Overnight Defense: GOP, Dems clash over war fund

by Rebecca Kheel - 04/27/16 5:53 PM ET

THE TOPLINE: The House Armed Services Committee’s markup of its 2017 National Defense Authorization Act is still going strong here in the committee hearing room.

Some of the most contentious defense issues – including over Russian rocket engines, Syria and Iran – are yet to come. We’ll be here as long as it takes, so check back at TheHill.com later tonight for updates.

Here are some of the highlights of the day so far…

GOP, DEMS CLASH OVER WAR FUND: The chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee clashed over a defense bill’s war funding Wednesday as a daylong debate over the bill began.

{mosads}Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) argued the same funding tactic was used by Democrats in 2008, while ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) insisted the situation was different back then.

At issue is how long the bill would authorize war funding. Of the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) fund, $36 million would only be authorized until April 30, 2017, forcing the next president to either scale back war plans or request supplemental funding.

Thornberry argued the same thing happened at the end of President George W. Bush’s tenure when Democrats controlled Congress.

While that’s true, Smith countered, sequestration was not an issue back then. If passed as is, war funding would run out just as the Bipartisan Budget Act is expiring and sequestration kicks back in.

Read more here.

BAN ON BASE CLOSURES SURVIVES: Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) offered and withdrew an amendment to an annual defense bill Wednesday that would have allowed the Pentagon to carry out another round of base closures.

“The central cloud hanging over this committee is we don’t have the resources to do what we have to do,” said Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. “In a situation like that, you try to save resources wherever you can save them. [Base closures] would be one way of doing that.”

Smith withdrew the amendment to the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act because of procedural issues, but said he wanted to offer it nonetheless to urge the committee to continue assessing the issue.

Currently, the 2017 National Defense Authorization would explicitly prohibit a new round of what’s known as Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).

The Pentagon recently submitted a report to Congress arguing for another BRAC, saying it will have 22 percent excess capacity by 2019.

Read the rest here.

REPUBLICANS BLAST PENTAGON ENERGY PROGRAMS: Republicans took aim at the Pentagon’s energy initiatives Wednesday, but were unable to get two amendments into a defense bill seeking to scale back the department’s programs.

“We ought to do what makes sense and don’t do what doesn’t make sense,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who supported the amendments. “There are certainly times where research and a variety of things makes sense, but we should not spend precious dollars on things that don’t make sense.”

One amendment to the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, offered by Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) and rejected by the committee 29-30, would have blocked the Pentagon from using funds to comply with two executive orders on climate change.

The other, offered by Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Texas) and rejected 29-32, would have prohibited the Pentagon from spending money on alternative energy facilities unless the Defense secretary justifies the money’s use.

Read the rest here.

IN OTHER NEWS:

TRUMP OFFERS ‘AMERICA FIRST’ VISION: Donald Trump outlined his foreign policy stance in a major address Wednesday.

The Hill’s Julian Hattem has the story:

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump warned against “the false song of globalism” in a major foreign policy address on Wednesday in an escalation of his rhetoric rejecting the current framework of international coalitions.

“We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism,” Trump promised during a speech in Washington.

“I am skeptical of international unions that tie us up and bring America down,” he claimed. “And under my administration, we will never enter America into any agreement that reduces our ability to control our own affairs.

“The nation-state remains the true foundation of happiness and harmony.”

Trump’s comments are among the most vivid depiction yet of his profound doubt in the framework of global institutions that have dominated the globe since the end of World War II.

Read the rest here.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing with Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford about strategy to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) at 9:30 a.m. at Hart 216. http://1.usa.gov/22U2OfJ

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on challenges and opportunities in Asia at 10 a.m. Thursday at Rayburn 2172. http://1.usa.gov/1SgKpYX

ICYMI:

— The Hill: Clinton allies ridicule Trump’s ‘America first’ doctrine

— The Hill: Trump address gets mixed reaction from GOP

— Military Times: Meet the Army’s first female infantry officer

— The Guardian: US to release report on failings leading to airstrike on Afghanistan hospital

— Reuters: Pentagon aims to curb tobacco use by military

Please send tips and comments to Kristina Wong, kwong@digital-release.thehill.com, and Rebecca Kheel, rkheel@digital-release.thehill.com