Overnight Defense: GOP leaders express concerns after 9/11 veto override | Lawmakers press for Syria ‘plan B’ | US touts anti-ISIS airstrikes

THE TOPLINE: The White House on Thursday slammed Congress, saying lawmakers were suffering from “buyer’s remorse” over controversial legislation that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in U.S. courts.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest crowed after the top two Republican leaders suggested the measure needed changes less than 24 hours after Congress voted to override President Obama’s veto of the legislation. 

{mosads}”Well, it’s hard to know where to start,” Earnest said with a smile. “I think what we’ve seen in the United States Congress is a case of rapid-onset buyer’s remorse.”

The White House vented its frustration after suffering a major defeat on Wednesday, when the House and Senate overwhelmingly voted to overrule Obama’s veto for the first time.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday both said the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) could have negative, unintended consequences that could put U.S. service members and diplomats abroad at risk of legal action.

Those are the same concerns that administration officials have expressed for months, making the situation especially frustrating in Earnest’s eyes.  

The Hill’s Jordan Fabian has the story here.

For more on GOP leaders expressing reservations about the 9/11 bill, click here.

KERRY: US ‘ON THE VERGE’ OF ENDING RUSSIA TALKS: Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday the U.S. is close to calling off talks with Russia over military cooperation in Syria after the failure of a cease-fire brokered by Washington and Moscow.

“We’re on the verge of suspending the discussion. It’s irrational in the context of the kind of bombing taking place to be sitting there and trying to take things seriously,” Kerry said at a conference hosted by the Aspen Institute and the Atlantic Council.

On Thursday, the Russian government rejected Kerry’s request for an end to the bombing in Aleppo, which has become the main battleground for the fight between the Syrian government, supported by the Russians, and anti-regime rebels, supported by the West. 

For more on this story click here. 

SENATORS PRESS FOR SYRIA ‘PLAN B’: Senators from both parties on Thursday lamented the apparent lack of a “plan B” in Syria as Russia vowed to press ahead with an offensive that is devastating Aleppo.
The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel reports: 

“There is no plan B,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee during a hearing. “When I refer to Secretary [of State John] Kerry as a sympathetic figure, I say that because he gets up every day. Some say he should resign over lack of support or at least threaten to, but there’s no support.

“It’s impossible to be successful in negotiating an agreement with someone if there’s no consequences. In this case, the consequence that you’re laying out is that Russia will fully determine the future of Syria.”

Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to reassure committee members that the administration is looking for new options in the event a cease-fire is not restored.

“The president has asked all the agencies to put forward options — some familiar, some new — that we are very actively reviewing,” he said. “When we are able to work through these in the day ahead, we’ll have an opportunity to come back and talk about them in detail.”

But he declined to elaborate on those options, saying he did not want “to get ahead of where we are.”

To read more about the story, click here. 

US MILITARY: 18 ISIS LEADERS KILLED IN LAST MONTH: A U.S.-led coalition has killed 18 ISIS leaders in the last 30 days, 13 of them in Mosul, Iraq, according to a U.S. military spokesman on Thursday.  

That includes military commanders, propagandists and those facilitating the recruitment of foreign fighters into the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, spokesman Air Force Col. John Dorrian said, according to Reuters. 

“By taking these individuals off the battlefield, it creates some really disruptive effects to enemy command and control,” Dorrian added. 

A defense official told The Hill on Wednesday that eliminating ISIS’s top ranks is reducing ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s influence and isolating him.

The Hill’s Kristina Wong has more here. 

ICYMI: 

— The Hill: Petraeus: ‘Real cause’ of ISIS was Iraqi government

— The Hill: Dem lawmaker asks Pentagon to study blast exposure effects

— The Hill: US troops expected to follow Iraqi forces into Mosul

— Daily Sabah: Duterte to end joint US-Philippines military drills

— IBT: Kashmir Death Toll Climbs As Soldiers On Both Sides Killed In Border Clash