Overnight Defense: Senate panel delays Iraq war powers repeal | Study IDs Fort Hood as least-safe base for female soldiers | Pentagon loosens some COVID-19 restrictions

Happy Monday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I’m Rebecca Kheel, and here’s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.

THE TOPLINE: A Senate panel is postponing consideration of a bill to repeal a pair of war authorizations related to Iraq, at least for a couple days.

A Democratic Senate aide confirmed the Foreign Relations Committee will not take up the bill Tuesday as originally planned after a group of Republicans on the committee requested to hold it over.

What the Republicans wanted: Earlier Monday, five GOP senators asked for a public hearing with the secretaries of Defense and States, as well as a classified briefing with those departments and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, before the panel votes on repealing 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force (AUMF).

“We support Congress asserting its constitutional role and believe it is our duty to exercise our oversight responsibilities with respect to the Executive branch,” the GOP senators wrote Monday to committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).

“There are weighty questions, however, about the implications of repealing the 2002 AUMF, which should cause this committee to pause before we act,” they added. “We believe it is critical that every member of this committee fully understand the scope and use of existing legal authorities, the current threats to the U.S. and its allies and partners, and the implications for our national security and foreign policy.”

The letter was signed by GOP Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Mike Rounds (S.D.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Bill Hagerty (Tenn.).

What now: It is unclear when the bill will be taken up now, but the committee already had a tentative backup business meeting on its schedule for Thursday.

Context: The Senate panel’s move comes after the House voted to repeal the 2002 AUMF last week.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has also vowed to hold a vote in his chamber this year to repeal the 2002 authorization.

Proponents of repealing the decades-old war authorizations see it as a first step in a broader effort to claw back presidential war powers, including replacing the 2001 AUMF that green-lighted the Afghanistan War and war on terror with a narrower authorization.

STUDY FINDS BASES WITH HIGH RISK FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT

Female soldiers have the highest risk of being sexually assaulted at Fort Hood, Texas, making it the least-safe post for women in the Army, according to a new RAND Corp. study.

The report, released Friday, found that female soldiers at Fort Hood have an 8.4 percent risk of sexual assault, nearly one-third higher than the 5.8 percent risk faced by the average woman in the Army.

RAND, which studied the risk of sexual assault and harassment for Army soldiers between August 2017 and July 2018, found that of the 5,883 women based at Fort Hood between those dates, 494 were sexually assaulted — about one in 12.

Risk at other bases: Other bases with a higher-than-average risk for women, in descending order, include Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee border; and Carson, Colo.

Women serving at the Pentagon had the lowest risk of sexual assault at 1.8 percent, or about 1 in 50.

Risk factors: The study linked the likelihood of sexual assault with the age and rank of the women typically assigned to either location.

“Fort Hood and Fort Bliss have large numbers of young, unmarried, less-educated, and junior-ranking soldiers, who are known to be at higher risk of sexual assault,” according to the study.

By contrast, women serving at the Pentagon are, on average, likely to be “older, more senior-ranking, more highly educated, and might have other personnel characteristics associated with lower total sexual assault risk.”

The RAND study also found several factors that reduced the risk of sexual assault for women.

Army women at bases with more civilians, for example, faced lower sexual assault and sexual harassment risks.

A soldier’s chosen career field also played a role. Women in field artillery had the highest risk of sexual assault at 10.6 percent compared with women in recruiting and counseling, which had the lowest risk of assault at 1.9 percent.

PENTAGON LOOSENING COVID RESTRICTIONS

Slowly but surely, life is getting back to normal.

The Pentagon took a step toward that direction Monday, announcing that the health protection level at the building will drop from “Bravo plus” to “Bravo” on Wednesday morning.

What that means is that maximum occupancy will now be at 50 percent, as opposed to 40 percent, press secretary John Kirby said. Gatherings at the Pentagon will also be capped at 50 people, as opposed to 25.

But some restrictions will remain, including no public tours and the 9/11 memorial remaining closed. Random COVID-19 entrance screening of the workforce will continue at about 10 to 20 percent, while virus screening for visitors will continue at 100 percent.

Supervisors will also “continue to provide maximum telework opportunities to eligible employees,” Kirby said.

Mass vax sites closed: Kirby also announced Monday that the last federal mass vaccination site staffed by active-duty troops has now closed.

The last site was in New Jersey and closed Sunday, Kirby said.

More than 5,100 active-duty service members supported 48 federal sites across the country and U.S. territories, helping provide nearly 5 million COVID-19 vaccines.

Kirby previously announced the mission was winding down amid slower demand for the shot.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday and Marines Commandant Gen. David Berger will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee at 9:30 a.m. https://bit.ly/3qicUuR

Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville will testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee at 10 a.m. https://bit.ly/3vGvqyp

A Senate Armed Services subcommittee will hold a hearing on Air Force modernization efforts with testimony from service officials at 2:30 p.m. https://bit.ly/3qhPO7C

ICYMI

— The Hill: Biden struggles to detail post-withdrawal Afghanistan plans

— The Hill: Biden to host Afghan president at White House on Friday

— The Hill: Iran president-elect says missile program is nonnegotiable

— The Hill: VA moving to cover gender affirmation surgery through department health care

— Associated Press: Taliban take key Afghan district, adding to string of wins

— NBC News: Since 9/11, military suicides dwarf the number of soldiers killed in combat

— Bloomberg: US Navy’s deadliest new subs are hobbled by spare-parts woes

— Defense One: JEDI cloud update coming soon, says Pentagon’s No. 2