Sessions tapped as attorney general Presented by Northrop Grumman

With Zach Montellaro, Connor O’Brien and Andrew Hanna

BREAKING THIS MORNING — SESSIONS TAPPED AS ATTORNEY GENERAL: President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to be his attorney general, according to transition official Sean Spicer. As Trump's first Senate supporter and close adviser during the campaign, the four-term Republican senator effectively had his pick of Cabinet posts in the new administration.

Sessions was bandied about for defense secretary or secretary of homeland security, but ultimately his focus in the Senate on illegal immigration — and hard-line views that align with Trump’s — led him to be selected to lead the Justice Department. But Sessions’ confirmation is likely to be a fight, even though he’s a senator, and it could turn ugly. His critics are expected to seize on his failed confirmation three decades ago, when the Judiciary Committee rejected his nomination over accusations he had called the NAACP “un-American” and addressed a black lawyer as “boy.”

FLYNN IS IN — TRUMP OFFERS NATIONAL SECURITY POST, our colleague Bryan Bender has more on the former defense intelligence chief here: “President-elect Donald Trump has tapped retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, one of his top confidants, to be White House national security adviser, which would elevate the controversial surrogate to be the chief arbiter of virtually every major defense and foreign policy decision.

"The choice of Flynn, who was known as a skilled, if combative intelligence officer during his 33-year career but was forced out as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, signals the president-elect’s intention to wage an aggressive war on terrorism — possibly without the diplomatic and cultural sensitivities that have been the hallmark of President Barack Obama’s approach, which Flynn has repeatedly criticized.

“Flynn’s appointment was confirmed to POLITICO by a source close to the Trump transition on Thursday night, though it was not clear whether Flynn has responded. In the past, Flynn, 58, has argued that ‘Islam is a political ideology,’ one that in his view ‘the American Founding Fathers wanted nothing to do with.’ His hardline views — as well as laudatory statements about Russia — have made him a lightning rod, as did his strident attacks on Hillary Clinton during the campaign, including leading chants at Trump rallies of ‘Lock her up.’”

POMPEO HEADED TO CIA: Trump is making it a hat trick of appointments by naming Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), who has served on the House Intelligence Committee as well as the Benghazi Select Committee, as CIA director. Trump will announce all three picks today, our colleague Kyle Cheney reports.

— DEMOCRATS SOUND OFF: The House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat on Thursday called Flynn a bad choice, questioning the retired general's temperament and cozy relationship with Russia. “I’d like to see someone with very sober judgment with a temperament that complements rather than accentuates the eccentricities of the incoming president,” Rep. Adam Schiff of California said at the DefenseOne Summit.

The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, had a more complementary view, praising the military service of Flynn, a Rhode Island native, while saying he had “concerns about some of the statements he made in the heat of the campaign."

— CONGRESS AND THE NSC: Of course, it doesn’t matter much what Congress thinks: The national security adviser doesn't require confirmation. Ironically, however, Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have included provisions in the defense authorization bills to curb the NSC with caps on staff and a possible Senate confirmation requirement — measures taken in response to President Barack Obama’s National Security Council. We’ll see if they make the final version of the bill.

HAPPY FRIDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, where we're always on the lookout for tips, pitches and feedback. Email us at [email protected], and follow on Twitter @jeremyherb, @morningdefense and @politicopro.

MORNING D TRIVIA: Last week’s winner, Joe Steinfels, has today’s question: Which presidential candidate with military experience was quoted as saying the job of president would be easy since the chief executive was merely following orders in executing the laws and he would "execute the laws of Congress as faithfully as I have always executed the orders of my superiors?" The first person to email Morning D ( [email protected]) with the correct answer wins a mention in Monday’s edition.

HAPPENING TODAY — HALIFAX SECURITY FORUM: The annual Halifax International Security Forum kicks off today in one of Morning D’s favorite parts of Canada. Among the bold-faced names headed north for the meetings that runs through the weekend: Sens. McCain, Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), retired Gen. John Allen and James Baker, director of the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment. The full schedule is here.

THE FIRST WEEK OF THE LAME DUCK IS DONE — WHERE THINGS STAND: Congress left town Thursday for a weeklong Thanksgiving break, and when they return, the spending bill and National Defense Authorization Act will be at the top of the agenda. But while the NDAA appears poised for passage in December, Congress is planning to pass a continuing spending resolution through the end of March, giving the new Trump administration a chance to make its mark on the fiscal 2017 spending process. More on the spending situation here: “Capitol Hill Republicans and the incoming Trump administration are nearing agreement on a plan to fund the government at current levels through March 31, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told lawmakers during a closed-door meeting Thursday.

“The short-term patch is aimed at giving Trump a say in next year's funding priorities and preventing President Barack Obama from putting his mark on a massive spending deal. … House Republicans have little interest in negotiating with a lame-duck Obama. Punting to early next year, when Trump will be in the White House with a GOP Congress, will give the right more leverage to get its spending priorities and pet policy riders into law.”

— TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ON DEFENSE: Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) was livid over the planned CR. He gave a floor speech Thursday blasting congressional leaders for failing to pass a defense appropriations bill and relying on a CR that “would lock our military into last year’s budget and last year’s priorities.” Afterward, he told Military Times readiness will suffer “if these idiots say they want to go through with a continuing resolution.”

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), who has been a leader pushing for more defense spending, had a more positive view. “When we come back in March, the president can ask us to increase the number even more and hopefully we can take care of some of the shortfalls,” he told Morning D.

— THE WAR SUPPLEMENTAL STILL COULD MOVE IN THE LAME DUCK: The Obama administration has also requested an additional $11.6 billion in war funding for Afghanistan and Iraq. House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said he and his colleagues would try to deliver those funds in the lame-duck session, reports our colleague Ben Weyl. "That obviously is terribly important," he told reporters. "We want to be sure that our military has adequate resources during this interim period."

NDAA WATCH — MORE PROGRESS AS FINAL BILL IS WITHIN REACH, after controversial policy riders were dropped as part of the emerging deal on the defense policy bill, we report with Connor O’Brien: “House and Senate negotiators putting the finishing touches on the new defense policy bill are ditching the controversial riders that could draw a presidential veto. The final version of the National Defense Authorization Act will not include provisions dealing with the greater sage grouse or workplace protections based on sexual orientation, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

“The provisions were two of the major sticking points between the House and Senate versions of the bill and were part of the reason Armed Services leaders were unable to strike an accord in September. … Committee aides and leaders cautioned that nothing was officially finalized until the entire bill was completed. But one House Armed Services member said they’ve been told negotiations on issues where the two chambers differed are all wrapped up. ‘It’s done,’ the lawmaker said. ‘There’s no more negotiations, even on the small stuff.’”

— WHEN WILL THE FINAL BILL BE RELEASED? House and Senate leaders have no reason to wrap up negotiations and put out the conference report until Congress returns after Thanksgiving, not to mention they need to collect signatures from lawmakers who have left town. But it’s a likely item for Congress to take up that first week back.

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

THE TRUMP TRANSITION — ADD ANOTHER NAME TO THE RUMOR MILL … PETRAEUS, as The Guardian added his name to the now long list of secretary of state candidates: “David Petraeus – the former US army general and CIA director who was prosecuted for mishandling classified information – has entered the race to become Donald Trump’s secretary of state, diplomatic sources said on Thursday.”

— ABE MEETS TRUMP, via The Associated Press’ Michael Astor: “Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he believes Donald Trump is a leader in whom he can have great confidence after meeting with the president-elect Thursday. Abe, who became the first world leader to meet with Trump since his election, was seeking reassurances over the future of U.S.-Japan security and trade relations. He described the meeting as ‘really, really cordial’ but offered few details of their discussion.”

— OTHERS WHO MET WITH TRUMP THURSDAY: Retired Gen. Jack Keane and NSA Director and Cyber Command chief Adm. Mike Rogers.

— WE HAVE CONTACT: The Trump transition team called the Pentagon on Thursday to arrange initial briefings, Defense Department press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement. The first briefings are expected to take place today, Cook said, and the transition team told reporters it’ll be releasing a list of names on the “landing team” coordinating with the Pentagon officials.

DNI SHAKE-UP — CLAPPER SUBMITS HIS RESIGNATION, our colleagues Martin Matishak and Bryan Bender have more here: “Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that he has submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama and will not stay on past the transition to Donald Trump. Clapper offered the news during his opening statement in a rare open hearing of the House Intelligence Committee after the panel's ranking Democrat, Adam Schiff of California, said he had heard rumors that the spy chief might stay on into the Trump administration.

“That's not going to happen, Clapper said. ‘I submitted my letter of resignation last night, which felt pretty good,’ he said. ‘I got 64 days left, and I think I'd have a hard time with my wife anything past that.’ … The most controversial aspect of Clapper's tenure may have been his statement to a Senate panel in 2013 that U.S. spy agencies were not collecting data on American citizens — a claim later contradicted by information leaked by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.”

SPEED READ

— The Nusra Front is trying to rebrand as one of its alleged leaders is placed on the terrorist watch list: The New York Times

— Iraqis trapped in Mosul call into an anti-Islamic State radio program to talk about their life under the regime: The Washington Post

— Britain is set to buy as many as 26 predator drones for up to $1 billion: The Washington Post

— One in four service members is concerned about life under a Trump presidency, according to a new poll: Military Times

— The International Atomic Energy Agency warns Iran to stick to the terms of the nuclear deal after the country stockpiles slightly more than the allowed amount of heavy water: The Wall Street Journal

— Iraqi forces struggle to distinguish Islamic State fighters from ally or civilian in Mosul: Reuters

— Airstrikes kill at least 25 in Aleppo: Reuters

— The House votes to bar sales of commercial aircraft to Iran: Reuters

— Army Secretary Eric Fanning says the Army still struggles to buy commercial products: Defense News

— How the military has had to shift from “secret wars” to “low visibility” ones: Defense One

— Chief Master Sgt. Kaleth Wright is named the 18th chief master sergeant of the Air Force: Stars and Stripes

— A Munich court rejects a U.S. Army deserter’s request for asylum: The Associated Press

— HillVets is pushing for more veterans to work as congressional staff: Military Times

— Navy football is one win away from its first conference championship game ever: The Washington Post

— The White House is desperately looking for replacement Air Force Ones: Military.com

— Marines successfully 3D print a replacement part in field conditions: Marines Times

Follow us on Twitter Dave Brown @dave_brown24



Bryan Bender @bryandbender



Connor O'Brien @connorobriennh



Jacqueline Feldscher @jacqklimas



Lara Seligman @laraseligman