| | | | | |  | | By Bryan Bender | Presented by Northrop Grumman | With Connor O'Brien and Sarah Cammarata Editor's Note: Morning Defense is a free version of POLITICO Pro Defense's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. | | | — House and Senate negotiators strike a deal on the National Defense Authorization Act, but now face a potential presidential veto. — The Joint Chiefs chairman predicts changes to the National Defense Strategy under the Biden administration — What's going on with the Pentagon's mysterious Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force? HAPPY THURSDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE , where we're always on the lookout for tips, pitches and feedback. Email us at bbender@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter: @bryandbender, @morningdefense and @politicopro. | | | | A message from Northrop Grumman: We provide powerful, scalable networks and integrated capabilities that ensure warfighters and the systems they depend on can act as one joint force across every domain, service and mission. Learn more | | | | | | DONE DEAL ON NDAA: House and Senate negotiators struck a deal on a final version of the National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, teeing the $740 billion military policy bill up for votes in the coming days as well as a potential veto fight with President Donald Trump. "For 59 straight years, the NDAA has passed because Members of Congress and Presidents of both parties have set aside their own policy objectives and partisan preferences and put the needs of our military personnel and America's security first," House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith and ranking Republican Mac Thornberry said in a statement announcing the deal. "The time has come to do that again." Text of the deal could emerge as early as today. LOST CLAUSE: The compromise bill includes a provision requiring the Pentagon to remove the names of Confederate leaders from Army bases over a three-year period. The proposal, which was authored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and attached to the Senate version, was endorsed by House Democrats, even though the House-passed NDAA would have renamed bases in just one year. Before the recent shakeup, Trump had threatened over the summer to veto a defense bill that would force the renaming of bases. 'NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MILITARY': Congress is moving forward on the bill despite a last-minute veto threat from Trump, who said he wants the legislation to repeal an unrelated legal shield for social media companies, POLITICO's Andrew Desiderio, Connor O'Brien and Marianne LeVine report . The final version of the NDAA, H.R. 6395 (116), that will soon be considered by the House and Senate won't include Trump's long-sought repeal of the legal immunity for online companies, known as Section 230, according to lawmakers and aides. Republicans made clear they aren't going to bend. Senate Armed Services Chair Jim Inhofe said that while he agrees with Trump on Section 230, the provision "has nothing to do with the military." "You can't do it in this bill. That's not a part of the bill," Inhofe said, adding that he has conveyed that belief to Trump. Sen. Jack Reed , the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said even if they wanted to, there isn't enough time to tackle the issue before Congress adjourns for the year. "At this last minute, this sudden threat on an item that's not even part of a defense bill. … I don't think we could do it in a thoughtful, logical way at all," he told POLITICO. Related: How Trump's fury at Silicon Valley fixated on the little-known Section 230, via POLITICO's Cristiano Lima. Also: Last-minute snags complicate massive spending deal, via POLITICO's Caitlin Emma and Heather Caygle. And: Nunes' objections cloud fate of intelligence bill, via POLITICO's Martin Matishak. 'AN ALARM TO ALL OF AMERICANS': Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite and Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations, testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on readiness and management on Wednesday. Some takeaways, from our colleague Sarah Cammarata: The Arctic: "It should be an alarm to all of Americans, as an Arctic nation, that we should have a more formidable presence, to ensure rule of law and freedom of the seas in that part of the world," Braithwaite said in response to a question from subcommittee chair Dan Sullivan about the service's new Arctic strategy, which Braithwaite said is about to be released. He also said that "we are looking at ways to procure" more vessels in response to the White House's recent memo on how to build a more robust fleet. New fleet names: U.S. Fleet Forces Command will now be named the U.S. Atlantic Fleet to refocus naval forces on maritime operations in the Northern Atlantic, Braithwaite said. It will "confront the assertive Russian Navy, which has been deployed closer and closer to our east coast," he said. He also announced that the second frigate in the new Constellation class will be named the USS Congress. | | | The House Armed Services' readiness subcommittee will hold a closed-door briefing with retired Army Gen. Richard Cody and Richard Healing, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, on a new report from the National Commission on Military Aviation Safety at 1 p.m. Also, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, headlines the Naval Institute's Defense Forum 2020, also featuring Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger, and former Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, who is advising President-elect Joe Biden, beginning at 9 a.m. | | | |   | | | | | | 'IT'S A PRETTY GOOD DOCUMENT': Milley said in an appearance at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday that he expects the Biden administration to make some changes to the Pentagon's guiding doctrine that prioritizes Russia and China as 'near-peer' adversaries," our colleague Lara Seligman reports. "Are there some things that need to be modified for the next administration? Yes, I think they will likely do that," Milley said. "But right now I would say it's a pretty good document." Some observers remarked that it seemed a bit odd for the top military officer to "be publicly offering his views on the prior administration's NDS in December of 2020." | 
In this July 9, 2020, file photo Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley testifies during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. | Michael Reynolds/Pool via AP, File | Milley also said the Pentagon is in the midst of carrying out Trump's order to draw down from 4,500 to 2,500 troops in Afghanistan by Jan. 15. But the next step in the drawdown "will be up to a new administration" — a tacit admission that Biden could choose to halt or slow down the withdrawal. Related: Milley: Budget 'reality check' may impact foreign exercises, basing plans, via Defense News. And: Two decades of blood, sweat, and tears in Afghanistan have yielded a 'modicum of success,' top US general says, via Task & Purpose. | | | DIPLOMATIC DRAWDOWN: The Trump administration is pulling out as many as half of America's diplomats from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as tensions spike with Iran ahead of the first anniversary of the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general," POLITICO's Nahal Toosi reports. Last month's killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a senior Iranian nuclear scientist, has fueled already high tensions between Washington and Tehran. Next month also will mark the one-year anniversary of the U.S. airstrike that killed one of Iran's most powerful military leaders, Qassem Soleimani, as he visited Iraq. | | | | TUNE IN TO OUR GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS PODCAST: The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded in 2020 amid a global pandemic. Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, unpacks the roadblocks to smart policy decisions and examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. Subscribe for Season Two, available now. | | | | | | | | 'IT RATTLED A LOT OF CAGES': What's going on with the Pentagon's mysterious Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force that was established over the summer? Officially, the Department of Defense isn't saying. But a new dispatch on Wednesday from former police detective-turned-investigative journalist Tim McMillan caught our eye, including some internal email traffic he obtained under the Freedom of Information Act regarding high-level briefings about unidentified aircraft in recent months. But most intriguing: reports of two recent encounters, including photographic evidence that caused a bit of a stir inside the intelligence community. "Two reports went viral," Lue Elizondo, who ran a previous Pentagon effort to research what are widely known as UFOs, tells us. "They included photographs. Hi-res. It made its way through the IC. It rattled a lot of cages. It led a lot of folks to say, 'we need to take this seriously.'" What do the images depict? "A small cube and a triangle," said Elizondo, who still holds a security clearance and declined to provide more details than were contained in the new article. The Pentagon task force is also looking into a number of reports of objects emanating from the ocean, called "unidentified submersible objects," or USOs, McMillan reports, citing multiple government officials. He also interviewed retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Bruce McClintock, who is now at the government-funded RAND Corporation, about what the possible explanations might be. The general made the case for what he doesn't think they are: secret U.S. aircraft. "It is unlikely that the U.S. government would intentionally conduct tests against its own unwitting military assets," McClintock said. "To do so would require a very high level of coordination and approval for the potential safety and operational security risks." The Pentagon remains mum. "No one is available for an interview," spokesperson Sue Gough told us. "To maintain operations security and to avoid disclosing information that may be useful to potential adversaries, DoD does not discuss publicly the details of either the observations or the examination of reported incursions into our training ranges or designated airspace, including those incursions initially designated as UAP — that also includes any details of the UAPTF and its activities." | | | | A message from Northrop Grumman: In modern missions, communication and coordination is always a challenge – and getting it right can mean the difference between mission success and failure. At Northrop Grumman, we've been taking on this challenge for decades and the result is a scalable, adaptable suite of joint all-domain command and control networks and capabilities. Our products ensure the entire joint force, from troops to weapons systems can act as one across every mission and military service. Because tomorrow's mission success depends on acting as one. Learn more about how we're enabling the joint force. | | | | | | — Details revealed in Trump's lame-duck Pentagon budget draft: Defense One — The number of veterans in Congress will drop to the lowest level since at least WWII: Military Times — Space policy advice for Biden: Tone down war rhetoric, fix military acquisitions: Space News — Lawmakers look to help LGBTQ veterans upgrade their discharge status: POLITICO — China will be able to fight foreign wars within 15 years, report to Congress warns: Newsweek — Holiday reading list: War on the Rocks | | | | NEXT WEEK - DON'T MISS THE MILKEN INSTITUTE FUTURE OF HEALTH SUMMIT 2020: POLITICO will feature a special edition Future Pulse newsletter at the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit. The newsletter takes readers inside one of the most influential gatherings of global health industry leaders and innovators determined to confront and conquer the most significant health challenges. Covid-19 has exposed weaknesses across our health systems, particularly in the treatment of our most vulnerable communities, driving the focus of the 2020 conference on the converging crises of public health, economic insecurity, and social justice. Sign up today to receive exclusive coverage from December 7–9. | | | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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