Congress staves off a shutdown, gives the Pentagon emergency funding Presented by Northrop Grumman

With Eli Okun, Connor O’Brien and Jacqueline Klimas

A PROGRAMMING NOTE: Morning Defense will not publish from Dec. 25-Jan. 1. Our next Morning Defense newsletter will publish on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

TOP NEWS — CONGRESS STAVES OFF SHUTDOWN, write POLITICO’s Rachael Bade, John Bresnahan and Seung Min Kim: “Congress passed a short-term government funding bill Thursday, ensuring that Washington will not face a shutdown just days before Christmas.

“The House passed the measure, which would keep federal agencies open through Jan. 19, on a 231-188 vote. The Senate cleared it 66-32 soon after, giving congressional leaders and President Donald Trump another month to hash out a long-term spending deal for the remainder of fiscal 2018.”

— CR INCLUDES EMERGENCY PENTAGON FUNDING, adds our colleague Connor O’Brien: The stopgap spending legislation includes an extra $4.7 billion in emergency spending for missile defense programs and repairs to two badly damaged Navy destroyers.

“The measure includes a total of approximately $2.4 billion for missile defense procurement. It would allocate $1.3 billion for missile defense research and development across the military services as well as $43 million for missile defense operations and maintenance for missile defense. The CR also includes $200 million for the construction of a missile interceptor field in Alaska.

“The legislation also allocates $674 million to repair the Navy destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS John McCain. The ships were badly damaged in separate collisions in the Pacific that killed a combined 17 sailors.”

The full text of the updated CR is here. And a short summary is here.

And defense hawks back the bill: Only three Republican members of House Armed Services Committee voted against it: Reps. Rob Wittman of Virginia, Duncan Hunter of California and Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Among the supporters: HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry of Texas, who reluctantly backed the bill, explaining he hoped it provided negotiators the opportunity to strike a deal to lift defense budget caps.

“I’m not satisfied,” the Texas Republican said via your Morning D correspondent. “I will support the continuing resolution, but ... Nine years of continuing resolutions and inadequate funding has done enormous damage to the military.”

Only two Democratic HASC members backed the stopgap: Reps. Stephanie Murphy of Florida and Tom O’Halleran of Arizona.

In the Senate, Armed Services Republicans unanimously backed the bill, with the exception of SASC Chairman John McCain, who remains at home in Arizona, battling brain cancer.

“I am profoundly disappointed that leadership in Congress and the White House failed to reach agreement on a budget deal,” McCain said in a written statement. “As we wait another four weeks in hopes that congressional leaders negotiate a compromise, the military will work overtime to keep an already dire situation from getting worse.”

SASC Democrats split on the CR, with Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Elizabeth Warren Massachusetts opposing it.

The full House roll call is here. And the full Senate roll call is here .

Top House Veterans' Affairs Democrat Tim Walz of Minnesota also opposed the CR. In a dear colleague letter, Walz argued the inclusion of $2.1 billion to replenish the private care Veterans Choice Program — which is set to run out of money within a month — should be paired with additional funding for the VA itself, Connor reports.

And Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan predicts fiscal year 2020 will likely be “the masterpiece ... the next biggest step we can take,” towards the administration’s promised military buildup, our colleague Jacqueline Klimas adds.

HAPPY FRIDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, where we're wishing our loyal readers and service members worldwide a happy holiday season — and for a Badger win in the Orange Bowl. Email us at [email protected], and follow on Twitter @greg_hellman, @morningdefenseand @politicopro.

MD TRIVIA: The Defense Logistics Agency delivers holiday meals to deployed service members around the globe. How many gallons of egg nog will it deliver this year to troops stationed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait?

The reader with the closest guess to Morning D ( [email protected]) wins a mention in the Jan. 2 edition when we return.

HAPPENING TODAY — U.N. EYES NEW NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS, Reuters reports: “The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Friday on a U.S.-drafted resolution that seeks to toughen sanctions on North Korea in response to its latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch, diplomats said.

“The draft, seen by Reuters on Thursday, seeks to ban nearly 90 percent of refined petroleum product exports to North Korea by capping them at 500,000 barrels a year and demand the repatriation of North Koreans working abroad within 12 months. It would also cap crude oil supplies to North Korea at 4 million barrels a year. The United States has been calling on China to limit its oil supply to its neighbor and ally.”

Tougher sanctions could work this time, analysts say ahead of the vote, via Reuters.

Meanwhile, China delays a move to blacklist ships the U.S. says aid North Korea, reports The Wall Street Journal.

And here’s what made North Korea’s weapons programs so much scarier this year, writes The Washington Post.

COMING IN 2018 — NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY AND REVIEWS, via Jacqueline: “Shanahan said he expects the Pentagon to release its National Defense Strategy in January, followed by much-anticipated Nuclear Posture Review and Ballistic Missile Defense Review in February.”

“We will probably talk about the National Defense Strategy probably a hundred thousand times” in 2018, Shanahan predicted via Defense News. “Because if we don’t talk about it a hundred thousand times, it will just become a document that lives on a shelf ― and the difference between strategy and real outcomes if you marshal resources.”

A message from Northrop Grumman: At 50,000 feet, the ocean seems empty. But if you know what to look for, vast intelligence can be gathered. That’s why we built Triton. With its powerful sensors and integrated comms, Triton can scan thousands of miles in a single flight and relay data back to base. Learn more

TOP DOC — THE NAVY UNDERESTIMATED SUB RISKS, the Government Accountability Office says: The Navy underrepresented technology risks in a 2015 assessment for its Columbia Class submarine, GAO concludes in a new report.

The Navy needs to complete additional development and testing to demonstrate the maturity of several key technologies. And unexpected delays could delay the deployment of the lead submarine past the 2031 deadline, GAO adds.

STAGE SET FOR SUPREME COURT APPEAL ON TRANSGENDER BAN, reports The Hill: “A three-judge panel on a federal appeals court ruled Thursday against the Trump administration’s efforts to delay accepting transgender recruits into the military. A two-paragraph order said Judges Diana Gribbon Motz, Albert Diaz and Pamela Harris on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Virginia are denying the administration’s request to delay the Jan. 1 deadline, without further explanation.

“The decision sets up the case for a potential appeal to the Supreme Court.”

MATTIS GIVES PEP TALK TO TROOPS AT GUANTANAMO BAY, via The Associated Press: “On a rare visit to the home of the U.S. military’s prison for terror suspects, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis offered a pep talk Thursday to American troops — and urged them to always be ready for war.

“‘I need you to be at the top of your game,’ he told an assembly of several hundred troops, citing their roles both as a fighting force and as a positive example to a politically divided America of how to work together. The unannounced visit was the first by a defense secretary since Donald H. Rumsfeld came here in January 2002 shortly after the first prisoners arrived from Afghanistan.”

WAR REPORT — PENCE VISITS AFGHANISTAN, VOWS THE U.S. IS ‘HERE TO SEE THIS THROUGH,’ via the AP: “Vice President Mike Pence told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on a secret visit to Afghanistan on Thursday that the U.S. is ‘here to see this through’ as they discussed a newly announced U.S. strategy to break the stalemate in America’s longest war and consulted on upcoming parliamentary elections.

"Pence’s surprise pre-Christmas visit was the first to the war-torn country by either Trump or the vice president, and it came as the Trump administration charts a pathway for ending the 16-year war in Afghanistan.

“‘We’re here to see this through,’ Pence told Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah at the presidential palace in Kabul, arriving after a helicopter ride through smoky, dark skies surrounding Afghanistan’s capital.”

Two Fort Carson combat brigades will deploy to Afghanistan early next year, adds Stars and Stripes.

And the U.S. touts Afghanistan special operations raids in rare detail, Bloomberg writes.

— U.S. AND RUSSIAN ENVOYS SOUND-OFF ON SYRIA: “Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for Syria said on Thursday that there was no reason for U.S. forces to remain in Syria and that Washington’s stated reasons for maintaining a military presence there were groundless,” via Reuters.

“Any reasons cited by the Americans to justify their further military presence ... are just excuses and we think their presence must end,” he told reporters.

Russia is likely to maintain a big presence in Syria despite Putin’s announcement of a partial military withdrawal, the U.S. special envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State insurgent group said on Friday, also via Reuters.

“I’ve seen the announcement that they ... are going to withdraw from Syria, but that remains to be seen,” U.S. envoy Brett McGurk told reporters. “I think they will retain a fairly significant presence.”

And as the Syria war winds down, a tangled map belies conflict ahead, writes the AP.

INDUSTRY INTEL — BOEING CONFIRMS EMBRAER TAKEOVER TALKS, reports the WSJ: “Boeing Co. is in takeover talks with Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer SA, a move to fortify the U.S. aerospace giant against recent efforts by its greatest rival to move into the market for smaller passenger jets.

"A deal would hand Boeing the largest maker of so-called regional jets that serve smaller airline routes, as well as access to Embraer’s well-regarded engineering workforce.

"It is the latest salvo in the global competition between Boeing and Airbus SE, which recently announced a similar deal to take a majority stake in a jetliner program run by Canada’s Bombardier Inc., the second-largest maker of regional jets."

SENATE CONFIRMS DROVES OF NOMINEES: In some year-end cleanup work, the Senate confirmed more than two dozen Trump administration nominees Thursday, including Robert Storch to be NSA inspector general and Jon Rychalski to be chief financial officer for the VA.

Jennifer Scholtes has a full rundown here.

The Senate also agreed to hold over a list pending nominees into next year, which otherwise would've been returned to the White House. That list includes all pending Pentagon nominees, except health affairs nominee Dean Winslow, who withdrew from the confirmation process, but whose nomination hasn't yet been formally withdrawn.

MAKING MOVES — DoD TAPS HILL STAFFER FOR AT&L REORG, reports Jacqueline: The Pentagon announced [Thursday] that Ben FitzGerald, a staffer on the Senate Armed Services Committee, will lead the reorganization of the acquisition, technology and logistics office mandated by the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. FitzGerald, who was also a senior fellow at the Center for New American Security, will serve as the director of the Office of Strategy and Design for five years beginning Jan. 2, the Pentagon announced.

SPEED READ

— Cost-of-living allowances will go to fewer service members in the U.S.: Military Times

— Now that the drawdown is over, the Army is ditching early retirement: Military Times

— The F-35 lands in Montgomery, Ala., and Madison, Wis.: Montgomery Advertiser

— Most of the U.N. rebukes the U.S. on Jerusalem: POLITICO

— Republicans seek answers on Obama actions around Hezbollah: POLITICO

— The U.S. fight in Yemen now includes the Islamic State: Task & Purpose

— Taiwan fighter jets get new electronic warfare capabilities in latest upgrade: Defense News

— Russia is negotiating more arms sales to its Balkan ally Serbia: AP

— How will Europe’s defense cooperation push fare without the U.K.? WSJ

— The U.S. levies sanctions against a Myanmar general and dozens of others: AP

— The Pentagon’s new artificial intelligence is already hunting terrorists: Defense One

— DARPA seeks new tunnel-warfare technology: Defense One

— Illegal VA policy allows hiring since 2002 of medical workers with revoked licenses: USA Today

— New legislation allows faster VA facilities investigations: Stars and Stripes

— House Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) hits Democrats over a Veterans Choice vote: Stars and Stripes

— 'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek asks if it's difficult for a female master sergeant to give orders: Military Times

Follow us on Twitter Dave Brown @dave_brown24



Bryan Bender @bryandbender



Connor O'Brien @connorobriennh



Jacqueline Feldscher @jacqklimas



Lara Seligman @laraseligman