Experts warned the Senate Armed Services Committee at a Jan. 12 hearing that approving a waiver for retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as Defense Secretary would damage the norm of civilian control of the military and cautioned against relying on veterans to lend ...
Congress


Congress
The Senate Armed Services Committee will consider the nomination of retired Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III to be Defense Secretary on Jan. 19. Because Austin retired from the Army in 2016, from the position of commander of U.S. Central Command, Congress must approve a ...
Democrats appear poised to run defense policy in both congressional chambers for the first time in 10 years, as the party has won control of the Senate with narrow victories in two Jan. 5 Georgia runoff races. The results come at the end of a ...
Congress voted to enact a $741 billion defense policy bill over the objections of President Donald J. Trump, who vetoed the long-running annual legislation on Dec. 23. The Senate overrode Trump’s veto 81-13 on New Year’s Day, following the House’s 322-87 vote on Dec. 28. ...
President Donald J. Trump vetoed the 2021 defense policy bill on Dec. 23, calling it a “gift to China and Russia,” with no further explanation.
The State Department on Dec. 14 announced sanctions against Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries over its purchase of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system. SSB is banned from receiving “U.S. export licenses and authorizations,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote. The U.S. has frozen the assets ...
The Senate passed the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill 84-13 on Dec. 11 after a bumpy few weeks for the key annual legislation. “We must protect freedom, democracy and peace, and support our troops. This is the heart of the National Defense Authorization Act, and ...
As the United States closes out its participation in the 1992 Open Skies Treaty, some in government are starting to consider what might come next for the Air Force unit that has handled those foreign surveillance flights for decades. Lawmakers earlier this month released a ...
President-elect Joe Biden called on Congress to “swiftly” confirm Lloyd J. Austin III as the next Defense Secretary, rebutting concerns that his plan to nominate the recently retired Army general chips away at civilian control of the military. Introducing Austin at a Dec. 9 event ...