House set to vote on NDAA Thursday Presented by Northrop Grumman

With Louis Nelson, Austin Wright and Leigh Munsil

NDAA, TAKE 2 — HOUSE SLATED TO VOTE THURSDAY ON THE NDAA SEQUEL: The House is set to vote Thursday on a new version of the National Defense Authorization Act — and, assuming it passes, Republican leaders will scrap their plans to vote to override President Barack Obama’s veto of the earlier version of the annual defense policy bill.


Republican defense hawks had vowed to hold an override vote Thursday and were whipping support in a long-shot effort to get the two-thirds majority required to overcome a presidential veto. But the budget deal forged last week between the White House and Congress resolved Obama’s main objection to the defense bill, with both sides agreeing to a spending blueprint that sets the Pentagon’s budget for this fiscal year $5 billion below what the White House requested.

So, with the $5 billion in reductions agreed to, the House passed an adjustment to its rules to hold a “suspension” vote on Thursday for the NDAA, which is a way to quickly bring bills to the floor without amendments but requires a two-thirds majority for passage. While that’s the same threshold as a veto override, the new bill should easily pass now that the budget issues are resolved.

The final text of the NDAA is here, and the full list of $5 billion in cuts is here.

— SENATE EYES VOTE NEXT WEEK: Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain said on Tuesday that he expects the Senate will take up the defense bill next week. The Arizona Republican added he wants the Senate to move the bill without amendments to speed the process. “I would seek it not to be amendable just because I don’t want to go through the drill,” the Arizona Republican told POLITICO.

— NDAA’S PASSAGE COULD TAKE THE LID OFF CIVILIAN DOD NOMINATIONS: McCain also says he might soon begin moving Defense Department civilian nominees whom he’s held up as payback for the Democrats using the so-called nuclear option during the last Congress to advance judicial nominees and then over the NDAA veto. But first, McCain said, he wants to see the defense bill signed into law. “We want the NDAA signed,” he said. “Then, we’ll look at the whole situation.” McCain has been sitting on more than a dozen civilian nominees, refusing to schedule confirmation hearings. But he has let a few through, including former Senate Armed Services Staff Director Peter Levine, who’s now the Pentagon’s deputy chief management officer.

BUT, BUT, BUT ... Just because McCain lets the civilian nominees pass through his committee doesn’t mean a flood of Pentagon nominees are about to be confirmed, since they still could face holds from individual senators on the floor — as we saw with Pentagon Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Stephen Hedger, whom McCain let fly through only to get held up for several months by multiple holds from Republican senators.

WILL U.S. GROUND TROOPS IN SYRIA SPARK A NEW AUMF PUSH? Our colleague Burgess Everett reports that Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker is seeking more information on the deployment — but feels no new urgency for an AUMF: “Lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee want a closed briefing on the Obama administration’s Syria policy before deciding whether to pursue a vote to approve the ongoing U.S. campaigngainst the Islamic State.

“In an interview, Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said that while he remains open to writing an Authorization of Military Force for the conflict with ISIL, he feels no urgency until and unless the administration tells him they need additional authorities. As the committee weighs a vote, panel members are hoping to be briefed late this week by officials from the State Department and Special Forces.”

HAPPY WEDNESDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, where we’re trying out a new method of embedding links. Tell us what you think about the change at [email protected], or on Twitter @ jeremyherb, @ morningdefense and @ politicopro.

HAPPENING TODAY — McCAIN, FLAKE TAKE ON DoD PAYMENTS TO SPORTS LEAGUES: McCain and his home-state GOP colleague Sen. Jeff Flake hold a press conference this morning to release an oversight report that they say details “widespread evidence of the Department of Defense paying professional sports teams and leagues such as the NFL, MLB and NHL to honor American soldiers at sporting events.” The senators slammed sports leagues over getting paid for the events earlier this year, and this year’s defense authorization bill includes language banning the payments.

START PLANNING THOSE 2016 VACATIONS … THE HOUSE AND SENATE PLAN BIG SUMMER RECESSES: The House and Senate are both slated to leave Washington for seven-week summer recesses, according to their 2016 calendars released Tuesday. The House will also be out six weeks in October and November for the campaign home stretch, and the Senate five.

The full House schedule is here, and the Senate schedule is here.

** A message from the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition: U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers: Saves Dollars. Makes Sense. Buying materials in advance for the construction of the next two new U.S. Navy aircraft carriers starting in 2016 will save taxpayers $500 million over the course of their construction and will keep the industrial base strong. Learn more at acibc.org **

ISLAND DISPUTE — SPAT OVER SOUTH CHINA SEA CANCELS JOINT STATEMENT: “Divisions within Asia over China's claims in the disputed South China Sea spilled over Wednesday to a meeting of U.S. and Asian defense ministers, where China insisted the group make no public mention of the strategic waters in a joint declaration intended as a public display of unity,” reports The Associated Press.

“As a result, a joint statement was canceled, although both host Malaysia and U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter discounted the significance of the failure, which reflected a split with China and other Asian nations over the South China Sea issue. ‘I had no expectation there would be agreement,’ Carter told a news conference, adding that the important point was that the South China Sea was a ‘persistent topic’ of the conference.”

THE FUTURE OF SYRIA — RUSSIA, IRAN APPEAR TO SPLIT ON ASSAD, via Reuters: “Russia does not see keeping Bashar al-Assad in power as a matter of principle, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Tuesday in comments that suggested a divergence of opinion with Iran, the Syrian president's other main international backer. Fueling speculation of Russian-Iranian differences over Assad, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps suggested on Monday that Tehran may be more committed to him than Moscow was.”

WAR REPORT — LIFE IN KABUL SLOWS AS WESTERN TROOPS RECEDE, via The New York Times’ Alissa Rubin: “If there had been grumbling before about the deafening intrusion of low-flying American helicopters in the Afghan capital, the discontent has surely multiplied along with the number of flights: packs of them now, coming two, four, six at a time, starting around 7 a.m., then again at midday and at dusk. Why so many? ‘The American Embassy’s not allowed to move by road anymore,’ a senior Western official said.

“The helicopter transport was just one measure of how things have changed in the Afghan capital since 2014, and the end of the huge NATO combat mission. Restaurants and cafes have closed or have hardly any customers, news organizations have packed up, and the few Western-style hotels are nearly empty. … Now, Kabul feels like a beach resort during off season, when the rides shut down; only a handful of shops are still open, and those have few customers. The signs are everywhere. The music has stopped.”

SENATORS WANT ANSWERS ON UNDERSEA CABLE VULNERABILITIES, via Pro Cyber’s Joseph Marks: A bipartisan quartet of senators sent a letter to the Defense, State and Homeland Security secretaries on Tuesday asking “what steps are being taken, and what steps need to be taken” to ensure that Internet-carrying undersea cables and deep-water drilling infrastructure are secured against Russian mischief. The letter follows a report detailing concerns among senior military and intelligence officials about Russian submarines and spy ships operating near undersea cables and a concern Russians might cut the cables as part of a broader conflict.

The full letter is here.

SHORT AT SEA — NAVY FACES CARRIER SHORTAGE THROUGH 2021: The Navy told a House panel Tuesday it won’t be able to provide a “continuous” aircraft carrier presence in both the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific until fiscal 2021. Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley offered several reasons for the shortage: an increased demand for aircraft carriers from the combatant commands, the impact of the 2013 round of sequestration on naval shipyards and the temporary reduction from 11 carriers to 10.

INDUSTRY INTEL — Lockheed Martin expects to close its purchase of Sikorsky Aircraft for about $9 billion on Friday, the company said Tuesday. Lockheed has just gotten its final regulatory approval from China's Ministry of Commerce — one of the last steps before the deal can close. “With this final regulatory approval, we are one step closer to completing this historic acquisition,” Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson said.

— CONNECTICUT DELEGATION CHEERS THE PENDING MOVE: “Lockheed Martin is the right home for Sikorsky and will be a great fit for this legendary Connecticut company,” Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro said in a statement. And Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said, “I look forward to working with Lockheed and the rest of the Connecticut delegation to bring more high-tech manufacturing and engineering jobs to Connecticut in the coming decades.”

SPEED READ

— The Pentagon suspends the JLENS surveillance system exercise until the Army completes its investigation into the blimp that untethered last week in Maryland: Los Angeles Times

— U.S. satellite imagery detects a heat image around the Russian passenger jet before it crashed in Egypt, but a missile striking the plane has been ruled out: AP

— Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi dismisses claims by an Islamic State affiliate that it brought down the Russian jet: NYT

— China criticizes U.S. “hegemony and hypocrisy” over the U.S. Navy’s vows to continue patrols in the South China Sea: The Washington Post

— Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says the slogan “Death to America” is not aimed at the American people but rather U.S. policies: AP

— Widows from Afghanistan’s war are often on their own to care for themselves and their children: The Wall Street Journal

— The presidents of China and Taiwan meet this weekend in Singapore for the first time in 66 years: NYT

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** A message from the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition: The Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition (ACIBC) urges Congress to authorize the advanced purchase of materials needed for the construction of the next two U.S. Navy Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, Enterprise (CVN 80) and the yet-to-be-named CVN 81. Buying materials in advance for the construction of the next two aircraft carriers starting in 2016 will save taxpayers $500 million over the course of their construction and will keep the industrial base strong. This approach: Saves Dollars; Makes Sense. Learn more at acibc.org **

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