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The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed the final version of the annual defense authorization bill, giving its approval to a record-setting military budget and changes to policies on Russia and China that nonetheless avoids direct clashes with the Trump administration. The 359 to 54 vote on the $716 billion measure, which the Senate is expected to take up in coming weeks, comes after one of the shortest negotiation processes for the behemoth defense bill in recent history - an indicator of how few politically controversial issues arose during the debate.
A White House effort to ban transgender people from military service is mired in confusion, chaos and a web of litigation a year after President Donald Trump fired off tweets that ignited the controversy, several lawmakers, advocates and lawyers said Wednesday. For now, a 2016 Pentagon policy to open the military to transgender individuals remains in place, but a Trump administration effort to reverse that plan has created a chilling effect for potential recruits and heightened fears for some servicemembers, some advocates contend.
The long-awaited questioning of the FBI agent at the heart of the 2016 election probe was always expected to be one for the history books. But Congress outdid itself.
PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian National Committee of America on Friday, June 22 called upon the bipartisan leadership of key Senate and House oversight committees to investigate potential violations of U.S. arms export laws in connection with published reports that Azerbaijan will showcase U.S. -made Bell 412 helicopters at its June 26th military parade.
In this Tuesday, May 29, 2018 photo, Adam Smith, left, founder and executive director, Oregon Craft Cannabis Alliance, is shown a marijuana variety called Cherry Skunk by Tree PDX marijuana shop owner Brooke Smith at her shop in Po... . In this Tuesday, May 29, 2018 photo, Tree PDX marijuana shop owner Brooke Smith poses for a photo outside her small shop in Portland, Ore.
In this Oct. 19, 2016 file photo, a man fishes for salmon in the Snake River above the Lower Granite Dam in Washington state. Three Republican U.S. House members from Washington state are criticizing Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., for opposing their legislation that would prevent the breaching of four dams on the Snake River to help improve endangered salmon runs.
The Pentagon is asking for new nuclear weapons to keep up with other world powers who it says are advancing capabilities The president says the U.S. defense must also include a nuclear weapons arsenal so strong and powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression. A new report released by the Defense Department Friday calls for new additional nuclear weapons to keep other world powers at bay.
The U.S. agency tasked with protecting the country from missile attacks is scouting the West Coast for places to deploy new anti-missile defenses, two congressmen said on Saturday, as North Korea's missile tests raise concerns about how the United States would defend itself from an attack. West Coast defenses would likely include Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missiles, similar to those deployed in South Korea to protect against a potential North Korean attack.
The most effective way to prevent a nuclear war with North Korea is to reassure them that the U.S. won't strike first. Former National Security Council Director Peter Feaver recently told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "even a single nuclear detonation" could "trigger an escalatory spiral that would lead to civilization-threatening outcomes."
Former defense secretary Leon E. Panetta speaks during a discussion on countering violent extremism on Oct. 23 in Washington. Three former secretaries of defense are warning lawmakers not to enact proposed Republican tax restructuring plans, arguing they will jeopardize future military spending.
On September 29, Politico published an article claiming that Bernie Sanders Supporters have opted not to primary Democratic Party incumbents. "Democrats have long been terrified that the Sanders-Clinton slugfest of 2016 would set off a prolonged civil war in the party, forcing incumbents to fight off primary challengers from the left in Senate and gubernatorial races," Politico reported.
A group of 145 House Democrats said Wednesday the Defense Department response to the disaster in Puerto Rico has been inadequate and they urged President Trump to send an aircraft carrier to help relieve the territory's suffering residents. A carrier's additional military aircraft and engineers are needed to help clear roads, rescue stranded residents and deliver emergency supplies to isolated parts of the island after it was slammed by Hurricane Maria last week, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Trump.
Washington >> Mike Thompson , Vallejo's representative in Congress, has submitted a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis urging him to begin the process of renaming military installations across the country that are named for Confederate figures, Thompson's office announced Monday. The letter is co-signed by 21 other members of Congress, including House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith .
President Donald Trump made rebuilding the U.S. armed forces a signature promise during the presidential campaign, but it's the GOP-controlled Congress that's leading the way by adding tens of billions of dollars to the annual defense policy bill to pay for active-duty troops, combat aircraft and ships that he didn't request. The House Armed Services Committee approved its version of a $696 billion bill for 2018 just before midnight Wednesday by a 60-1 vote.
Democrats are pushing to make the annual defense policy bill a referendum on President Trump, with plans to introduce a series of amendments as the legislation makes its way through committee. Rep. Jim Langevin will take the lead on introducing an amendment on climate change in an effort to throw Defense Secretary James Mattis's words back at the administration.
The blockade against Qatar by Gulf states was a "very complex situation" and an area where common ground had to be found, Mattis spoke on Monday ahead of talks between the US and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir in Washington, DC, as the Gulf crisis entered its second week. The former general told the House Armed Services Committee that Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani had inherited a difficult situation and was moving in the right direction.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis declared Monday that he was "shocked" upon his return to the Pentagon by the poor state of the U.S. military's readiness for combat. He put most of the blame on Congress for its inability to approve budgets on time or repeal a law that strictly limits defense spending.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis described the diplomatic spat between Qatar and several other American allies in the Middle East as a "complex situation" that the United States needed to help solve. "I believe that Prince Thani inherited a difficult, very tough situation, and he's trying to turn the society in the right direction," Mattis told lawmakers at a House Armed Services Committee hearing late Monday.
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal and other House Judiciary Committee Democrats want a perjury investigation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "Jeff Sessions lied under oath.
The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee announced on Thursday that he will reintroduce a bill that would allow the Pentagon to close and realign military bases. The Military Infrastructure Consolidation and Efficiency Act from Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., would give the Pentagon the authority to conduct another round of base realignment and closure, known as BRAC, in 2019.