THE TOPLINE: The House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee released it’s a draft bill on Tuesday evening, which would provide war funding only through April 2017, a tactic that has drawn opposition from Democrats and the Pentagon.
The bill appropriates $575.7 billion for the Defense Department. That breaks down to $517.1 billion for the base requirements and $58.6 billion for a war fund known as Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).
{mosads}Despite the concerns, Republicans say using the war funding for base requirements allows for increased training, facilities repairs and new equipment, which will make for a stronger military.
“In an increasingly dangerous and rapidly changing world, we must guarantee that our military and intelligence community have the capability to defeat barbaric Islamic terror groups and deter aggressor-nations, like Russia, Iran, China and North Korea,” defense appropriations subcommittee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) said in a written statement.
“This bill recognizes the critical need for increased funding for more training, readiness and equipment and provides for military families. And our heightened oversight ensures that every dollar counts.”
The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has more.
GOP PILES ON OBAMA AIDE: There was more fallout from a profile of Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, Obama’s foreign policy communications guru, on Tuesday.
GOP senators said Rhodes’ recent comments showed the administration deceived its way to a win on the Iran nuclear deal.
“Mr. [Ben] Rhodes, who is supposed to be the White House’s foreign policy communications guru, shockingly explained the administration’s bald manipulation of the media and public opinion to build support for the Iran nuclear agreement,” Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) said in a statement Tuesday.
In The New York Times Magazine profile, Rhodes said he “created an echo chamber” of supportive outside groups and experts to help sell the Iran deal.
The Hill’s Jordain Carney has more.
OBAMA TO VISIT HIROSHIMA: President Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, later this month, the White House announced.
The president will visit the site of the world’s first atomic bombing and meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “to highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” the White House said.
The Hill’s Mark Hensch has more.
CITADEL DENIES HIJAB REQUEST: The Citadel military college has denied a request to allow a Muslim woman who was admitted to the school to wear a headscarf if she enrolls, the college announced Tuesday.
“Uniformity is the cornerstone of this four-year leader development model,” Citadel President John Rosa said in a written statement. “The standardization of cadets in apparel, overall appearance, actions and privileges is essential to the learning goals and objectives of the college.”
The woman, whose name has not been released, will not attend the school unless she can wear her hijab and is considering what to do to next, according to an advocacy group working with her.
“We’re working with the family to determine what the next legal steps would be,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “We’re not going to let this go.”
The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has more.
SECURITY HEAVYWEIGHTS WARN AGAINST DEBT: A bipartisan group of prominent national security figures on Tuesday called on U.S. leaders to reduce the country’s long-term debt, which they consider the greatest threat to the nation’s security.
“As individuals who have served the nation in both international and domestic leadership roles, we continue to believe that our long-term debt is the single greatest threat to our national security,” the group said in a statement, first obtained by The Hill.
The group warns that federal debt is projected to climb to 131 percent of the nation’s GDP over the next 25 years.
The Hill’s Kristina Wong has the scoop.
HAGEL: NEXT PREZ SHOULD WORK WITH PUTIN: Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had a bit of advice for the next president: Work with Russia.
“One of the first orders of business for the next president, in my opinion, is that we need to sit down with [President] Vladimir Putin,” Hagel said at a media roundtable at the Atlantic Council on Tuesday.
“And that may be distasteful, but we know enough about President Putin that he deals with leader-to-leader,” he said.
Hagel declined to endorse a presidential candidate, saying he would leave that up to the American people.
However, Hagel’s recommendation would fall more in line with presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric of getting along with Putin.
Read more here.
ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation hosts its 2016 Fiscal Summit: Leadership for a Secure Future at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. at 9:00 a.m. More information here.
The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday will take up its full defense authorization bill in a closed session at 9:30 a.m.
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee is scheduled to hold a closed markup of the 2017 defense appropriations bill at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in room H-140 in the Capitol. http://1.usa.gov/21EPmNK
A House Armed Services subcommittee is scheduled to have a hearing on foreign military sales with testimony from outside experts at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Rayburn House Office Building 2212. http://1.usa.gov/1WeC0II
A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the administration’s budget request for South Asia at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Rayburn 2172. http://1.usa.gov/1VfEZyr
Another Foreign Affairs subcommittee is scheduled to have hearing on Boko Haram and other threats to northern Nigeria with testimony from outside experts at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Rayburn 2255. http://1.usa.gov/23rQcN4
ICYMI:
— The Hill: Marine veteran suing Iran for torture during detainment
— The Hill: Kissinger: ‘Extrication is not a strategy’
— The Hill: US won’t seek death penalty for accused Benghazi ringleader
— The Hill: Rubio goes after Trump on foreign policy
— Wall Street Journal: U.S. Warship, Sailing Near Chinese-Claimed Island, Challenges Beijing