JEFFRIES: ALL LEGISLATIVE OPTIONS ARE ON THE TABLE: The pressure is on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to find a way to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to bring the $95 billion foreign aid bill that sailed through the Senate 70-29 to a vote on the House floor, where it would surely also pass with a wide bipartisan majority.
“There are clearly more than 300 members of the House of Representatives, the overwhelming amount of Democrats and a significant number of Republicans, who would support the national security legislation, were it to receive an up-or-down vote on the floor of the House,” Jeffries said on CNN yesterday.
Jeffries’s best bet is a long shot, a rarely successful legislative maneuver known as a “discharge petition,” which would require at least four Republicans to join all 212 Democrats to force a floor vote over Johnson’s objections. Jeffries will soon have one more vote to work with as Democrat Tom Suozzi, a former congressman, won the special House election in New York to fill the seat of expelled Rep. George Santos.
“All legislative options are on the table, and that certainly includes a discharge petition,” Jeffries said, adding that a Democratic caucus meeting set for this will provide “some clarity as to how we’re going to proceed.”
“There are member-to-member conversations that have been ongoing over the last several days from Democratic members of the caucus to Republican members of their conference talking about what is possible if House Republican leaders continue to do the bidding of the former President Donald Trump,” Jeffries said.
Johnson meanwhile is in a box. If he caves to pressure to allow a vote on the bill, he will face the prospect of losing the speakership. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) said House Republicans would most surely call for a vote to vacate the chair, which requires only one House member to initiate.
“Multiple of my colleagues have already promised that — I believe that it’s not an empty threat,” Davidson told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I think he would clearly need Democrats to be able to hold on to the gavel if he went straight to the floor with a Senate package.”
HOUSE DEMOCRATS PUSH SPEAKER JOHNSON INTO CORNER ON UKRAINE AID BILL
SOARING RHETORIC: Democrats led by President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) described the looming showdown over Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan aid as holding the very fate of Western democracy in the balance.
Schumer called the legislation passed in the wee hours of Tuesday morning “one of the most historic and consequential bills to pass the Senate, a bill that so greatly impacts not just our national security, not just the security of our allies, but also the security of Western democracy as we know it.”
“The Republicans in Congress who think they can oppose funding for Ukraine and not be held accountable, history is watching. History is watching. History is watching,” Biden said in afternoon remarks at the White House. “Failure to support Ukraine in this critical moment will never be forgotten.”
“We’ve all seen the terrible stories in recent weeks — Ukrainian soldiers out of artillery shells, Ukrainian units rationing rounds of ammunition to defend themselves, Ukrainian families worried that the next Russian strike will permanently plunge them into darkness, or worse,” Biden said. “This bipartisan bill sends a clear message to Ukrainians and to our partners and to our allies around the world — America can be trusted, America can be relied upon, and America stands up for freedom. We stand strong for our allies. We never bow down to anyone and certainly not to Vladimir Putin.”
“We can’t walk away now. That’s what Putin’s betting on,” he added. “He just flatly said that. Supporting this bill is standing up to Putin. Opposing it is playing into Putin’s hands.”
BIDEN URGES JOHNSON TO BRING SENATE’S UKRAINE FUNDING BILL TO HOUSE FLOOR
‘NOT ONE DIME FOR UKRAINE,’ OR ALABAMA: In his plea for House passage, Biden appealed to the parochial interests of House members, noting that roughly $50 billion of the $60 billion in military assistance money for Ukraine will be spent in the United States in key congressional districts around the country.
“And the way it works is we supply Ukraine with military equipment from our stockpiles and then we spend our money replenishing those stockpiles so our military has access to them,” Biden said. “While this bill sends military equipment to Ukraine, it spends the money right here in the United States of America, places like Arizona where the Patriot missiles are built, in Alabama where the Javelin missiles are built, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas where artillery shells are made.”
Lawmakers such as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who has proudly proclaimed he won’t vote for “one dime for Ukraine,” are opposing billions that would be spent on replenishing Pentagon stockpiles that are made in America by American workers. “That not only supports American jobs and American communities, it allows us to invest in maintaining and strengthening our own defense manufacturing capacity,” Biden argued.
DEMOCRAT TOM SUOZZI FLIPS GOP HOUSE SEAT IN SPECIAL ELECTION TO REPLACE GEORGE SANTOS
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HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at 3:30 p.m. yesterday and resumed his duties as of 5 p.m.
“On the advice of his doctors, Secretary Austin will recuperate and perform his duties remotely from home for a period before returning to work at the Pentagon later this week. He has full access to the unclassified and classified communications systems necessary to perform his duties,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Austin was readmitted to the hospital to identify and treat a “bladder issue,” which doctors said was corrected with “non-surgical procedures” Monday. “He progressed well and was discharged,” the doctors said. “The bladder issue was not related to his cancer diagnosis and will have no effect on his excellent cancer prognosis.”
Austin is scheduled to deliver opening remarks at 8:30 a.m. to today’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which was changed from an in-person to a virtual meeting to accommodate Austin.
Ukraine is still “in the fight of their life,” Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, told reporters yesterday. “So some of the most urgent needs for Ukraine right now remain air defenses and artillery.”
“The United States has not provided a presidential drawdown package for Ukraine since Dec. 27, and as the president said in his statement earlier today, the cost of inaction is rising every day,” Singh said.
LLOYD AUSTIN RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER SECOND STAY THIS YEAR
UKRAINE DOES IT AGAIN! Ukraine’s Defense Ministry boasted today about another dramatic sinking of a Russian warship in Ukrainian waters off the coast of occupied Crimea. A grainy black-and-white video posted on the ministry’s X site shows the amphibious landing ship Caesar Kunikov as a drone approaches its port side and then another view showing the ship listing badly before sinking.
“1 Russian ship was upgraded to a submarine,” the ministry gloated about the latest embarrassing blow for the Russian Black Sea Fleet. “Black Sea fish will definitely like Caesar salad.” According to Ukraine’s General Staff, the ship can carry 87 crew members.
It is the second time in two weeks Ukraine has claimed to have sunk a Russian ship in the Black Sea. Last week, a video posted on social media showed seaborne drones hitting the Russian missile-armed corvette Ivanovets.
MAYORKAS IMPEACHED: In a legislative action that is largely symbolic, the House impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a single vote, 214-213, in a historic vote that has little practical impact, given that Democrats who control the Senate have dismissed the vote as a “sham impeachment.”
“He gets to say he’s the second Cabinet secretary in the history of the United States to be impeached by Congress. I think that ought to say something,” Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) told CNN.
“House Republicans failed to produce any evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has committed any crime. House Republicans failed to show he has violated the Constitution. House Republicans failed to present any evidence of anything resembling an impeachable offense,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said. “This is a new low for House Republicans.”
Three Republicans, Reps. Ken Buck (R-CO), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), and Tom McClintock (R-CA), voted with Democrats against the measure.
“I prosecuted for 25 years. I know what a high crime and misdemeanor are, and I know that this doesn’t qualify. This is a policy difference,” Buck told CNN last night. “You can try to put lipstick on this pig. It is still a pig, and this is a terrible impeachment. It sets a terrible precedent.”
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS IMPEACHED BY HOUSE OVER BORDER CRISIS AFTER SURVIVING VOTE LAST WEEK
THE PRESIDENT’S POOR MEMORY: The president sat down for a long interview last week, and when asked about events of more than a decade ago, his memory failed him — more than once. The aging president couldn’t remember what year he met with his counterpart to discuss a major missile defense treaty and was confused as to who invited him*.
“I don’t remember. It is easy to find out on the internet,” the president said. When asked about a much more recent event, a phone conversation with a world leader about the current war in Ukraine, again the president suffered a memory lapse. “I cannot remember when I talked to him. I do not remember, we can look it up,” the president said.
His interlocutor was incredulous. “You do not remember?” the interviewer gasped. “But he is funding the war that you are fighting, so I think that would be memorable.”
“Do I have to remember everything?” the 71-year-old president snapped back. “I have my own things to do. We have domestic political affairs.”
And with that, Vladimir Putin and Tucker Carlson moved on to other topics, according to the Kremlin transcript.
*Putin said George H.W. Bush invited him to Kennebunkport, but it was his son, George W. Bush, who was president in 2007 and invited the Russian leader to his father’s oceanside home in Maine. And it was Bush 43 whose national security team negotiated with Putin. Although the elder Bush was there to greet Putin and invited him for a white-knuckle ride on the family boat.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Biden urges Johnson to bring Senate’s Ukraine funding bill to House floor
Washington Examiner: House Democrats push Speaker Johnson into corner on Ukraine aid bill
Washington Examiner: Biden lambastes Trump NATO comments as ‘un-American’ and ‘dangerous’
Washington Examiner: US torn between condemning, spinning Trump’s NATO comments
Washington Examiner: Democrat Tom Suozzi flips GOP House seat in special election to replace George Santos
Washington Examiner: Alejandro Mayorkas impeached by House over border crisis after surviving vote last week
Washington Examiner: Hundreds of Chinese immigrants arrested by California Border Patrol in single day
Washington Examiner: Lloyd Austin released from hospital after second stay this year
Washington Examiner: Russia puts NATO leader and other Baltic officials on wanted list
Washington Examiner: Lindsey Graham hews close to Trump with Ukraine bill ‘no’ vote
Washington Examiner: China ‘penetrating’ electrical grids, NATO ally spy agency warns
Washington Examiner: Caught on camera: Hamas leader Sinwar seen in Gaza tunnel footage released by IDF
Washington Examiner: UNRWA chief decries defunding as ‘shortsighted’
AP: The House has impeached the Homeland Security secretary. Here’s what you should know and what’s next
New York Times: As U.S. Weighs Aid, Ukraine Turns To European Allies For Support
New York Times: Kyiv Says Russia Fired Formidable New Missile
NBC News: Joint Chiefs Head Says US ‘Credibility Is at Stake’ Following Trump’s NATO Remarks
AP: Airstrike from Israeli hostage rescue wipes out entire Palestinian family in Gaza border town
Navy Times: Why The Navy Says Its Red Sea And Gulf Of Aden Battles Are Historic
Defense News: U.S. Navy Updating Tactics For Sensors, Weapons Based On Houthi Attacks
Breaking Defense: ‘Multiple’ Countries’ NATO-Trained Troops Successfully Recruited by China: General
AP: Detecting Russian ‘carrots’ and ‘tea bags’: Ukraine decodes enemy chatter to save lives
Air Force Times: Timeline on Returning Ospreys to Flight Remains Murky, Air Force Says
USNI News: Navy Surging C-2A Greyhounds As V-22 Groundings Continue
The War Zone: ‘I Would Love to Have More F-15EXs,’ Air Guard Boss Says
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Is Hitting 2024 Monthly Recruiting Goals, But Threat of CR Looms Large
Air & Space Forces Magazine: All Options on the Table to Cover $35 Billion Gap on Sentinel ICBM
Defense One: ‘Unexpected’ Engineering Slows Price Negotiations on USAF Radar Plane
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Allvin: Drones, New Technology Driving ‘Reinvention’ of Airpower and USAF
Defense News: Franchetti Confident Prototypes Will Usher In Manned-Unmanned Fleet
USNI News: CNO Franchetti: Navy Exploring Robotics Rating As Unmanned Systems Expand
Military.com: Despite Deadly Attack, US Military Still Grappling with How to Handle Enemy Drones
Space News: Space Force Continues to Tweak Plan to Partner with Commercial Industry
Air & Space Forces Magazine: CSO: Why the Space Force Won’t Be Introducing Warrant Officers
Air & Space Forces Magazine: ‘Hours Rather Than Days’: USSF Wants to Go Even Faster with Responsive Space
Forbes: Opinion: Army Rethink Of Aviation Priorities Is A Big Boost For Boeing
THE CALENDAR:
WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 14
5 a.m. Brussels, Belgium — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg previews Thursday’s NATO defense ministerial at NATO Headquarters https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news
8:30 a.m. — Opening remarks by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group https://www.defense.gov/News/Live-Events/
8:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion of a new report, “Building International Support for Taiwan,” with Ryan Hass, Brookings Institution chairman in China studies; Manoj Kewalramani, Takshashila Institution fellow in China studies; Janka Oertel, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations’s Asia Program; Jude Blanchette, CSIS chairman in China studies; and Lily McElwee, CSIS chairwoman in China studies https://www.csis.org/events/building-international-support-taiwan-report-launch
9:30 a.m. Aurora, Colorado — Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium: “Preparing for Great Power Conflict,” with Jade Baranski, CEO and co-founder of Mobilize; Brian Morrison, vice president and general manager of space, cyber, and intelligence systems at General Dynamics Mission Systems; Latisha Rourke, vice president of cyber intelligence and general manager at Lockheed Martin: and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall https://www.afa.org/afa-warfare-symposium
10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “AUKUS (Australia-UK-US) Implementation and Challenges to International Security and Arms Control in the 21st Century,” with testimony from Bonnie Jenkins, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/aukus-implementation
10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies call-in press briefing: “Assessing the War in Ukraine,” with Seth Jones, senior vice president, director, CSIS International Security Program; Eliot Cohen, Arleigh A. Burke chairman in Strategy, CSIS; Max Bergmann, director, Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program and Stuart Center, CSIS; Maria Snegovaya, senior fellow, Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program, CSIS; Romina Bandura, senior fellow, Project on Prosperity and Development, Project on U.S. Leadership in Development, CSIS. RSVP: Samuel Cestari [email protected]
11 a.m. Brussels, Belgium — Joint press conference by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. at conclusion of Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting https://www.defense.gov/News/Live-Events/
12 p.m. 1333 H St. NW — Center for American Progress Action Fund in-person and virtual discussion: “Select Committee Democrats: A Smart and Confident U.S.-China Policy,” with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI); and Alan Yu, senior vice president at the National Security and International Policy at the CAP Action Fund https://www.americanprogressaction.org/events
2 p.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “Iran’s Proxy in Yemen: The Houthi Threat to Middle East Stability, Global Shipping, and U.S. Servicemembers,” with testimony from Simone Ledeen, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the middle east; Kenneth Pollack, former CIA analyst and National Security Council director for the Persian Gulf; and Jon Alterman, senior vice president, Center for Strategic and International Studies https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/irans-proxy-in-yemen
THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 15
3 a.m. Brussels, Belgium — NATO defense ministers meet at NATO Headquarters, with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg scheduled to give a press conference https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news
10 a.m. 2218 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “Outpacing China: Expediting the Fielding of Innovation,” with testimony from William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering; and Doug Beck, director, Defense Innovation Unit https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings/outpacing-china
10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “Behind the Scenes: How the Biden Administration Failed to Enforce the Doha Agreement,” with testimony from Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. State Department special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/behind-the-scenes
12 p.m. 1744 R St. NW — German Marshall Fund of the U.S. in-person and virtual discussion: “The Global Dimension of Ukraine’s Cyber Defense,” with U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy Nathaniel Fick; Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly; Margaret Brennan, CBS foreign affairs correspondent and moderator of Face the Nation; and Christopher Schroeder, vice chairman of the GMFUS Board of Trustees https://www.gmfus.org/event/global-dimension-ukraines-cyber-defense
1 p.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion: “Should Ukraine Have Kept Nuclear Weapons? Deconstructing the Decision to Disarm,” with Mariana Budjeryn, senior research associate at Harvard University’s Project on Managing the Atom and author of Inheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine https://carnegieendowment.org/2024/02/15/should-ukraine-have-kept-nuclear-weapons
**2 p.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “Going Nuclear on Rosatom: Ending Global Dependence on Putin’s Nuclear Energy Sector,” with testimony from David Albright, president, Institute for Science and International Security; Anthony Ruggiero, senior director and senior fellow, Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Theresa Sabonis-Helf, concentration chair for science, technology, and international affairs, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/going-nuclear-on-rosatom
2:30 p.m. — U.S. Institute of Peace and State Department virtual discussion: “The Indo-Pacific Strategy in Action: Commemorating the Second Anniversary,” with Mira Rapp-Hooper, special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceana at the National Security Council; Donald Lu, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affair; Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs; Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security affairs Ely Ratner; Lise Grande, USIP president and CEO; and Vikram Singh, USIP senior adviser for South Asia https://www.usip.org/events/indo-pacific-strategy
7 p.m. — New America and Arizona State University Future Security Initiative virtual discussion: “Swift Justice: A Taliban Courtroom in Session,” with Victor Blue, New America fellow, photojournalist, and writer focusing on the legacy of armed conflict https://www.newamerica.org/future-security/events
FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 16
4 a.m. Munich, Germany — Munich Security Conference runs from Feb. 16 to Feb. 18 at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich https://securityconference.org/en/msc-2024
7:45 a.m. 11493 Sunset Hills Rd., Reston, Virginia — Government Executive Media Group Washington Technology discussion: “Inside the New National Defense Industrial Strategy,” with Danielle Miller, acting deputy assistant defense secretary for industrial base resilience, and Nick Wakeman, editor in chief of Washington Technology https://events.washingtontechnology.com/defense-industrial-strategy/
10 a.m. 2301 Constitution Ave. NW — U.S. Institute of Peace Institute of Current World Affairs, and American Purpose discussion: “Life After Putin: Potential Scenarios for a Post-Authoritarian Russia,” with Sergei Guriev, professor of economics at Sciences Po Paris University; Mikhail Zygar, founding editor in chief of Dozhd; Miriam Lanskoy, senior director for Russia and Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy; and Jorgan Andrews, former deputy assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs and USIP fellow https://www.usip.org/events/life-after-putin
10 a.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace virtual discussion: “U.S. Policy and the Israel-Hamas War,” with State Department Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues David Satterfield https://carnegieendowment.org/2024/02/16/u.s.-policy-and-israel-hamas-war12 p.m. 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies discussion: on “U.S.-Korea Relations,” with Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events