense Industrial Association virtual forum on the launch of a report: “Hypersonics Supply Chains: Securing the Path to the Future,” with Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Charles Ormsby, chief of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies Division. RSVP: [email protected]
5:30 p.m. 1250 S Hayes St., Arlington, Virginia — Intelligence and National Security Alliance discussion: with Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director, Defense Intelligence Agency. https://www.insaonline.org/detail-pages/event
FRIDAY | MAY 12
12 p.m. — Washington Institute for Near East Policy virtual discussion: “Turkey’s Historic May 14 Elections: What to Expect,” with Seren Selvin Korkmaz, executive director of IstanPol; Emre Peker, director for Europe at the Eurasia Group; Ragip Soylu, Turkey bureau chief at Middle East Eye; and Soner Cagaptay, director of the WINEP Turkish Research Program https://washingtoninstitute-org.zoom.us/webinar/register
12 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Cato Institute discussion: on “Turkey’s Centennial Election: What Is at Stake?” with Gonul Tol, director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies; Ian Vasquez, vice president for international studies at Cato; and Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow at the Cato Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity https://www.cato.org/events/turkeys-centennial-election-what-stake
12:30 p.m. 1957 E St. NW — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs discussion: on “Cross-Strait Relations and U.S. Strategy at a Crossroad?” with Joel Wuthnow, senior research fellow at National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs; Rosalie Chen, assistant professor at Dominican University of California; and John Dotson, deputy director of the Global Taiwan Institute https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/taiwan_roundtable
WEDNESDAY | MAY 17
1:30 p.m. — Cipher Brief virtual conversation: “Thinking Like An Analyst In An Increasingly Complex World,” with Linda Weissgold, director of analysis, CIA https://www.thecipherbrief.com/expert-national-security-briefing-series
2 p.m. HVC-210 Capitol — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “The State of American Influence in 2023: Great Power Competition and Persistent Crises in an Era of Budget Constraints,” with testimony from Samantha Power, administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development https://www.youtube.com/watch
QUOTE OF THE DAY “We can go forward and, I think, be successful, but we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time.” President Volodymyr Zelensky on the timing of a planned counteroffensive against Russian forces, speaking in an interview with public service broadcasters of Eurovision News.