WASHINGTON ― No funding would be available for live nuclear weapons testing under an amendment the House adopted to its version of the annual defense policy bill. The amendment from Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, was adopted, 227-179, in a mostly party-line vote. The House is expected Tuesday to vote to pass the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment’s adoption will likely make it harder for House Republicans to vote for the House’s FY21 NDAA, and it likely sets up a fight with the Republican-controlled SASC when leaders of both panels reconcile their versions of the bill. The FY21NDAA was voted […]
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WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s chief management officer has pushed back on congressional plans to eliminate her office, warning that doing so now guarantees the failure of reform efforts at the department. In an exclusive interview with Defense News, Lisa Hershman, who was confirmed as the CMO in December 2019, stressed that any serious reform effort at the Defense Department requires a full-time official focused on it, one with high-level authority to make choices and force change. “Here’s the thing: Congress has a choice to make,” Hershman said Tuesday. “It’s really about how serious Congress is about reform. And I mean real […]
A House panel late Wednesday approved plans for a $740.5 billion defense authorization bill which would provide a 3 percent raise for troops, limit the president’s ability to withdraw troops from Europe and Afghanistan, and force the military to reckon with Confederate symbols and legacy on its bases. The legislation already faces a veto threat on that last issue, with President Donald Trump vowing on Tuesday to block any legislation that requires the renaming of well-known Army bases which currently honor Confederate military leaders. But the potentially problematic authorization bill approved by the House Armed Services Committee after more than 13 […]
Under the proposal, the defense secretary would decide how the No. 3 civilian job is replaced. The panel approved Ranking Member Mac Thornberry’s amendment during its markup of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday. It was approved by an unanimous voice vote as part of a package of amendments. “I have come to the conclusion that Congress is largely responsible for making this an impossible job, and we need to figure out something different,” Thornberry, of Texas, said on a conference call with reporters. The matter wasn’t discussed at the markup. Under the HASC-approved plan, the defense secretary would […]
WASHINGTON ― Congress is readying proposals to rebuke President Donald Trump’s controversial plans to pull about 10,000 U.S. troops from Germany amid dissatisfaction with the administration’s rationale for the move and concerns it will weaken NATO. As President Donald Trump confirmed rumored plans to draw down American military personnel levels in Germany in coming months, a bipartisan group of senators led by Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney has proposed an amendment to the Senate’s version of the annual defense policy bill that would freeze troop numbers in Germany. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., said separately Tuesday that the […]
New support for an Indo-Pacific Deterrence Initiative suggests it’s a lock for the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act. Source link
