| | | | | |  | | By Bryan Bender | Presented by Northrop Grumman | With Connor O'Brien Programming note: Morning Defense will not publish from Thursday, Dec. 24, through Friday, Jan. 1. We'll be back on our normal schedule on Monday, Jan. 4. 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.
| | | — The deadline has arrived for President Donald Trump to veto the defense bill and call Congress' bluff to override him. — The president pardons private contractors convicted in the massacre of Iraqi civilians. — H ow the Pentagon could play a key role in carrying out President-elect Joe Biden's pledge to combat climate change. HAPPY WEDNESDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, where we wish you a Merry Christmas and Habari Gani to those celebrating Kwanzaa beginning on Saturday. We will be engaging in our annual holiday tradition of rewatching "It's a Wonderful Life," that box office flop and communist propaganda that drove J. Edgar Hoover's FBI to distraction. "With regard to the picture 'It's a Wonderful Life,' [redacted] stated in substance that the film represented rather obvious attempts to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as a 'scrooge-type' so that he would be the most hated man in the picture," reads an FBI memo dated May 26, 1947. "This, according to these sources, is a common trick used by Communists." We're always on the lookout for tips, pitches and feedback. Email us at bbender@politico.com, and follow on Twitter @bryandbender, @morningdefense and @politicopro. | | | | A message from Northrop Grumman: We revolutionized long range strike with the B-2. Now, we're Defining Possible again with B-21 Raider. Drawing on decades of stealth expertise, we've created a platform ready to dominate the battlefields of tomorrow. Learn more about how B-21 Raider is Defining Possible | | | | | | VETO DAY: Time's up for Trump to either sign or veto the National Defense Authorization Act. The defense bill was delivered to him on Dec. 11 and the president has had 10 days, except Sundays, to act on the legislation or allow it to become law without his signature. Trump has threatened to veto the bill for weeks and lawmakers are anticipating he'll do just that after Congress ignored his last-minute demand to include a repeal of legal protections for social media companies. Override plans: Congress is already making plans to overturn Trump if he makes good on the threat, POLITICO's Connor O'Brien reports. The House on Monday locked in a Dec. 28 override vote. And early on Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the upper chamber will return to session on Dec. 29 to tackle the veto if the House vote is successful. "My intention was and is to ensure the Senate continues fulfilling our obligation to the men and women of our armed forces," McConnell said. "I hope the president will not veto this bill." 'DISGRACE': Trump on Tuesday blasted a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending package and $900 billion coronavirus relief package passed by Congress, calling it a "disgrace." He criticized the legislation for wasteful spending and asked for changes to the bill to increase stimulus payments to Americans, POLITICO's Kelly Hooper reports. Trump didn't directly threaten to veto the bill, though his message raised the possibility he may do so and risk a shutdown next week. Congress passed the package Monday following months of partisan wrangling. "I am also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items of this legislation and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a Covid relief package, and maybe that administration will be me. And we'll get it done," Trump said in a video message. The good news? Congress passed the measure with enough votes in the House and Senate to override a veto. CONGRESS BRIEFED ON NNSA HACK: "The Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, told congressional staffers in several briefings this week that there is currently no known impact to its classified systems from a massive hack that targeted its networks, according to an official with direct knowledge of the briefings," POLITICO's Natasha Bertrand reports. "The officials told staffers, however, that the incident has proven how difficult it is to monitor the Energy Department's unclassified systems, and acknowledged that an issue with a network extension within the Office of Secure Transportation — which specializes in the secure transportation of nuclear weapons and materials — had been discovered," she writes. There was also an attempt to breach Los Alamos National Laboratory and the NNSA's field office in Nevada. The supply-chain attack has affected dozens of federal and private sector entities that were exploited by suspected Russian hackers as early as March of this year. Participating in the Capitol Hill briefings were Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, DOE's Chief Information Officer Rocky Campione, and NNSA CIO Wayne Jones. | | | | TUNE IN TO NEW EPISODE OF GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS: Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded over the past year amid a global pandemic. This podcast helps to identify and understand the impediments to smart policymaking. Subscribe for Season Two, available now. | | | | | | | | MILLER VISITS AFGHANISTAN: Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday as Trump's troop drawdown enters high gear. "So I'm the guy who's drawing it down to 2,500 on the president's behalf," Miller told a group of soldiers, Military.com reported from Kabul. "I firmly believe that's the right thing to do." There are still 4,000 American troops in the country. THE BIG GREEN MACHINE? Biden has a major opportunity to advance his clean energy agenda by focusing on the Pentagon, POLITICO's Eric Wolff reports. The Defense Department has "a huge appetite for clean energy sources and a massive budget to help accelerate the development of new technologies needed to curb greenhouse gases and harden infrastructure to protect against worsening climate impacts," he writes. "Start with the fact the Department of Defense is the single largest energy user," said Sherri Goodman, a deputy undersecretary of defense for environmental security under President Barack Obama and now a senior fellow at the Wilson Center Environmental Change and Security Program, a think tank. "What it does and how it uses its energy, how it reduces its emissions, makes it bases more resilient to climate threats — that helps all America learn by example." The precedent for the military leading the way is well defined. "The Pentagon helped jump start the solar industry in 2007 when the Air Force contracted to build a 14-megawatt solar farm at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, then the largest plant of its kind in the country," Wolff recounts. "Since then, the industry has built solar projects more than 40 times that size, and the military has been one of its biggest customers, adding more than 130 megawatts to bases in nearly three dozen states." And we can't forget the 'Great Green Fleet' experiments of the Obama years with biofuels to reduce the Navy's dependence on oil. "And the aviation biofuels developed during the period are now being used by airlines to acquire carbon offsets required by European aviation authorities." | | | PARDON ME: Trump issued a series of pardons and commutations Tuesday, granting clemency to three former Republican congressmen and four security contractors convicted of massacring Iraqi civilians in 2008, POLITICO's Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report. Among them was disgraced former Rep. Duncan Hunter, the former member of the Armed Services Committee who was convicted of conspiring to steal campaign funds and sentenced to 11 months in prison. But among the most controversial were the four contractors for the former Blackwater Worldwide security firm who were convicted in a shooting spree in Baghdad's Nisour Square that left 17 Iraqis dead and 20 wounded. Nicholas Slatten, one of the former contractors, was serving a sentence of life in prison. The three others, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty and Paul Slough, were serving terms of 12 to 15 years. The criticism was swift and unyielding. "This egregious abuse of executive power is a chilling attack on justice in service of the protection of one of the wealthiest and most powerful private military companies in existence," said Win Without War Advocacy Director Erica Fein. Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project said the president has hit "a disgraceful new low with the Blackwater pardons." "These military contractors were convicted for their role in killing 17 Iraqi civilians and their actions caused devastation in Iraq, shame and horror in the United States, and a worldwide scandal," he said. "President Trump insults the memory of the Iraqi victims and further degrades his office with this action." | | | |   | | | | | | 'FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES': Six House Democrats want Lloyd Austin to commit to ensuring civilian control of the military ahead of a vote on a waiver to allow the retired Army general to serve as defense secretary, O'Brien reports. The lawmakers requested a meeting with Biden's defense secretary nominee to discuss their concerns about his nomination before they consider the waiver. "Your nomination is both well-deserved based on your experience, and a long-deserved recognition of the men and women who have fought and died for this country," the lawmakers wrote Austin in a letter . "But separate from your exceptional qualifications, your selection raises fundamental issues that go beyond any one nomination, no matter how qualified or historic the nominee." The letter was signed by Democratic Reps. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, Salud Carbajal of California and Veronica Escobar and Colin Allred of Texas. Related: Biden blasts Trump for handling of cyberattack, via POLITICO's Nick Niedzwiadek. And: Gen. Austin talks to LGBTQ group on 'Don't Ask' repeal anniversary, via The Washington Blade. | | | Trump on Tuesday continued appointing White House and Pentagon allies to longer term government perches: Ezra Cohen, the acting undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, will chair the Public Interest Declassification Board at the National Archives. Alexander Gray, the National Security Council's chief of staff, will join the board of visitors at the Coast Guard Academy. Russell Vought, the White House budget chief, was named to the board of visitors of the Naval Academy. Francis Brooke, a White House economic adviser, was appointed to the Merchant Marine Academy. | | | | A message from Northrop Grumman: Just over 30 years ago, we revolutionized long range strike with the launch of the B-2, the world's first stealth bomber. Now, we're Defining Possible again with the B-21 Raider. Intended as the premier bomber for the US Air Force in the 21st century, the B-21 Raider is no ordinary aircraft with no ordinary mission. Drawing on decades of stealth and strike experience, we've created a powerful, flexible platform ready to win today and dominate the battlefields of tomorrow. Learn more about how the B-21 Raid | | | | | | — Navy warship's secret mission off West Africa aims to help punish Venezuela: The New York Times — Naval Academy physics exams reviewed over 'inconsistencies': The Hill — Leonardo hack targeted military plane details, arrest warrant shows: Reuters — Air Force official removed for unlawfully handling harassment, discrimination complaints: Office of Special Counsel — Democratic values are a competitive advantage: Foreign Affairs — Germany, stop worrying about boosting military spending: POLITICO — Former Tuskegee Airman Alfred Thomas Farrar dies at age 99: The Associated Press | | | | A NEW YEAR, A NEW HUDDLE: Huddle, our daily must-read in congressional offices, will have a new author in 2021! Olivia Beavers will take the reins on Jan. 4, and she has some big plans in store. Don't miss out, subscribe to our Huddle newsletter, the essential guide to all things Capitol Hill. 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