Overnight Defense: White House ‘strongly objects’ to ZTE provision | Senate subpanel advances $675B Pentagon spending bill | New questions about VA pick

Happy Tuesday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I’m Ellen Mitchell, and here’s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

 

THE TOPLINE: The fight over ZTE heated up Tuesday when the White House said it “strongly objects” to a provision in the Senate-passed version of the annual defense policy bill that seeks to block President Trump’s deal to revive Chinese telecommunications giant.

Still, the statement did not include a veto threat, using language similar to the administration’s statement on the House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that the administration “supports ultimate passage of an NDAA for the 57th consecutive year.”

“The administration strongly objects to section 6702, as it would disturb the traditional allocation of powers between the legislative and executive branches,” the statement said. “The provision undermines the very purpose of the relevant export control regulations–which is to coerce non-compliant parties to stop engaging in behavior contrary to the national security interests of the United States.”

The objection was issued as part of a broader, 12-page statement of administration policy on the Senate’s NDAA, which passed last week with a veto-proof 85-10 vote.

The issue: The provision in the Senate NDAA keeps in place penalties that were levied on ZTE after it admitted violating sanctions on Iran and North Korea. It was added to the Senate’s NDAA after the Commerce Department announced it had agreed to lift the penalties against ZTE in exchange for the company paying a $1 billion fine and embedding a U.S.-selected compliance team into the firm.

In its statement, the White House argued the Senate’s move would negate incentives for companies like ZTE to come into compliance with U.S. law.

“A statutory bar on relief would eliminate key incentives for ZTE or any other company to come into compliance with U.S. export controls, even if it is in the national security interest of the United States to maintain these incentives,” the statement said.

The Senate version must still be reconciled with the House version, which does not include the ZTE provision.

What the White House wants: Both the House and Senate bills would ban the government from contracting with ZTE or Huawei, another Chinese telecommunications company. Tuesday’s statement said the administration would support such a ban, “but in a way that provides flexibility in implementation to maintain the ability of executive departments and agencies to accomplish their missions.”

The Senate language “fails to adequately address unintended consequences of such a broad prohibition and the loopholes that would remain, and the administration looks forward to addressing these concerns with the Congress,” the statement continued.

Other White House objections: The White House also said it “strongly objects” to a provision that seeks to restrain U.S. support to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen.

The provision would require certification that the Saudi coalition, which has been responsible for the majority of civilian deaths in the civil war, is meeting certain criteria before the U.S. can refuel Saudi and coalition aircraft.

The document also objected to a ban on China’s participating in the annual Rim of the Pacific naval exercises. The administration uninvited China to this year’s drill. But, the statement argued, China’s participation may be appropriate in other years, depending on “numerous other factors.”

Other objections include the bill’s end strength levels, which would allow 8,639 fewer active duty troops than the administration requested; provisions requiring the Missile Defense Agency to develop sensor and intercept layers; and the lack of authorization to build a new high-value detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to replace the aging one already there.

In addition, the administration is “disappointed” the bill does not include 4,000 special immigrant visas for Afghans who have helped the U.S. military.

 

SENATE SUBPANEL ADVANCES DEFENSE SPENDING BILL: The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee on Tuesday advanced a $675 billion Pentagon spending bill for fiscal 2019.

“This bill before us today sustains U.S. force structure and improves military readiness,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who also chairs the defense subpanel. “It also recommends investments in future technologies needed to defend our nation in an increasingly complex and competitive national security environment.”

What’s in it: The bill would provide $607.1 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget and $67.9 billion for a war fund known as the Overseas Contingency Operation (OCO) account, according to a summary of the bill. The text of the bill will be released Thursday when the full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill.

The funding level represents a $20.4 billion increase over the Pentagon’s fiscal 2018 enacted level.

The money would go toward giving troops a 2.6 percent pay raise. It would also boost active-duty and reserve force levels by 6,961 troops; the summary does not say how the additional troops would be divvied by service.

The bill would also provide $24 billion for Navy shipbuilding, funding the construction of 13 new ships. That includes two Virginia-class submarines, three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and two littoral combat ships.

The spending bill also has $42.2 billion for aviation procurement, including $1.2 billion for eight F-35Cs and four F-35Bs for the Navy and Marine Corps. Additionally, the bill would provide $120 million for Air Force F-35 advance procurement to increase planned procurements in fiscal 2020 and $200 million for Navy and Marine Corps aviation spares and repair parts to address maintenance and readiness issues.

The bill would also give $10.5 billion to the Missile Defense Agency, including $100 million for the development of a space-based Missile Defense Tracking System to detect conventional ballistic missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles.

Technology advancements: The bill would allow investments in a number of advanced technologies, including $929 million for hypersonics, $308 million for artificial intelligence and $317 million for the directed energy.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member of the subcommittee, touted the research and development budget, saying the total $95 billion would be the largest in the Pentagon’s history.

 

TRUMP VA PICK RAISES CONCERNS: Controversial details about President Trump‘s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have emerged in a Washington Post report on the eve of his confirmation hearing, including that as a congressional aide he defended polarizing views on homosexuals.

The Post reported that Robert Wilkie, who is set to appear for a hearing before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday, has throughout his career worked for polarizing lawmakers and officials with a history of defending their divisive views.

His background: Wilkie, 55, ran military personnel policy at the Pentagon for the Trump administration before serving as acting VA secretary. While at the Defense Department he helped Defense Secretary James Mattis navigate Trump’s transgender ban, first announced last July, taking a leading effort to justify the policy.

He stepped down from acting VA secretary after being nominated for secretary. The Washington insider has years of administrative experience working on Capitol Hill as well as in the Pentagon for two presidents.

His past jobs: Wilkie first worked as an aide for former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), who was known for denouncing Martin Luther King Jr. and making disparaging remarks toward homosexuals.  

At divisive moments Wilkie would defend Helms, including in 1993, when Democrat Carol Moseley Braun – the only African American in the Senate – successfully blocked Helms’s amendment to renew the patent on the insignia used by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The logo featured the Confederate flag.

In statements made to The Washington Post, Wilkie called Moseley Braun’s effort “an attempt in the name of political correctness to erase entire blocks of our history. … The question is whether we’re going to wipe out the history of millions of Americans who trace their heritage to the losing side.” 

Wilkie also accused a political opponent of his former boss as having “openly courted money from the homosexual community,” according to a 1996 transcript from PBS’s “News Hour with Jim Lehrer.”

Later, while serving as top aide to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, Wilkie defended Lott’s praise for former Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 1948 presidential campaign, which advocated for segregation. Lott lost his leadership in 2003 after he made the comments.

Wilkie said Lott was trying to be “gracious to an American icon.” 

But he has strong backing: Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro, – a former staff director for Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee – said he’s known Wilkie for more than 30 years and never saw “any of the leanings of Jesse Helms when it comes to the issues people were concerned about.” 

Wilkie also has the backing of Mattis and White House chief of staff John Kelly.

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee ranking member Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said he believes Wilkie is qualified and “a good guy,” and is waiting to see Wilkie’s responses to questions on his past positions. 

 

TRUMP URGED TO EXTEND PROTECTION FOR YEMENIS IN CIVIL WAR: Dozens of former U.S. officials and advocacy groups are urging the Trump administration to extend next week temporary protected status (TPS) for citizens of Yemen who are in the United States.

Thirty-three national security experts and 60 nongovernmental organizations sent letters to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen asking them to extend the designation for the civil war-ravaged country.

“These conditions demand both the extension of TPS for an estimated 1,200 individuals in the United States and its re-designation for Yemeni immigrants who seek to reside here without fear of deportation and separation from their families,” the experts wrote in their letter, obtained by The Hill ahead of its release.

“We urge you to take these steps as a small but vital protective measure that neither they nor the United States can do without.”

Who signed the letter: Signatories on the experts letter include former Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken; former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power; and former U.S. ambassadors to Yemen Barbara Bodine, Gerald Feierstein, William Rugh and Stephen Seche.

What is TPS designation? TPS designation allows citizens from countries hit by armed conflict or natural disaster to live and work in the United States for a limited time while their country is too dangerous to return to. The Trump administration has terminated TPS status for citizens of several countries, including Nepal, El Salvador, Sudan, Nicaragua and Haiti.

The deadline to decide whether to extend the designation for Yemen is July 5.

 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

The House Oversight Committee will hear from administration officials on plans to consolidate several government agencies and reassign several related programs, including veterans’ job training initiatives, at 10 a.m. at the Rayburn House Office Building, room 2154.

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will consider the nomination of Robert Wilkie to be VA Secretary at 2:30 p.m. at Russell Senate Office Building, room 418.  

The House Foreign Affairs subcommittee will hear from State Department officials and outside experts on instability in Cameroon and national security implications for the United States at 2:30 p.m. at Rayburn 2172.

A House Veterans Affairs Committee subpanel will hold a meeting to consider pending legislation, at 3 p.m. at Cannon House Office Building, room 334. 

 

ICYMI

— The Hill: Senate votes to require Pentagon to disclose cellphone spying near military facilities

— The Hill: Trump awards posthumous Medal of Honor to World War II veteran

— The Hill: Warner, Rubio ask Trump to reinstate ZTE ban

— The Hill: Rising concerns over hackers using satellites to target US

— The Hill: Helsinki being considered for Trump-Putin meeting: report

— The Hill: Trump calls Erdoğan to congratulate him on election win

— Defense News: Maintaining UK and US military relationship could cost Britain more than $10 billion a year

— Stars and Stripes: Soldiers to shoot more, stay longer in infantry school