Tag: Defense
Stevenson’s army, April 28
– “Current and former officials” tell WaPo that the President’s Daily Brief contained a dozen warnings about the coronavirus in Jan & Feb.
-Commerce has expanded the list of products that will now require an export license to China because of potential military applications.
– In a sign that the Supreme Court may duck the issue of congressional subpoenas for Trump’s tax returns, the Court has asked lawyers to submit briefs on whether the matter is a “political question.”
-Daily Beast wonders what happened to Jared Kushner’s shadow task force on coronavirus.
– Risa Brooks sees growing efforts by civilians to politicize the US military.The post has a link to a long article by Brooks in International Security where she sharply criticizes the Huntington model of civilian control. [I agree with her and with Eliot Cohen’s idea of an unequal dialogue.]
-SAIS profs Barno and Bensahel describe how the pandemic will change the US military.
– Brookings has a bunch of products on China and technology.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, April 27
– In Australia and New Zealand, they seem to have vanquished the virus, at least for now.
– Global military spending is surging.
– WaPo says Trump administration has multi-pronged effort to marginalize WHO.
– In effort to force continued sanctions on Iran, US has told JCPOA signatories that US is still legally part of the agreement.
– Jackson Diehl notes that US has a veto over Israeli annexation.
– CDC says Covid-19 is more complex than previously understood. And the number of basic questions is huge.
– Who deserves to be rescued in the shrinking economy? NYT notes that FDR saved artists.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, April 26
– George Will worries that courts are limiting Congress’ power of the purse. This week an appeals court hears a case, and the issue may turn on “standing” to sue.
-Ed Kilgore says there’s a constitutional way for Republicans to steal the presidential election this year.
– Are troop deployment numbers a Constitutional question?
– Lawfare history lesson: when FDR seized Montgomery Ward.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, April 24
– In preparation for next week’s discussion about the Supreme Court, be sure to read Linda Greenhouse on the dispute over keeping precedents and this piece guessing how Justice Kagan is working to gain allies.
– Bureaucratic politics: USAF and Space Force fight to control NRO.
– Great powers work to control Arctic.
– Political appointees pushed HHS on hydroxychloroquine
– NYT tells how the president spends his days and nights.
– FP says US-Saudi alliance is collapsing.
– Constitutional point: president’s can’t veto bills until the signed copies come over from Congress. Hence this situation [from Politico]:
STILL WAITING FOR A VETO — What ever happened to the Iran war powers resolution? The Senate and House passed the measure in February and March, respectively, aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to go to war with Iran without Congressional approval. But, quite unusually, the bill has yet to reach the president’s desk. The House finally enrolled the bill earlier this month and sent it to the Senate. It’s largely a procedural action, but the Senate has yet to enroll the bill so that it can be sent across Pennsylvania Avenue. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) recently told reporters after presiding over a pro forma session that he wasn’t even asked to sign it. Trump is expected to veto the bill anyway; so what gives?
Well, now we know: Aides in both parties tell us that Senate leaders are trying to iron out an agreement on when a vote to override the president’s expected veto would take place. With floor time so valuable these days amid the coronavirus pandemic, both sides want to ensure they are not causing problems for themselves down the line. So, for now, the bill is being held back. Both sides rejected the notion that any behind-the-scenes drama is preventing the resolution from advancing to the White House. Democrats and Republicans alike appear to be OK with this arrangement because they want Covid-19 to remain Congress’ top priority.
Why not the best? No, instead, the president wants the number 3 official at Defense to be the person with this flawed past: [from D Brief]
Anthony Tata will probably be named the Pentagon’s next policy chief. Bloomberg and Politico are reporting this morning that Tata, a retired Army brigadier general turned Fox talker, will be nominated as defense undersecretary for policy. “If confirmed by the Senate, Tata would replace John Rood, who was forced out in February as part of President Donald Trump’s loyalty purge after two years in the job,” Politico writes.
A West Point grad who became a Ranger and deputy commander of the 10th Mountain Division, Tata has a master’s degree in international relations and served as a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Tata retired in 2008, a year after Army investigators concluded that he had had at least two adulterous affairs and as they were looking into a false document he provided to courts. In retirement, Tata became a superintendent of schools in South Carolina’s Wake County and was fired by the county school board after 20 months on the job.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, April 21
– NSA O’Brien says US is monitoring reports that Kim jong-un may be gravely ill.
– His death could lead to unrest and fighting.
– Boris Johnson, while still healthy, missed 5 key meetings on the coronavirus.
– In WSJ, NSA O’Brien defends Trump’s actions on the pandemic. What troubles me, however, is that he goes beyond defense and explicitly criticizes the likely Democratic presidential candidate in the process.
– Defense One has a tick-tock on Modly’s dash to Guam.
– Defense News says Esper is studying cutting two aircraft carriers from the Navy.
– And just in time for next week’s discussion of the judicial branch, here’s an article on a big decision yesterday. While the explicit issue before the Supreme Court was whether federal criminal juries had to be unanimous for convictions, the article notes that on a slew of important side questions, the court splintered hopelessly: It split 3–1–1–1–3 on thorny disputes over precedent, constitutional interpretation, the Bill of Rights’ protections for noncitizens, and the contemporary relevance of a law’s racist roots. The justices used Ramos to shadowbox over long-running debates, including abortion.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, April 20
– Foreign powers are testing US defenses, Hill reports.
– Russia seems willing to broaden arms control agenda.
-The domestic politics of fighting the pandemic — in Turkey.
– Asia sees second wave of infections.
– Feel good moment: Atlantic has a bunch of spectacular photos of my home state of Colorado. I felt better seeing them and hope you do, too.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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