Congressional leaders signed and delivered the Fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Act to President Obama just after 5 p.m. Tuesday, starting the 10-day period the President has to sign the bill into law or veto it, as he has threatened to do. Several Republicans, including House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tweeted that the bill had been sent to the President, and urged him to sign it. Earlier Tuesday, during a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he thinks Obama has “picked the wrong target” in saying he’ll veto the NDAA because of the amount of money in the overseas contingency operations fund. McCain stressed that the NDAA is an authorizing bill, not an appropriations bill, and said if Obama “cared most about the defense of the nation, then he would focus his attention on the appropriations bills.” The showdown is “really an unnecessary fight,” he added. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the fight is an “inside Washington political game” that loses sight of what the country asks the military to do. (Watch the full discussion.)
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
