By Jacqueline Feldscher

National Guardsmen walk across deserted 14th Street as roads are blocked and security heightened ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, in Washington. | Julio Cortez/ AP Photo A dozen members of the National Guard have been removed from the mission to protect the presidential inauguration because of various problems in their pasts, defense officials said Tuesday. Two of the troops made […]

Officials are meeting on Monday to review the case and decide Thomas’ fate. Thomas McCaffery, the assistant secretary for health affairs, signed a notice of proposed removal dated Dec. 17, laying out the case for removing Thomas from his post. The Pentagon says the proposed firing is due to Thomas’ poor management of a subordinate. But supporters who have launched a campaign to save Thomas’ job […]

The company is a second-tier supplier to Oshkosh Defense, which is building nearly 50,000 joint light tactical vehicles for the Army to replace the Humvee, a company spokesperson confirmed. Army officials in February said they hope to recompete the contract in 2022 to drive down cost. Huntington Ingalls Industries, one of the nation’s top shipyards, also counts Nucor among its suppliers, an HII spokesperson said. The […]

Stewart was leading the transition effort before she left the Pentagon, so it was expected that Patel would take over those responsibilities. Patel previously worked for Rep. Devin Nunes (R.Calif.), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, and as a staffer played a key role in helping Republicans discredit the Russia probe. He also held a number of roles in the Trump administration, including on […]

Then-Lt. Gen. David Thompson, left, testifies before the Senate Aviation and Space Subcommittee in May 2019. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Space Force’s No. 2 officer has tested positive for coronavirus, the service announced Wednesday night. Gen. David Thompson, the vice chief of space operations, took a test after a close family member also tested positive, according to a news release. He is self-quarantining and working […]

“We need to first calm down any sense of a focus on getting back to normal,” said Karl Hutter, the CEO of Click Bond, a supplier to defense companies. “There’s not going to be a going back to normal.” A top challenge CEOs cited is trying to maintain a company’s culture and community when at least some of the workforce is working from home full-time and […]

Biden’s pledge to rededicate the U.S. to combating climate change would mean a greater role for NASA’s Earth science research, an area that has been squeezed by Trump, according to space leaders who are advising or supporting Biden’s campaign, and outside analysts. “If they talk about the Green New Deal, that would rely heavily on NASA to be a part of getting that implemented using technology […]

The criticism came a week after POLITICO reported that the Trump campaign used an image of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley without his permission. The Biden video, which was published Oct. 10, features an Iraq War veteran talking about how the Democratic nominee played a critical role in making sure troops had mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles to keep them safe from roadside bombs. Interspersed among many […]

“It’s not my practice to speculate,” O’Brien said. “Other people can interpret that what I say is a speculation, but I wasn’t speculating. … When I’m speaking, I’m speaking for the president and I think that’s what the Pentagon is moving out and doing.” The remarks were the latest in an unusually public back-and-forth between two senior advisers to the president on the issue. Differing timelines: […]

If it’s cheaper to get to geostationary orbit, officials can do more launches, which makes it easier to send large equipment up in pieces to maneuver and assemble in space. And once you can operate this way in geostationary orbit, making the jump to the moon isn’t that much of a stretch, Butow said. “As soon as you go to that approach where you’re doing modular […]

Yet Trump’s record tells a different story. All three of his hand-picked defense secretaries had ties to the defense industry: Jim Mattis was a member of the General Dynamics board of directors, Pat Shanahan was an executive with Boeing, and Mark Esper was Raytheon’s top lobbyist. Mattis also returned to his board position shortly after leaving the Pentagon, showing the revolving door between industry and the […]

Context: The investigation comes following repeated accusations that the Trump administration has injected politics into the military. Most recently, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley accompanied President Donald Trump to a photo op outside a church during racial justice protests in Washington, D.C. Milley later said he regretted taking part. But the problem has extended throughout Trump’s presidency, including when the Navy was told to cover […]

“In order to prioritize the lunar landing, things would have to be reduced that also are a priority,” Moran, who also sits on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, told POLITICO. “We will try to provide all the necessary funding to keep Artemis on track for a lunar landing on schedule, but it is and will remain a challenge.” For example, he said, “I don’t […]

This story is based on interviews with 10 industry officials, lobbyists, staffers and experts, many of whom gave their views on condition of anonymity to be candid about the situation. Their opinions varied — some worry the endorsement will impact how well Fanning can fight for the industry’s priorities with the Trump administration, while others said the endorsement won’t harm AIA’s ability to negotiate with Republicans […]

“Right now, our concern is that a farmer is going to be using their tractor out in the field and notice things are off,” Karney said. “I’m not sure a farmer is going to know how to get a hold of Ligado, or how responsive Ligado will be to an individual farmer. What the RETAIN Act does is it puts the financial burden where it needs […]

Reforming space traffic management remains a pressing policy challenge as space launch gets less expensive, orbits become crowded, and maneuvering a satellite can cause a major accident. “We have to have a lead agency for safety,” said D’Uva, who is also a policy advisor for the non-profit Space Data Association. “We have to preserve the environment from an operational perspective. If you have satellites colliding and […]

But Farley, who is also a participating scientist on the Curiosity Mars rover mission, said he hopes Perseverance will find something so compelling in its search for ancient life that lawmakers will be forced to fund a return trip for the samples. “The discoveries we make will play a role in the funding and politics,” he said. “There’s the potential that we will see something that […]

Bridenstine has repeatedly requested the public not descend on Kennedy Space Center to avoid throngs of spectators collecting on nearby beaches. But that appeal has largely gone unheeded this week, with reports of as many as 150,000 people gathering for the historic event. Veteran astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are expected to lift off at 3:22 p.m. on their 19-hour journey to the space station, […]

For now, NASA’s fortunes are tied to Musk’s, who has made headlines recently for antics like vowing to sell all his houses, denouncing coronavirus lockdowns as “fascist” and reopening Tesla’s electric-car factory in defiance of California health authorities. But NASA has big ambitions beyond Wednesday, viewing this launch as a first step to working with commercial providers on ventures like private space stations or human travels […]

Lamborn also spoke to POLITICO about his new efforts to bring more space operations to Colorado and to help space companies weather the pandemic, including protecting their supply chains from disruptions. “I’ve hired someone in my office … full-time on staff just to help with defense companies because there’s so much going on,” he said. ”I want companies to view us as a resource that can […]

Who is contributing ideas? They’re largely coming from our scientific and engineering workforce. For the most part, we asked for ideas in three specific areas. One around personal protective equipment, one around ventilation and one around monitoring and forecasting of Covid-19 spread and environmental and societal impacts. The nature of those topics draws from our scientific and engineering workforce. We did invite any other ideas folks […]

“The IG’s team found that there was no influence by the White House or DoD leadership on the career source selection boards who made the ultimate vendor selection,” he said. “This report should finally close the door on the media and corporate-driven attacks on the career procurement officials who have been working tirelessly to get the much needed JEDI cloud computing environment into the hands of […]