Capitol Hill

Report Suggests DoD Should Study Lessons from Failed Anti-sequester Campaign

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Obama, Policy, Sequestration No Comments Tags: , , ,

Faithful Intercepts readers no doubt are familiar with the dire predictions from civilian and uniformed Pentagon leaders about what will become of the U.S. military and American national security if all of sequestration’s $500 billion, decade-spanning cuts are enacted. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos on Feb. 12 told a congressional panel it would be “ruinous” — though even some pro-military lawmakers and experts are skeptical about such gloomy claims.

When it came to convincing the political system to avoid the sequestration cuts, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey recently admitted to a congressional panel that Pentagon leaders misplayed their hand. Well, Intercepts readers better hope Pentagon brass made a list of what went wrong — you know, ran what military types often (too often?) call a “lessons-learned drill.”

That’s because, according to one nonpartisan Washington think tank, deeper federal spending cuts will be needed to further pare the federal deficit and truly right the American fiscal ship. And, remember, even with sequestration the Pentagon’s baseline budget is projected to approach $600 billion per year later this decade. That’s one GIANT target. As we’ve all learned, when Washington takes on the difficult task that is deficit reduction, the GIANT targets are the easiest ones to hit. More

A Turf War Over Obama’s Drone War

By John T. Bennett in Afghanistan, Capitol Hill, CIA, DoD, Drones, Industry, Intelligence, Intercepts, International, Obama, Operations, Policy

A U.S. Predator drone in Kandahar, Afghanistan, one of the hubs of the Obama administration's aggressive targeted-killing war against al-Qaida. (Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images)

As the Obama administration carries out its drone war on al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen, a senior lawmaker on Thursday fired the latest shot in a simmering Capitol Hill turf war over which committees will oversee the program.

House Armed Services Committee Vice Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, is pushing legislation that would require the executive branch to notify the congressional defense oversight and appropriations committees “of any overseas lethal or capture operations outside Afghanistan,” according to a statement issued by his office. No where in the statement are the congressional intelligence panels mentioned, signalling the increasing efforts of pro-military lawmakers and Obama administration officials to move the controversial drone program under the control of the Pentagon. More

Schumer Aligns Himself with GOP on East Coast Missile Shield, Lobbies for New York

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, International, Policy, Sequestration

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at an April 25 event in Washington. Schumer is the first senior Senate Democrat to endorse an East Coast missile shield. (Michael Bonfigli/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images)

The idea for an East Coast missile defense system is just that, for now, at least: an idea. Sizable political and financial hurdles sill must be cleared before it becomes anything but just an idea.

Yet, the angling among lawmakers to secure a piece of the action has begun. And it was kicked off by a somewhat unlikely source: liberal Sen. Chuck Schumer. But one skeptical organization is taking umbrage with the No. 3 Senate Democrat’s lobbying to host the proposed system in New York. More

Sen. Corker Describes Sen. Chambliss’ Hole-in-One with POTUS

By John T. Bennett in Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intelligence, Intercepts, Obama, Policy, Sequestration Tags: , , ,

GOP Sens. Saxby Chambliss (left) and Bob Corker of Tennessee (right) golfed on Monday with President Barack Obama (center) at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Chambliss hit a hole-in-one on the 11th hole. (Dennis Brack via White House Pool via Getty Images)

United States presidents know more than the rest of us, and usually in near-real time. They have access to the ever-expanding U.S. intelligence community, after all.

But it turns out there’s one situation in which commanders in chief are just like their constituents: When a member of their golfing foursome hits one over a hill and onto the green, very close to the pin. Just like average folks, even POTUS is left unsure whether the ball dropped into the cup. That’s just what happened to President Barack Obama on Monday.

“We couldn’t tell whether the ball had gone in. The hole was over a hill and so we couldn’t see it,” a member of the high-powered foursome, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told Defense News on Tuesday morning. “The Secret Service guys thought it might have gone in.” More

Fore! Obama Hits Links with Grand Bargain-Favoring GOP Senators

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, Obama, Policy, Sequestration Tags: ,

Golf clubs outside the south portico of the White House late last year. (AFP/Brendan SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images)

It’s cool and damp in Washington. But that isn’t keeping President Barack Obama from getting in a round of golf. Intercepts will leave the inevitable presidential golfing jokes to others. But it’s worth noting Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Bob Corker of Tennessee will be part of Obama’s foursome. Both are advocates of the kind of “grand bargain” fiscal deal needed to lessen or totally replace planned cuts to national defense spending.

The unseasonably chilly conditions the trio and Democratic Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado will encounter provide a fitting metaphor for the grand-bargain issue, which they likely will discuss. After all, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Ranking Member James Inhofe, R-Okla., said Friday “there has been virtually no sign of movement toward a bipartisan agreement.”

Each of Obama’s golfing partners has talked forcefully and passionately about striking a “grand bargain” accord this year. Is this the beginning of what experts say is the second-term president’s last chance to get a big fiscal bill through Congress? More

Deciphering Obama: The President’s Complicating Syntax

By John T. Bennett in Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intelligence, Intercepts, International, Obama, Operations, Policy, Sequestration, Syria Tags: , ,

U.S. President Barack Obama address reporters at the White House on Tuesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

ESSAY

Barack Obama ran once for the U.S. presidency promising hope and change, then once mostly appealing for more time to allow his policies to work. But increasingly, it appears likely his legacy will be more about “red lines” and something called “permission structures.”

The 44th president has taken plenty of heat over his rhetorical gyrations on both sides of the very “red line” he set last year on Syria’s bloody civil war. And political pundits and those with a stake in overturning the much-maligned sequestration cuts are still scratching their heads over the the newest Obama turn-of-phrase: “permission structures.”

The problem for Obama — and by extension, stakeholders in the quest for a “grand bargain” fiscal deal that would undo the defense and domestic sequestration cuts (and by further extension, the entire country) — is his syntax has become complicated. And, as a result, it is complicating the work of getting things done, maintaining a sense of presidential authority in Washington and transmitting consistent leadership on the world stage. More

Red Line? Obama Remains Unconvinced Syria’s Assad Ordered Chemical Attack

By John T. Bennett in Capitol Hill, CIA, DIA, DoD, Intelligence, Intercepts, International, Operations, Policy, Syria

US President Barack Obama listens during a press conference in the White House Briefing Room on Tuesday. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Did Syrian President Bashar al-Assad order his forces to use chemical weapons? U.S. President Barack Obama doesn’t know. And until he’s sure, it’s unlikely American forces will intervene in that nation’s civil war.

When it comes to chemical weapons, Obama told reporters during a White House briefing, that because those arms can kill so many people, “we don’t want that genie out of the bottle.”

Obama is feeling pressure from Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill after the White House last week informed lawmakers that U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded chemical weapons were used in Syria’s civil war. Obama months ago said that would constitute a “red line,” that if crossed by Assad, would bring U.S. intervention.

But instead of acting last week, Obama asked the United Nations to verify the intel assessment. The White House — including the commander in chief — appears unsure whether Assad ordered the alleged chemical attack. More

CRS: Military Likely to Get Some Intel Community Tools, Missions

By John T. Bennett in Capitol Hill, CIA, DoD, Drones, Intelligence, International, Operations, Policy

The Defense Department stands to benefit from changes at the Central Intelligence Agency that likely will be driven by budget cuts and operational needs, says the Congressional Research Service.

In a report dated April 23 and released by the Federation of American Scientists, CRS predicts “a new set of intelligence challenges resulting from budgetary realities and from second-order effects stemming from post-9/11 changes.” More

Video of the Day: Rep. Duncan Hunter vs. Gen. Ray Odierno

By Marcus Weisgerber in Afghanistan, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Intercepts, International, Policy, Video Tags: , , , , , ,

Typically military posture hearings are a chance for lawmakers to grandstand and spout political soundbites that they promote to constituents in their home districts.

Those at the witness table often stick to their script of talking points, rarely deviating from the party line, and often times don’t even get a chance to respond as a member’s time for questioning expires.

But every now and then, tensions boil over and witness goes off script. That’s exactly what happened Thursday. More

On Syria, Rep. Adam Smith is the ‘Obama Whisperer’

By John T. Bennett in Capitol Hill, DoD, Intercepts, International, Operations, Policy Tags: , ,

House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith, D-Wash., says US military action in Syria would be unlikely to tip the balance in that nation's civil war. (Will Seberger/MCT via Getty Images)

President Barack Obama is taking heat from the left and right for what members of both political parties are calling his murky policy toward Syria, where the U.S. intelligence committee believes government forces used “small” amount of chemical weapons.

Many Republicans and Democrats are calling for Obama to steer the United States into the years-old civil war, hopeful American military intervention or other direct actions could tip the balance toward rebel forces and oust Bashar al-Assad’s regime. They are criticizing Obama for carrying out an incoherent strategy on Syria.

Those searching for insights about why Obama so far is reluctant to get directly involved should carefully study the words of Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top House Armed Services Committee Democrat and an Obama administration ally. On Syria, Smith’s stance appears to capture the commander in chief’s conclusions about a U.S. mission there quite accurately. Just call him the “Obama Whisperer.” More

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