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The head Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee says he is worried about a flurry of “extreme right-wing amendments” attached to the House version of the annual defense bill as lawmakers prepare to debate and vote on the legislation this month. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) told The Washington Post he was concerned about GOP measures on “abortion, guns, the border, and social policy and equity issues.” “We’ll just have to wait and see what amendments are made in order when the bill is debated on the House floor,” he said. “Depending on which amendments pass, I will make an...

Lawmakers from both parties told Pentagon leaders on Wednesday that the Defense Department is undermining its own efforts to get military money by diverting billions of dollars for the construction of President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and the committee’s top Republican warned Defense Secretary Mark Esper that overturning congressional funding decisions to shift money for the wall is an enormous problem that will have consequences. The plan to shift money has triggered rare Republican opposition to one of Trump’s priorities. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said the result may be that Congress...

After Hearings, Lawmakers Call Truman Carrier Retirement Plan ‘Ridiculous’ CAPITOL HILL – Lawmakers told industry representatives today that, if it wasn’t already clear from their hearings with Pentagon and Navy leadership this week, they had no intention of letting the Defense Department shed an aircraft carrier instead of refuel it. “I think that’s’ a ridiculous idea,” Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), a retired Navy commander and current representative of the district that includes Naval Station Norfolk, said at the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition’s annual Capitol Hill breakfast and lobbying day. “That math doesn’t work,” said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the...

HASC Leaders Unconvinced by Pentagon’s Plan to Cut Aircraft Carrier By: Megan Eckstein USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) on Sept 22, 2018. US Navy Photo This post has been updated to include comments from a second March 26 hearing, which took place in the HASC seapower and projection forces subcommittee. The Defense Department’s first crack at convincing the House Armed Services Committee to retire an aircraft carrier early to support the development of future weapons systems and unmanned platforms was not well received. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen....

A Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee compared Jewish Israeli settlers to termites on Monday while speaking at an event sponsored by an anti-Israel organization that supports boycotts of the Jewish state. Rep. Hank Johnson (D., Ga.) launched into a tirade against Israel and its policies toward the Palestinians, comparing Jewish people who live in disputed territories to “termites” that destroy homes. Johnson also compared Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a remark that drew vocal agreement from those in the room. “There has been a steady [stream], almost like termites can get...

WASHINGTON - The House Armed Services Committee will investigate the Obama administration's swap of an American prisoner held for five years for five Taliban leaders that caused a political firestorm over the lack of congressional notification and fears the high-level Taliban could return to the Afghanistan battlefield. "We ought to look at the price," Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the panel, told reporters after administration officials held a tense 90-minute, closed-door briefing for House Democrats and Republicans. Officials from the White House, State and Defense departments and the intelligence community defended the exchange of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who...

As most of you have read or seen by now, a journalist and NBC/MSNBC media consultant named William “Bill” Arkin has created quite a stir by viciously insulting American soldiers in Iraq. He wrote at his Washington Post blog, “Early Warning: William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security” column (1/30/07), that “… this NBC (Nightly News) report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer force that thinks it is doing the dirty work” re Iraq. The “report,” according to Arkin, featured “a number of soldiers (who) expressed frustration with...

The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program -- the centerpiece of future tactical aviation and a key to implementing new military strategic guidance -- made strong progress in its development last year, a defense official said today. Frank Kendall, acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told the House Armed Services Committee that the fighter aircraft is essential to the Defense Department, and that it made "strong progress" in 2011. "Last fall, the department engaged in a strategy and budget review, where everything -- and I do mean everything -- was on the table," Kendall said. "After...

The chairman of the House subcommittee on strategic nuclear forces slammed the Obama Administration today for what he called its lackadaisical approach to missile defense in the face of rising threats from North Korea, Iran, and – implicitly – China. "We all know that the world is getting less safe," Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) told reporters at a breakfast talk in Washington, D.C. "Look at North Korea, look at Iran," he said. "These are real and emerging threats that we need to stay ahead of," he said, "[but] if you listen to the hearings in our committee, there is a...

Even though Global Hawk is built in his district, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon told me today that he would not personally push to save the Block 30s from oblivion. "I will not be involved in trying to force something just because it's best for my district," McKeon said today during the interview on C-Span's Newsmakers show. The Air Force killed the Global Hawk Block 30 purchase in the 2013 defense budget, arguing that the venerable U-2 reconnaissance plane does a better job for less. That cut is estimated to save the Pentagon $2.5 billion. The chairman...

Even though Global Hawk is built in his district, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon told me today that he would not personally push to save the Block 30s from oblivion. "I will not be involved in trying to force something just because it's best for my district," McKeon said today during the interview on C-Span's Newsmakers show. The Air Force killed the Global Hawk Block 30 purchase in the 2013 defense budget, arguing that the venerable U-2 reconnaissance plane does a better job for less. That cut is estimated to save the Pentagon $2.5 billion. The chairman...

CHINA got the technology for its first stealth fighter jet from Russia, a senior US lawmaker said on Tuesday, one week after the airplane apparently made its maiden flight. 'My understanding is that they built it on information that they received from Russia, from a Russian plane, that they were able to copy,' House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon told reporters. Mr McKeon, a Republican, said he hoped to 'hear more' on the issue from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was on a visit to Beijing when Chinese state media published photographs of the J-20 fighter in the skies...

Incoming House Armed Services Committee Chair, Howard “Buck” McKeon, today laid out his stance on defense spending as the top man on the committee, backing the embattled F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, its alternate engine program and the Pentagon’s efforts to reduce costs. While the U.S. Marine Corps’ F-35B short take-off and vertical landing version of the jet has experienced numerous testing delays over the past year and is unlikely to meet its scheduled operational date of 2012, McKeon said he doesn’t want to see it cut. “If you take that away then what plane are the Marines going...

Rust is not something the average person thinks much about when it comes to designing high-tech weapons. But several years ago I reported on a major missile test defense test that was ruined because a part rusted that helped hold the missile in place before liftoff. And in February the entire F-22 fleet was grounded “due to poorly designed drainage in the cockpit.” The affected parts were ejection seat rods. Congress is worried that similar problems could afflict the Joint Strike Fighter and has requested a report about lessons learned from the F-22’s experience. Regardless of how lowly rust might...

The House Armed Services Committee late Wednesday added eight F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft carrier-based fighter jets to the fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill shortly before the panel unanimously approved the measure, 59-0. The $760 billion defense bill, which sets Pentagon policy and prescribes military spending levels, is expected on the House floor next Thursday, making it one of the last possible orders of business before members depart for the week-long Memorial Day recess. The additional Super Hornets had been expected to spark a dispute that pitted the amendment's sponsor, Seapower Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., against fellow Missourian,...

Lawmakers disregarded Defense Secretary Robert Gates's calls for fiscal restraint on Wednesday, approving a military pay raise higher than President Obama and the Pentagon requested. The House Armed Services personnel subcommittee approved a 1.9 percent pay bump for uniformed military personnel, half of a percentage point higher than Obama's fiscal 2011 budget. The markup also increased hostile fire pay and family separation allowances. "This raise will further reduce the gap between military and private-sector pay raises," said subcommittee chairman Susan Davis (D-Calif.). But the raise is in direct disagreement with the wishes of Gates, who plans to push for at...

The House Armed Services Committee today added $362 million to the Obama administration’s 2011 defense authorization bill for missile defense, including $50 million for further tests of Boeing’s Airborne Laser, a program the Obama administration had sought to wind down. “I am particularly pleased that the Mark increases funding for directed energy research. It was clear that the budget request was not sufficient to support further flight testing using the Airborne Laser Test Bed as well as mature innovative directed energy technologies,” Rep. Michael R. Turner R-Ohio, top Republican on the Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, said in a...

9:30(est) C-SPAN3 Senate Armed Services Committee Situation in Iraq Warner, John W., U.S. Senator, R-VA Levin, Carl, U.S. Senator, D-MI Rumsfeld, Donald, Secretary, Department of Defense Myers, Richard B., Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Abizaid, John, Commander, U.S. Central Command Casey, George W. Jr., Commander, U.S. Army, Iraq Task Force The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing on the situation in Iraq. Witness include Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Richard Myers, and Central Command Commander General John Abizaid. --------------------- 2:00(est) C-SPAN3 House Armed Services Committee Iraq Security Forces Hunter, Duncan, U.S. Representative, R-CA Rumsfeld,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A day after President Bush sought to quell Republican fears over the beleaguered Iraq campaign, Pentagon leaders are delivering a progress report to lawmakers. The president made a rare visit to Capitol Hill on Thursday to talk about Iraq, which is plagued by violence a year after the invasion and costing more than expected in American lives and money. To exchange ideas about the way forward in Iraq, some three dozen diplomats from coalition nations met at the State Department, where Secretary of State Colin Powell told them, "We have a lot of work to do in...

The decision by Congress to keep summoning U.S. military commanders back to Washington to testify about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal is endangering the lives of U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq, the head of the House Armed Services Committee said on Thursday. "Over the last 24 hours, we have had 66 attacks on American forces," House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told MSNBC's "Scarborough Country." "If you‘re the battlefield commander of Iraq [called back to Washington] you have issues stacking up on your desk with respect to convoy security, surveillance capability, operations, working in this IED problem that we...