| PENTAGON PERFIDY? Last Thursday at 6:38 a.m. Washington time, an American contractor was killed and five U.S. troops were wounded when an Iranian-built drone launched by Iranian-backed proxy forces hit a maintenance facility at a base housing U.S. troops in northeast Syria. At 10 a.m. that day, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were testifying before the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Neither made any mention of the attack, but Austin testified yesterday that as soon as he and Milley got out of the hearing, they began working on response options. A retaliatory strike was carried out hours later and announced by the Pentagon at 10:38 p.m. The late word infuriated Republicans in Congress, who that same day were voting on an amendment sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) that would have blocked the repeal of the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force until President Joe Biden could certify that Iran had stopped providing "financial, technical, and material support to terrorist organizations and violent groups in Iraq and Syria." The amendment failed 63-32, but backers of Rubio's amendment believe the outcome would have been different if Congress had been informed in a timely manner of Iran's role in the attack. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) both expressed outrage. "The Senate was considering several significant votes relating to the use of force against Iran and yet no member of the Senate, to my knowledge, was told that day about an attack by this very adversary while we were voting on issues involving them," said Wicker. "It is unacceptable that no one informed the Senate of this attack in a timely manner." But it was Cotton who went for the jugular. 'I DON'T BELIEVE YOU': Cotton accused Austin of deliberately withholding information about the attack to deliberately affect the vote. "I believe there's a conscious decision made not to inform Congress because you feared that it might lead to the passage of the Rubio amendment which would kill the entire bill." "That is absolutely not true," Austin insisted. "There was no connection between when we notified you, senator, and your vote." "Secretary Austin, I don't believe you," said Cotton. "Maybe you didn't personally do it, but I believe entirely that people in your office did … That's what I believe. Nothing you can say is going to change my belief about that." COTTON ACCUSES DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OF HIDING STRIKE IN SYRIA UNTIL AFTER VOTES 'SO 79 AND 4 IS IRAN'S RECORD RIGHT NOW': From there, the upbraiding turned to what several senators, including Cotton, Ted Budd (R-NC), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) saw as a weak response to the more than 80 attacks against U.S. forces in Syria since Biden took office. Austin confirmed that there had been 83 attacks over the last two years and in response, four major airstrikes. "So 79 and four is Iran's record right now," said Cotton. "So what kind of signal do we think this sends to Iran when they can attack us 83 times since Joe Biden has become president, we only respond four? Maybe it's because they know that until that we will not retaliate, until they kill an American, which emboldens them to keep launching these attacks which kill Americans." "Despite the more than 80 attacks by Iranian backed-militias, the United States has only responded with force just a handful of times. In my view, that's unacceptable," said Budd later in the hearing. "The point being that we need to reassert deterrence and our current responses don't seem to effectively do that. Weakness only breeds more aggression, weakness is provocative." Austin tried to explain that some attacks were single rockets fired that missed by a mile, but Rosen was still confused. "Why has the United States responded so infrequently, particularly when these militias are the most pervasive threat to U.S. and coalition forces in the region?" she asked. "Four responses is probably an understatement because we end up shooting down a lot of these incoming UAVs, for example," said Milley. "So really, what we owe you are some better numbers actually on attacks that I would categorize as actual attacks on the compound." AUMF MIRAGE: REPUBLICANS STILL HAWKISH ON WAR POWERS DESPITE SUPPORT FOR REPEAL Good Wednesday 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 Conrad Hoyt. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. 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. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine and get Washington Briefing: politics and policy stories that will keep you up to date with what's going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue! HAPPENING TODAY, THEY'RE BACK: The questioning could get even more pointed this morning when Austin and Milley are back on the Hill for an appearance before the House Armed Services Committee at 10 a.m. Last week, the committee heard from U.S. Central Commander Gen. Erik Kurilla, who called the growing relationship between Iran and Russia "very concerning." "We are seeing them move the UAVs to Russia to be able to use them in Ukraine," Kurilla testified. "These are the very same UAVs that they use to attack our forces in Iraq and Syria. And they're improving upon them." Austin and Milley will likely be pressed on why the Biden administration is not sending more weaponry to Ukraine. A week ago, Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) was among four Republican lawmakers who sent a letter to Biden urging him to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions such as Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions, or DPICMs. "Providing DPICM will allow Ukraine to compensate for Russia's quantitative advantage in both personnel and artillery rounds and will allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to concentrate their use of unitary warheads against higher-value Russian targets," the lawmakers wrote. "We remain deeply disappointed in your administration's reluctance to provide Ukraine with the right type and amount of long-range fires and maneuver capability to create and exploit operational breakthroughs against the Russians." ALSO TODAY, AUMF VOTE EXPECTED: The Senate is expected to vote today on whether to repeal two congressional authorizations for the use of military force. One from 1991 that authorized the Persian Gulf War and a 2002 AUMF that authorized the 2003 invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who is home recovering from a fall, issued a statement opposing the repeal. "I am opposed to Congress sunsetting any military force authorizations in the Middle East. Our terrorist enemies aren't sunsetting their war against us. And when we deploy our servicemembers in harm's way, we need to supply them with all the support and legal authorities that we can," McConnell said. "The 2002 AUMF bears directly on the threats we face today in Iraq and Syria from Iran-backed terrorists … Our enemies in Iran who have spent two decades targeting and killing Americans in the Middle East would be delighted to see America dial down our military presence, authorities, and activities in Iraq." MCCONNELL BASHES IRAQ AUMF REPEAL AHEAD OF SENATE PASSAGE TUBERVILLE'S NOT BUDGING: The Pentagon and Democrats are increasingly vexed by Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-AL) one-man crusade to force Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to rescind a policy that provides paid time off and travel expenses for military women who don't have access to an abortion because of where they are stationed. Tuberville has invoked a Senate procedure to place a hold on the promotions of 158 senior military officers who are waiting to begin new assignments, and he is insisting he won't cave. "My hold has nothing to do with the Supreme Court decision to the access of abortion. This is about not forcing the taxpayers of this country to fund abortion," said Tuberville, who argues the policy violates the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortion services. "You all got the American taxpayer on the hook to pay for travel and time off for elective abortions," Tuberville said. "And you did not make this with anybody in this room or Congress taking a vote." "Almost one in five of our troops are women and they don't get a chance to choose where they're stationed, so almost 80,000 of our women are stationed in places where they don't have access to non-covered reproductive healthcare," replied Austin. "And it is not a law, it is a policy, and so, you know, we obviously don't pass laws in the Department of Defense." 'I IMPLORE YOU TO RECONSIDER': Austin lamented that the holds on noncontroversial promotions are impacting readiness and putting individual military families in limbo. "I really implore you to reconsider and allow our nominations to move forward. It will make a significant difference for our force," Austin told Tuberville. "Not approving the recommendation for promotions actually creates a ripple effect through the force that makes us far less ready than we need to be," said Austin. "If you look at what we have coming up, I mean there are five three-star promotions that are near term and one of those is is a commander of our fleet out in the Gulf," he said. "The effects are cumulative and they will affect families, it will affect kids going to schools because they won't be able to go to change-of-duty stations and so it's a powerful effect." "Mr. secretary, you can fix this, 158 holds in essence that are there. You could fix this in nearly an instant," said Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC). "Sir, I would encourage you to help us make sure that we have the leadership in place to lead our magnificent force," said Austin, to which Budd replied, "I would agree with you, completely agree with you, and you can fix that nearly instantaneously with a change in policy." DEI FUZZY MATH: Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) wanted to grill Austin on his order for all U.S. troops to take time out of their day to discuss the problem of extremism in the ranks and more generally, the conduct of "Diversity Equity and Inclusion" training for troops. "The stand-down day to address extremism cost the military and taxpayers nearly 5.4 million man-hours," Schmidt said. "The military stands as this great meritocracy where people can achieve great things, but by infusing divisive DEI training, by infusing abortion politics, by infusing COVID vaccine mandates, it has created division in the ranks." Austin reminded Schmitt that Congress in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act required the Pentagon to "design and implement a five year strategic plan for diversity and inclusion." And while the 5.4 million manhours, it was two hours per person in the 2.1 million military force. "Just a point of clarification," interjected Milley. "It's 2.1 million, two hours per person, that's where the 5.4 million — that's out of 2.8 billion man hours available on a 10-hour workday five days a week for the U.S. military. By my calculation, two hours each for 2.1 million people would be 4.2 million hours, but I was never very good at math. VACCINE MANDATE: Schmitt moved on to the effects of the COVID vaccine mandate that cost some 8,000 refuseniks their jobs. "OK, so we talk about recruitment challenges, are you actively going after to try to get those 8,000 people back?" asked Schmitt. Austin answered that while they were not recruiting the troops who were booted out over the last three years, they are welcome to reapply if they want to rejoin the military. "So, sayonara to 8,000 well-trained folks?" asked Schmitt. "We are recruiting new recruits," replied Austin, who said he had no regrets about imposing the vaccine mandate and said it had little effect on recruiting. "The vaccine mandate, in my view, saved lives and it saved a lot of lives," Austin said, "and we don't see a strong correlation between vaccine mandate and recruiting. Now, we don't see that because we've done the surveys that indicate that that's just not true." What about the people who refused the vaccine but are still in the military, Schmitt wanted to know. "There are several folks that weren't immediately dismissed, who refused the vaccine, they're still in the military, are you planning to fire those folks as well?" "The vaccine mandate, senator, has been rescinded," Austin replied, reminding Schmitt that Congress barred the Pentagon from requiring the vaccine in this year's NDAA. INDUSTRY WATCH: A Northrop Grumman-led team has been chosen by the U.S. Army to participate in the second increment of the competition to replace the long-serving RQ-7B Shadow tactical drone with the new Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System. Northrop Grumman, along with its partner Shield AI, has a seven-week contract to define the modular open-system architecture of an enhanced V-BAT aircraft. "The V-BAT UAS is an innovative, agile, compact and lightweight platform that a combat team of two soldiers can rapidly launch and recover in challenging and on-the-move environments," according to a company release. The Rundown Washington Examiner: Inspectors general receive nearly 200 complaints alleging Ukraine aid misconduct Washington Examiner: Lloyd Austin slams Tuberville's abortion-related holds on Pentagon nominations Washington Examiner: Cotton accuses Defense Department of hiding strike in Syria until after votes Washington Examiner: New START treaty's US-Russia data exchange won't happen after Moscow's suspension Washington Examiner: China to have 150 more ships than US by 2028 under Biden budget, Navy secretary admits Washington Examiner: Obama blames Trump for emboldened China Washington Examiner: Josh Hawley to seek vote on TikTok ban this week Washington Examiner: AUMF mirage: Republicans still hawkish on war powers despite support for repeal Washington Examiner: Opinion: GOP presidential hopefuls should pay close attention to European leaders' visits to Beijing New York Times: Belarus Says It's Willing To Host Russian Nuclear Weapons To Counter A Perceived Western Threat. Wall Street Journal: Russia's Economy Is Starting To Come Undone CNN: New U.S. Drone Routes Over Black Sea 'Definitely Limit' Intelligence Gathering, Says U.S. Official Reuters: Taiwan President Defiant After China Threatens Retaliation For U.S. Trip Washington Post: North Korean Hackers Play The 'Long Con' By Targeting Experts CNN: U.S. And South Korea Send Thousands Of Troops And 23-Ton Vehicles To Practice Beach Invasion Bloomberg: Lockheed Hypersonic Missile Test Marred by In-Flight Data Loss 19fortyfive.com: Does the U.S. Military Have a Hypersonic Weapons Problem? Air & Space Forces Magazine: Kendall: Air Force 'More Committed' to HACM After Latest Unsuccessful ARRW Test Defense Scoop: Sea Services Explore Launching New School For Drone Operators As Fleets Grow Inside Defense: Collins Questions Proposed Ship Buying Levels For FY-24 Fox News: Graham Grills Navy On Budget That Shrinks The Fleet As China Grows: 'Doesn't Make Sense' USNI News: CMC Berger To Senate: 'There's No Plan' To Meet Amphib Warship Requirements Defense One: Navy, Marines Reevaluating Munition Stockpiles Due To Ukraine War 19fortyfive.com: The U.S. Army Seeks Long-Range Maneuverable Fires Missile Air & Space Forces Magazine: As Unfunded Priority Lists Pour In, Austin Backs an Effort to End Them 19fortyfive.com: Russia's Su-57 Felon Stealth Fighter Has Some Problems Air & Space Forces Magazine: Better Goals, Data Tracking Could Help Ease Military Recruiting Strain, GAO Finds Soldier of Fortune: Exclusive: New Video Shows Gruesome Execution of Ukrainian 'Cornered Man' Pleading for Life 19fortyfive.com: Opinion: Take the Win and End the Ukraine War Now 19fortyfive.com: Opinion: Russian Nukes in Belarus: Just Another Gimmick by Putin Calendar WEDNESDAY | MARCH 29 8 a.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: "How to keep Western tech out of Russian weapons," with Sam Jones, president and co-founder of the Heartland Initiative; and Olena Tregub, executive director of the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/keeping-western-tech-out-of-russian-weapons 9:30 a.m. 232A Russell — Senate Armed Services CyberSecurity Subcommittee hearing: "Enterprise Cybersecurity to Protect the Department of Defense Information Networks," with testimony from John Sherman, Pentagon CIO; and Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, director, Defense Information Systems Agency https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings 10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: "Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Budget Request," with testimony from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings/full-committee 10 a.m. H-140 Capitol — House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing: "FY 2024 Request for the United States Navy and Marine Corps," with testimony from Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro; Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday; and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger http://appropriations.house.gov 10 a.m. 2008 Rayburn — House Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing: "FY 2024 Request for the Department of Veterans Affairs," with testimony from VA Secretary Denis McDonough http://appropriations.house.gov 10 a.m. — U.S. Institute of Peace virtual discussion: "Assessing the State of European Security: A Presidential Perspective from the Balkans," with Montenegrin President Milo Dukanovic https://www.usip.org/events/assessing-state-european-security 10:30 a.m. 2362-B Rayburn — House Appropriations Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing: "FY 2024 Request for the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation," with testimony from Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation; Michael Connor, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works; and Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, chief of engineers and commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers http://appropriations.house.gov 11 a.m. — Government Executive Media Group discussion: "The State of the Space Force," with Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman https://d1stateofdefense.com/ 11 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion: "Russia-China Relations One Year after the Invasion of Ukraine," with Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund's Indo-Pacific Program; Dmitry Gorenburg, senior research scientist in Russia studies at the Center for Naval Analyses; Richard Weitz, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Political-Military Analysis; Yusuke Anami, professor at Tohoku University; and former Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for European and NATO Policy Jim Townsend, adjunct senior fellow, Transatlantic Security Program, CNAS https://www.cnas.org/events/brussels-sprouts-live-russia-china-relations 2:30 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW — Atlantic Council discussion: "How to beat Russia: Observations from Ukraine's homeland defense," with Robert Vass, founder and president of GLOBSEC; and Nico Lange, senior adviser at GLOBSEC https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/how-to-beat-russia 3 p.m. 2212 Rayburn — House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee hearing: "Personnel Posture," with testimony from Lt. Gen. Douglas Stitt, deputy Army chief of staff; Vice Adm. Richard Cheeseman, deputy chief of naval operations for personnel; Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, deputy Air Force chief of staff for manpower and personnel; Lt. Gen. James Glynn, deputy Marine Corps commandant for manpower and reserve affairs; and Katharine Kelley, deputy Space Force chief of space operations for human capital http://www.armedservices.house.gov 4 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: "More, Better, Faster: U.S. Support for Ukraine's Defense," with Senate Foreign Relations ranking member James Risch (R-ID); and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) https://www.hudson.org/events/more-better-faster- THURSDAY | MARCH 30 9:30 a.m. G50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing "Posture of the Department of the Army in Review of the Defense Authorization Request for Fiscal Year 2024 and the Future Years Defense Program," with testimony from Army Secretary Christine Wormuth; and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings 9:30 a.m. — Henry Stimson Center virtual discussion: "If We Don't Sell: What Happens When States are Cut Off from U.S. Arms?" with Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA); Annie Shiel, U.S. advocacy director at the Center for Civilians in Conflict; and Elias Yousif, research analyst at the Stimson Conventional Defense Program https://www.stimson.org/event/if-we-dont-sell-what-happens 10 a.m. 1740 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution holds its ninth annual "Justice Stephen Breyer Lecture" on "Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the international legal order," with Oona Hathaway, professor of international law at Yale Law School; Maarten Boef, deputy ambassador at the Netherlands Embassy; and Marielle Vavier, deputy mayor of The Hague https://www.brookings.edu/events/russias-aggression-against-ukraine 12:30 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE — Heritage Foundation discussion: "Restoring the Military's Focus on Warfighting," with Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) https://www.heritage.org/defense/event/restoring-the-militarys-focus-warfighting 1 p.m. 300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Wilson Center Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies discussion: "Putin's Concept of International Law," with Lauri Malksoo, professor of international law at the University of Tartu, Estonia https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/putins-concept-international-law 1:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: "The Future of AUKUS," with retired Adm. Harry Harris, former commander of U.S. Pacific Command https://www.csis.org/events/future-aukus-admiral-harry-harris-jr-usn-ret 2 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual book discussion on White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan, with author Mick Ryan, nonresident fellow at CSIS https://www.csis.org/events/book-event-white-sun-war-campaign-taiwan 3 p.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion: "The Biden Administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy," with Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant to the president and National Security Council coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-fireside-kurt-campbell FRIDAY | MARCH 31 8:30 a.m. 1330 Maryland Ave. SW — National Review Institute 2023 Ideas Summit, with former Vice President Mike Pence; and former Attorney General Bill Barr delivering remarks on "rule of law" https://web.cvent.com/event 9:30 a.m. — Henry Stimson Center virtual discussion: "Japan's New National Security Strategy: Allies & Partners," with Ken Jimbo, professor at Keio University; Tomohiko Satake, senior fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies; Kei Koga, associate professor at Nanyang Technological University; Yoko Iwama, professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies; and Masahiro Kurita, senior fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies https://www.stimson.org/event/japans-new-national-security-strategy 10 a.m. — Bipartisan Policy Center virtual discussion: "Housing America's Military Families," with Shannon Razsadin, president and executive director of the Military Family Advisory Network; and Jessica Strong, senior director of applied research at Blue Star Families https://bipartisanpolicy.org/event/housing-americas-military-families 10 a.m. 37th and O Sts. NW— Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies conference: "Iraq 2023: Twenty Years On" https://www.georgetown.edu/event/iraq-2023-twenty-years-on | | | "I will have it solved in 24 hours with Zelensky and with Putin. And there's a very easy negotiation to take place, but I don't want to tell you what it is because then I can't use that negotiation. It will never work."
| Former President Donald Trump, in an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox news, claiming he could bring peace to Ukraine in a single day
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