House GOP vote on abortion travel amendment roils Democrats, threatens passage of annual defense policy bill
Jamie McIntyre
HOUSE NDAA TARGETS DOD ABORTION POLICY: While Republicans and Democrats accuse each other of politicizing the annual defense policy bill, one thing is clear: the version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act emerging from the House is laden with highly-partisan hot-button social issues that likely mean it will have to be passed with only Republican votes.
The NDAA, which dictates how the Pentagon can spend money provided by a separate appropriations bill, traditionally is a model of compromise, enjoying wide bipartisan support. But amendments passed yesterday by the GOP-controlled House that would defund diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, limit medical treatment of transgender troops, and bar the Pentagon from reimbursing travel expenses for servicemembers seeking abortions have Democrats crying foul.
An amendment proposed by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) to rescind the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy, the policy that prompted Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) to block military promotions and confirmations in the Senate, passed 221-213. “This illegal Biden-endorsed policy has no place in our military,” Jackson said on the House floor. “Taxpayer money provided to DOD is intended to provide for our national defense and national security, not to promote the Biden administration’s immoral and radical pro-abortion agenda.”
Another amendment from Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) that would ban the use of taxpayer funds to provide gender reassignment surgery or hormone therapy for transgender troops passed 222-211. Speaking on the House floor, Rosendale cited figures that the military has funded 240 gender reassignment surgeries at a cost of $3.1 million. “This does nothing to help our troops continue to be the most effective fighting force on Earth, and is nothing but a distraction and a waste of valuable taxpayer dollars.”
HOUSE GOP ADVANCES DOZENS OF CONTROVERSIAL AMENDMENTS, THREATENING DEMOCRATIC NDAA SUPPORT
DEMOCRATS ARE LIVID: When the NDAA was sent to the floor on a 58-1 vote, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) hailed it as the “definition of a bipartisan bill” and thanked the top Democrat on the committee, Adam Smith (D-WA), for “his tremendous help in moving this bill through committee.” But that spirit of comity has now dissolved into a torrent of partisan rancor.
“We worked with our colleagues in committee to pass a bill in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote,” said Smith and seven of his fellow Democrats in a statement issued last night. “The bill we passed out of committee sent a clear, united message to our allies and partners, global competitors, and the American people that democracy still works, and Congress is still functional … That bill no longer exists.”
“What was once an example of compromise and functioning government has become an ode to bigotry and ignorance. Attacks on reproductive rights, access to basic health care, and efforts to address our country’s history of racism and marginalization of huge swaths of our country will worsen our recruitment and retention crisis, make our military less capable, and do grievous harm to our national defense and national security,” the Democrat said. “For these reasons, we cannot and will not vote for the NDAA as amended on the House floor.”
If Republicans can pass its version of the NDAA on a party-line vote, Democrats in the Senate will have a shot at removing some of the contentious provisions when the House and Senate versions of the bill are reconciled in committee.
HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP ‘WILL VOTE NO’ ON NDAA FOLLOWING AMENDMENTS
TUBERVILLE UNMOVABLE ON PROMOTION BLOCKADE: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reached out to Tuberville in a failed attempt to persuade the Alabama senator to end his crusade to force the Pentagon to change its abortion travel policy by placing a hold on all promotions of senior military officers.
“During the brief call, Secretary Austin explained to Senator Tuberville the impact the holds are having to military readiness and uncertainty in the force,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on a Zoom call.
“This is a national security issue. It’s a readiness issue. And we shouldn’t kid ourselves. I think any member of the Senate Armed Services Committee knows that,” Austin said in an interview with CNN conducted before the call. “He needs to lift the holds.”
Tuberville’s office described the call as “cordial and productive,” but Tuberville was unpersuaded, and he rebuffed President Joe Biden, who, while in Finland, called Tuberville’s actions “bizarre” and “totally irresponsible.”
“Calling me names is not going to work it out. The president of the United States, I’m glad he knows who I am now. But communication is the best way for negotiations. And there’s been none,” Tuberville told CNN. “Doesn’t like anybody who wants to sit down and visit and work a problem out. It sounds like somebody wants to argue about … I’m not in this to argue. I’m just in this to try to be fair, and do what’s right. There’s no chance of changing my position if we don’t sit down and visit.”
BIDEN RIDICULES TUBERVILLE’S ‘RIDICULOUS’ HOLD ON PENTAGON NOMINATIONS
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CLUSTER MUNITIONS DELIVERED: The Pentagon confirmed yesterday that the first shipment of artillery shells, including cluster munitions, has been delivered to Ukraine, and a senior Ukrainian general says the controversial weapon has already reached the front lines.
“We just got them. We haven’t used them yet,” Brig. Gen. Oleksander Tarnavsky told CNN’s Alex Marquardt. “But they can radically change the battlefield. The enemy also understands that with getting this ammunition, we will have an advantage.”
The Pentagon said Ukraine has agreed to confine the use of cluster munitions to the battlefield, where they are trying to dislodge Russian forces and break through their formidable front-line defenses.
“We’ve talked with Ukrainian leadership about the employment of cluster munitions,” said Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the Joint Staff operations director. “I would tell you I don’t think that the Ukrainians have any interest in using the cluster munitions anywhere near the civilian population, unlike the Russians.”
US CLUSTER MUNITIONS ALREADY IN UKRAINE
SLOW PROGRESS: The Ukrainian General Staff says Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations in the Bakhmut, Melitopol, in western Zaporizhia Oblast, and Berdyansk regions, but so far continue to report modest successes, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
“I think if I could sum it up in a single word, I’d tell you it’s because it’s really hard,” said Sims when asked to explain why Ukraine’s counteroffensive is off to a slow start. “We’re talking about, you know, actual human beings that are in the midst of some pretty severe fighting … They’re using new equipment and they’re doing that all while being shot at and bombed, not to mention the extensive mining that the Russians have put in place.”
“Where they are gaining hundreds of meters a day, maybe a kilometer a day in some places, they’re doing that at great cost in terms of effort,” he said. “So this is hard warfare, it’s in really tough terrain, it’s under fire, and really, when you consider all of that, it’s pretty remarkable.”
And Sims said, with the exception of the 1991 Gulf War, offensives take time, and often come with heavy casualties. “Let me take you back to World War II — I mean, just from the time when we hit the beaches at D-Day, you were looking at two months before the breakout.
JOE BIDEN, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY GET WHAT THEY NEEDED FROM CONSEQUENTIAL NATO SUMMIT
WHERE’S POPOV? The latest sign of division in Russia’s military command is the firing of a senior commander for apparently complaining about the failures of his superior to adequately support the troops in the field.
Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, the commander of the 58th army in the Zaporizhzhia region, was relieved of command after releasing an audio message in which he accused a “senior commander” of hitting his troops from the rear, “treacherously, and violently decapitating the army at the most difficult and tense moment.”
“The top officers apparently saw me as a source of threat and rapidly issued an order to get rid of me, which was signed by the defense minister in just one day,” Popov said.
“Popov’s dismissal over the issue of Russian casualties and reported complaints about lack of force rotations further supports ISW’s assessment that Russian defenses in Ukraine are likely brittle,” the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment.
BIDEN SIGNS ORDER TO CALL UP 3,000 TROOPS FOR OPERATION ATLANTIC RESOLVE IN EUROPE
WHERE’S PRIGOZHIN? The other mystery enveloping the Kremlin these days is the fate of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has disappeared from view and reportedly met with Russian President Vladimir Putin five days after the short-lived July 24 mutiny.
Putin, in remarks published in Kommersant, one of Russia’s top newspapers, suggested the Wagner mercenary group has been disbanded.
“But Wagner does not exist,” Putin told Kommersant, according to Reuters. “There is no law on private military organizations. It just doesn’t exist.”
Asked about Prigozhin, President Joe Biden told reporters in Finland, for all he knows, he may have been poisoned. “We’re not even sure where he is and what relationship he has. If I were he, I’d be careful what I ate. I’d be keeping my eye on my menu.”
Retired Gen. Robert Abrams, former U.S. Korea commander, told ABC News he doubts Prigozhin is still alive. “I personally don’t think he is, and if he is, he’s in a prison somewhere,”
BIDEN QUIPS PRIGOZHIN SHOULD ‘BE CAREFUL’ WITH WHAT HE EATS
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: House GOP advances dozens of controversial amendments, threatening Democratic NDAA support
Washington Examiner: House Democratic leadership ‘will vote no’ on NDAA following amendments
Washington Examiner: Biden ridicules Tuberville’s ‘ridiculous’ hold on Pentagon nominations
Washington Examiner: White House attacks Republicans for being silent on Tuberville’s military blockade
Washington Examiner: NDAA opens Republicans up to 2024 attacks on abortion
Washington Examiner: Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky get what they needed from consequential NATO summit
Washington Examiner: Biden signs order to call up 3,000 troops for Operation Atlantic Resolve in Europe
Washington Examiner: Biden quips Prigozhin should ‘be careful’ with what he eats
Washington Examiner: US cluster munitions already in Ukraine
Washington Examiner: Blinken meets with Chinese counterpart following Raimondo hack
Washington Examiner: China fears AI will promote ‘overthrow of the socialist system’
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Not-so-free speech: ‘Pro-China’ Elon Musk endorses AI governance alongside China
Washington Examiner: Editorial: House must save military from Biden’s climate obsession
NBC: Air Force general who predicted war with China leads ‘unprecedented’ training exercise
DefenseScoop: DOD Tests Airborne Microwave Weapon’s Ability to Defeat Kamikaze Drones
Breaking Defense: Turbine ‘Fatigue’ Issue Forced F-22 Engine Retrofit, Air Force Says
Defense One: F-35 Test Squadron Works to Wring Out Upgrade Problems
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Bombers Surge in the Pacific: B-52s Arrive in Guam, B-1s in Japan
Aviation Week: US Air Force Expects KC-46 Deliveries to Resume Next Month
The War Zone: Private Aerial Refueling Tanker Has Gassed Up an Air Force Plane for the First Time
Air Force Times: New NDAA Amendment Would Add Two More F-15EXs for Air Guard in 2025
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force to Get Two New Four-Stars, Including a New SPACECOM Boss
Air & Space Forces Magazine: How the Air Force Plans to Implement Its Ambitious Energy and Climate Goals
19fortyfive.com: Is North Korea Slowly Trying to Start a Crisis with Joe Biden?
Forbes: Opinion: Five Reasons The Road To Revitalizing American Manufacturing Runs Through The Pentagon
Calendar
FRIDAY | JULY 14
9:15 a.m. 2141 Rayburn — House Judiciary Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Subcommittee hearing: “Fixing FISA, Part II,” with testimony from Jonathan Turley, professor of public interest law at the George Washington University Law School; Phil Kiko, principal at Williams & Jensen, former chief of staff and general counsel at the House Judiciary Committee and former chief administrative officer of the House of Representatives; and Gene Schaerr, general counsel at the Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability http://judiciary.house.gov
10 a.m. — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “The Next Century of Aerial Refueling,” with Jon Ludwigson, director of contracting and national security acquisitions at the Government Accountability Office; former Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas Sharpy, owner of the Sharpy Group; Jeremiah Gertler, director of the Defense Concepts Organization; and Timothy Walton, senior fellow at the Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology https://www.hudson.org/events/next-century-aerial-refueling
10 a.m. — United States Institute of Peace virtual discussion: “The Evolution of Peacekeeper Training: New Approaches for the Complexity of Modern Peacekeeping Missions,” with Claudia Croci, chief of pre-deployment training at the U.N. Institute for Training and Research; Ouiem Chettaoui, senior officer at the USIP Conflict Management Program for Peacekeepers; Yaro Hamidou, trainer at the USIP Conflict Management Program for Peacekeepers; and Andrew Cheatham, senior adviser for global policy at USIP https://www.usip.org/events/evolution-peacekeeper-training
2 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW — Atlantic Council discussion: “How can the U.S. Support Moldova’s Western Aspirations?” with Doina Gherman, chairwoman of the Moldovan Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and European Integration Committee; and Igor Grosu, president of the Moldovan Parliament https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
TUESDAY | JULY 18
1 p.m. 2154 Rayburn — House Oversight and Accountability Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee hearing: “Getting Nowhere: DoD’s Failure to Replace the Defense Travel System,” with testimony from Jeff Register, director of the Special Operations Division, Defense Human Resources Activity in the Office of the Defense Undersecretary for Personnel & Readiness; and Elizabeth Field, director of defense capabilities and management at the Government Accountability Office https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/getting-nowhere-dods-failure-to-replace-the-defense-travel-system/
2 p.m. HVC-210 — House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe hearing: “Stability and Security in the Western Balkans: Assessing U.S. Policy,” with testimony from Gabriel Escobar, deputy assistant secretary, State Department Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/stability-and-security-in-the-western-balkans
2 p.m. — Foundation for Defense of Democracies virtual and in-person discussion: “Iran’s Terror Proxies on Israel’s Borders,” with retired Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, former international spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces; Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research, FDD; Joe Truzman, research analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal; and moderated by Enia Krivine, senior director, FDD Israel Program https://www.fdd.org/events/2023/07/18/irans-terror-proxies-on-israels-borders
WEDNESDAY | JULY 19
9 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Cyber, Information Technology, and Innovation Subcommittee hearing: “Man and Machine: Artificial Intelligence on the Battlefield,” with testimony from Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI; Klon Kitchen, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; and Haniyeh Mahmoudian, global AI ethicist for DataRobot https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings/citi-hearing
2 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee hearing: “Admissions, Curriculum, and Diversity of Thought at the Military Service Academies,” with testimony from Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland, superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point; Vice Adm. Sean Buck, superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy; and Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
2 p.m. 310 Cannon — House Homeland Security Committee hearing: “Biden and Mayorkas’ Open Border: Advancing Cartel Crime in America.” https://homeland.house.gov/media-advisory
FRIDAY | JULY 21
9 a.m. 201 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Maryland — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and the Intelligence and National Security Alliance Intelligence and National Security Summit, with Julian Gewirtz, deputy coordinator for China global affairs at the State Department; Rear Adm. Thomas Henderschedt, intelligence director, J2, at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; Lt. Gen. Robert “Bob” Ashley Jr., CEO of Ashley Global Leadership and Security and former deputy chief of staff for intelligence, G2, at the Army; Aastha Verma, chief of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Division; Rachel Grunspan, AI lead for the intelligence community in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Lakshmi Raman, CIA director of artificial intelligence innovation; and Jason Wang, technical director of the National Security Agency’s Computer and Analytic Sciences Research Group; and Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser https://www.insaonline.org/detail-pages/event
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies in-person and virtual event: “Acquisition for Decision Advantage: The Role of the CDAO in Scaling Software Solutions,” with Margie Palmieri, deputy chief digital and artificial intelligence officer, Department of Defense; and Cynthia Cook, director, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group, and senior fellow, International Security Program https://www.csis.org/events/acquisition-decision-advantage
QUOTE OF THE DAY “They’re using new equipment and they’re doing that all while being shot at and bombed … it’s really, really hard. I don’t think it’s impossible, and I think that’s what we’re seeing from the Ukrainians, is that they are really making a go of it in great order, really, across the battlefield … and really, when you consider all of that, it’s pretty remarkable.” Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, the Joint Staff operations director, on the methodical pace of the Ukainian counteroffensive.