THE FINAL VOTES: The House is coming down to the wire as it works its way through more than 400 amendments to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, with some of the most contentious amendments scheduled for a vote today , including several Republican-backed measures that seem headed for certain defeat in the Democrat-controlled chamber.

Ohio Republican Mike Turner has an amendment to strike the prohibition on the use of funds for the deployment of low-yield ballistic missile warheads, which was defeated by Democrats in committee and will likely fail again.

Democrats are intent on rebuking the Trump administration with votes on several provisions that are not likely to make it into the final bill when it is ultimately reconciled with the Senate version in conference committee.

California Democrat Barbara Lee has an amendment that would repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 and a separate amendment that would express the sense of Congress that the 2001 AUMF, passed after the September 11 attacks, “has been utilized well beyond the scope that Congress intended” and “has served a blank check for any President to wage war at any time and any place.”

New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has two amendments up for a vote that would prohibit President Trump from deploying troops on the southern border to enforce immigration law and bar the detention of undocumented immigrants in Department of Defense facilities.

New Jersey Democrat Tom Malinowski’s amendment would impose a one-year prohibition on the sale of air-to-ground munitions used in the conflict in Yemen to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

‘PACKED WITH POISON PILLS’: Republicans have been howling about how Democrats have been riding roughshod over Republican concerns, accusing the Democrats of abandoning the tradition of bipartisanship that defense policy has enjoyed in the past.

“The NDAA has long been considered a sacred process, but that will change this week. Not in the Senate where it passed bipartisan, but in this House,” said Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy yesterday. “The bill is packed with poison pills to appease this new Socialist Democrat Party, cuts troops funding, makes cuts to our military personnel accounts, the same accounts that fund troop pay, benefits, and housing.”

Republicans say several aspects of the bill make America less safe, including cuts in programs designed to maintain a competitive edge over China and Russia such as hypersonic. And Democrats have removed a ban on the transfer of prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to the United States, which McCarthy says “which would create a pathway to relocating known terrorists to the U.S. soil.”

TURKEY DEFIES US, CONGRESS: Turkey’s defense ministry announced that it has taken delivery of the first shipment of the Russian S-400 air defense system, a slap in the face to the United States and marking a new low in relations with the NATO ally.

The United States backed by Congress has warned Turkey repeatedly that operating the sophisticated Russian system alongside the U.S. F-35 would compromise the fighter jets’ high-tech stealth technology and that acceptance of the S-400 would result in Turkey being booted out of the F-35 program and could subject it to sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has never wavered in his insistence he should be able to purchase whatever weapons he wants and has refused the U.S. offer to sell Turkey American Patriot missiles instead.

A Turkish defense ministry statement said “the first group of equipment” of the S-400 air defense system has reached the Murted Air Base near the capital, Ankara, according to the AP . The delivery of parts of the system will continue in the coming days, and authorities will decide “how it will be used” once the system is made operational, the statement said.

Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre ( @jamiejmcintyre ) and edited by Kelly Jane Torrance ( @kjtorrance ). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here . If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense .

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HAPPENING TODAY: As of this morning, Mark Esper is still the acting secretary of defense and plans to welcome Uzbekistan's defense minister, Maj. Gen. Bakhodir Kurbanov, to the Pentagon at 11 a.m. Before his arrival at the Pentagon, Kurbanov will take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

ON THE FAST TRACK: Esper’s “pre-nomination paperwork” was sent to the Senate yesterday, and the chairman and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee announced that the usual seven-day waiting period would be waived to give Esper an expedited hearing .

The hearing, set for July 16, will make it possible for the committee to move Esper’s nomination to the floor this month, assuming he receives a favorable vote in committee.

“We need Senate-confirmed leadership at the Pentagon, and quickly,” Republican chairman Jim Inhofe said in a statement. “While we will act expeditiously to consider Acting Secretary Esper’s expected nomination, the Committee will uphold our constitutional advice-and-consent responsibilities with the care and consideration this position deserves.”

“We’re expediting the process, but there are no shortcuts and this nominee, like every nominee to this critical post, must be thoroughly vetted and carefully evaluated,” added Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the committee.

Once Esper’s formal nomination reaches the Senate, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer will take over as acting defense secretary until Esper is confirmed.

MILLEY ‘WON’T BE INTIMIDATED’: Under questioning at his Senate confirmation hearing to be the next joint chiefs chairman, Army Gen. Mark Milley declared he would not be intimidated when giving advice to President Trump. “Absolutely not. By no one, ever.”

Milley was being pressed by Maine independent Angus King about whether he would, in his role as principal military adviser, be forthright in telling Trump if he was wrong, even if the president didn’t want to hear it.

Milley turned serious, talking about the combat and dead soldiers he and his peers have seen. “Arlington is full of our comrades. And we understand absolutely full well the hazards of our chosen profession, and we know what this is about,” he replied. “And we are not going to be intimidated into making stupid decisions. We will give our best military advice regardless of consequences.”

NO NUREMBERG DEFENSE: At one point in the hearing, Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton questioned Milley about the military’s policy on following orders. “When the decision-maker makes a decision, it’s our job to execute,” Milley said, even if he considers the order “ill-advised.”

Cotton, a former Army captain, noted that military policy says enlisted men must follow all orders while officers can disobey those they consider illegal, but Milley said he takes a different view. “Frankly, I would expect any soldier, sailor, airman, Marine regardless of rank not to obey an illegal, immoral, or unethical order, even at the risk of their own life,” Milley told Cotton. “It’s the Nuremberg standard. You can’t hide behind ‘I was ordered to do it.’”

HOW BAD WOULD A CR BE? BAD, VERY BAD: Among the standard questions military leaders are asked these days when they appear before Congress is how bad it would be if the defense budget isn’t passed and instead a continuing resolution locked in spending at this year’s level.

Milley gave the standard answer. “I think CR in general, the one year or one month, is a poor way to do business,” he said. “I think that the CR would have a negative impact in terms of training, manning and equipping, procurement, modernization, spare parts, maintenance, end strength, paying benefits, et cetera.”

Milley said another temporary funding bill would also send “a terrible message” to adversaries, allies, and the troops.

A continuing resolution this year would be particularly painful because it would also trigger mandatory spending limits that would actually reduce the Pentagon’s budget below this year’s $716 billion.

REQUIRED READING: ‘ARMY DREAMERS’: Several of the senators at yesterday’s hearing, including Chairman Inhofe and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, were spun up about a recent article in the Economist about China’s growing military strength.

The Pentagon has produced a series of reports on the subject, but the Economist piece seems to have captured the attention of the senators in a way the dry Pentagon reports did not, and Wicker asked that the article, “ Army dreamers: Xi Jinping wants China’s armed forces to be ‘world-class’ by 2050 ,” be entered into the Congressional Record.

What struck the senators was the opening paragraph:

Over the past decade, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been lavished with money and arms. China’s military spending rose by 83% in real terms between 2009 and 2018, by far the largest growth spurt in any big country. The splurge has enabled China to deploy precision missiles and anti-satellite weapons that challenge American supremacy in the western Pacific. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, says his “Chinese dream” includes a “dream of a strong armed forces”. That, he says, involves “modernising” the PLA by 2035 and making it “world-class”—in other words, America-beating—by mid-century. He has been making a lot of progress.

MILLEY’S RESPONSE: Asked by Wicker if he agreed that China’s missiles and anti-satellite weapons challenge American supremacy, Milley said he did.

“I think China has for going on 30, 35 years now embarked upon what they refer to openly in the media and their speeches as the China dream, and that is to be at least a peer competitor, world-class military with the United States military by the mid-2030s,” he said.

VETS FOR TRUMP: A new Pew Research Center survey of the nation's veterans finds the majority support President Trump and also view the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as mistakes. Fifty-seven percent of the veterans surveyed said they approve of the way Trump has been handling his job as commander in chief. Of that 57%, 49% said they "approve very strongly."

The survey also underscored the sharp political divide in the country, with 92% of veterans who identify as Republicans or right-leaning backing Trump, while only 6% of veterans who identify as Democrats or left-leaning said they approve of the president.

Pew also found 64% of veterans believe the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, and 58% said the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting.

Despite the overall support, 45% of those surveyed said Trump doesn’t listen enough to military leaders in making national security decisions.

The Rundown

The Hill: House approves amendment to reverse transgender military ban

New York Times: General Calls Rushed Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan A ‘Strategic Mistake’

Defense News: Milley Throws Support Behind Nuclear Modernization, Space Force

Fifth Domain: Navy nominee brings cyber experience to top echelons of Pentagon leadership

Marine Corps Times: Gen. David Berger becomes the 38th Marine commandant. Here’s what he will face leading the Corps

Defense News: Lawmakers question probe that cleared Hyten of sex assault allegations

Bloomberg: China Is Winning The Silent War to Dominate the South China Sea

Wall Street Journal: A Warning By China Baffles Neighbors

Defense One: Russian Warship Enters Ukrainian Gunfire Exercise Area, Creating ‘Dangerous Situation’

Air Force Magazine: Spooky Returns Home From Last Deployment

Task & Purpose: No, the U.S. military shouldn't lower the enlistment age to 16 so children can fight

Washington Examiner: The most consequential commander in chief in decades

The Hill: Opinion: It's time to hold Iran accountable for terrorism in Argentina

Calendar

FRIDAY | JULY 12

8:30 a.m. 300 First Street S.E. Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies a discussion on "Missile Defense: A Review and Assessment," with Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala. www.mitchellaerospacepower.org

11 a.m. Pentagon River Entrance. Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper welcomes Uzbekistan’s defense minister, Bakhodir Kurbanov, to the Pentagon.

TUESDAY | JULY 16

9:30 a.m. G-50 Dirksen. Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on the nomination of Mark Esper to be defense secretary. www.armed-services.senate.gov