Overnight Defense: Senate sides with Trump on military role in Yemen | Dem vets push for new war authorization on Iraq anniversary | General says time isn’t ‘right’ for space corps

THE TOPLINE: The Senate on Tuesday rejected an effort to force President Trump to end the U.S. military’s support for Saudi Arabia’s bombing operations in Yemen.

Senators voted 55-44 to table the resolution, effectively killing it.

The resolution, spearheaded by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), would require Trump to withdraw any troops in “or affecting” Yemen within 30 days unless they are fighting al Qaeda.

Republicans that voted against tabling the measure included Susan Collins (Maine), Steve Daines (Mont.), Mike Lee (Utah), Jerry Moran (Kansas) and Rand Paul (Ky.).

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Democrats Chris Coons (Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Doug Jones (Ala.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Bob Menendez (N.J.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Jack Reed (R.I.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.). voted with the majority to table the measure.

The vote marks a victory for the administration, which lobbied hard against the resolution.

Defense Secretary James Mattis urged Republicans to oppose the resolution during a closed-door lunch just hours ahead of the vote. And administration officials briefed all senators late last week to tout the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

The United States has provided support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen’s years-long civil war, including military advisers helping Saudi forces target enemies in Yemen for attack and U.S. planes refueling Saudi-led bombers on combat missions.

But senators have signaled growing concerns about the level of civilian casualties. The United Nations estimates that 10,000 people have been killed.

The Hill’s Jordain Carney has more here.

 

DEM IRAQ VETS RENEW PUSH FOR WAR AUTHORIZATION: The vote comes the same day that Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), both Iraq War veterans, used the 15th anniversary of the U.S. invasion to reaffirm a push for Congress to take up a new authorization for the use of military force (AUMF). 

“I don’t feel like overall Congress has learned it’s lesson, and I think most people would rather just keep their heads down and not have this vote,” Duckworth told reporters.

Gallego said he think Congress better understands the consequences of military action since the Iraq War, but agreed with Duckworth that lawmakers haven’t acted on those lessons.

“I certainly think there has been a better understanding of how military adventurism can go wrong and in what we saw happen in Iraq because we went under false premises and then we ended up not really having a good plan about what to do and how to exit and how to stabilize a country,” he said. “So that’s a lesson that now Congress has learned.”

The Trump administration cites the 2001 AUMF passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks as legal justification for a slew of current military operations, as the Obama administration did before it. To a lesser extent, officials also cite the 2002 AUMF that authorized the Iraq War.

Some lawmakers have been pushing for years to repeal those two AUMFs and pass a new one more tailored to the world today, but their efforts have consistently stalled amid partisan disputes about whether to impose constraints on time, ground troops and geography.

The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has the story here.

 

TOP GENERAL: NOT THE ‘RIGHT’ TIME TO CREATE SPACE FORCE: The head of U.S. Strategic Command on Tuesday told lawmakers that now is not the “right” time to create a separate military space branch. 

“I think that someday we’ll have a space corps or space force in this country. But I don’t think the time is right for that right now,” Gen. John Hyten told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

President Trump last week surprised military leaders when he announced the possibility of a “Space Force.”

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) – who last year opposed a House move to establish a space corps within the Air Force – made it clear during the hearing that he was not a fan of the proposal.

“I’m not too keen on ripping space out of the Air Force and creating a space corps,” Nelson said, before asking Hyten about his position on the matter.

“I love the fact that [Trump] embraces the fact that we need to have a future that looks at this warfighting domain,” Hyten replied.

Read the rest here. 

 

AIR FORCE CHIEF WANTS NEW APPROACH TO RECRUITING WOMEN: Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said Tuesday the military needs to change the way it talks about the idea of service if it hopes to recruit and retain more women.

“We’re, I think, trying to change a little bit the way we talk and think about who the protectors are in this country, because I think sometimes the way in which we talk about the services may appeal more to boys than to girls,” she told the House Armed Services Committee. “And that’s important, the way we talk about these things.

“If I asked everyone in this room to think, just close your eyes for a second and think about the most protective person you know in your life, someone who would do anything to keep you safe,” Wilson continued, before pausing. “Half the people in this room are thinking about their moms. We are the protectors. That’s what the military does. We serve to protect the rest of you, and that’s a very natural place for a woman to be.”

Wilson, who served in the Air Force after graduating in 1982 from the U.S. Air Force Academy’s third class to include women, was responding to a question from Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) about how to better retain women in the military. 

Read more here. 

 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:

The Senate Intelligence Committee will have an open hearing on election security at 10 a.m. at Hart Senate Office Building, room 216. 

The House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on state and nonstate actor influence operations with testimony from former officials at 10 a.m. at Rayburn House Office Building, room 2118. 

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for the nominees to be ambassador to South Sudan and assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs at 10 a.m. at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 419. 

A Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee will have a hearing on challenges for Lebanon with testimony from outside experts at 2 p.m. at Dirksen 419. 

A House Armed Services subcommittee will hold a hearing on ground force modernization with testimony from Army and Marines officers at 2 p.m. at Rayburn 2118. 

A House Foreign Affairs Committee subpanel will have a hearing on China’s foreign influence operations with testimony from outside experts at 2 p.m. at Rayburn 2167. 

Another Foreign Affairs subcommittee will hold a hearing on a potential U.S.-Saudi Arabia nuclear cooperation agreement with testimony from outside experts at 2 p.m. in Rayburn 2172. 

The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee will have a hearing on the administration’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal at 2 p.m. at Russell Senate Office Building, room 418. 

A Senate Armed Services subcommittee will have a hearing on ballistic missile defense with testimony from Pentagon officials at 2:30 p.m. at Russell 222. 

Another Senate Armed Services subcommittee will have a hearing on Navy shipbuilding programs with testimony from Pentagon officials at 2:30 p.m. at Russell 232A. 

A House Armed Services subpanel will hold a hearing on military personnel posture with testimony from Navy, Air Force, Marines and Army officers at 3:30 p.m. at Rayburn 2212.

 

ICYMI:

— The Hill: US, South Korea plan resumption of military drills

— The Hill: Senate GOP: Legislation to protect Mueller not needed

— The Hill: Team leader warned he didn’t have right equipment, intel prior to deadly Niger attack: report

— The Hill: Trump easing exports of lethal drones to allies: report

— The Hill: Trump moving toward first Gitmo prisoner transfer: report

— The Hill: Trump faces backlash after congratulating Putin on election win

— The Hill: McCain rips Trump’s congratulatory call to Putin as an insult to Russian people

— The Hill: Opinion: 15 years after the invasion of Iraq, still zero accountability for the war

— Defense News: Air Force Secretary defends clampdown on public engagements

 

Coming up this week, The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell will be moderating a conversation with retired Gen. David Petraeus for the Veterans in Global Leadership’s annual fundraiser, Thursday evening at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building in Washington. Tickets and information for the event can be found here.