News: Former Pentagon chiefs call for peaceful transfer of power — DoD transition meetings to resume in earnest — Full production of the F-35 delayed again

Monday, January 4, 2021

Former Pentagon chiefs call for peaceful transfer of power — DoD transition meetings to resume in earnest — Full production of the F-35 delayed again

Jan 04, 2021

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By Bryan Bender

Presented by

With Jacqueline Feldscher, Connor O'Brien and Lara Seligman

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Quick Fix

— Ten former defense secretaries are warning against any Pentagon role in the election dispute and calling for a smooth transition of power.

— Pentagon transition meetings will resume this week and the waiver for Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense has been introduced in the Senate.

— The Pentagon won't know for months if the F-35 is ready for combat as more delays stymie the fighter jet program.

IT'S MONDAY AND WELCOME BACK TO MORNING DEFENSE, where we wish everyone a happy and healthy 2021. "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past," Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams on Aug. 1, 1816. We agree. 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.

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On the Hill

DEMOCRACY ON THE LINE? American democracy faces a critical test this week when the new Congress votes to certify the results of the presidential election. A growing number of Republicans in the House and Senate plan to demand a 10-day audit in battleground states before signing off on the results, despite no evidence of fraud that would change the outcome.

The effort is expected to fail, but how President Donald Trump and his supporters react remains a major wild card.

'BOUND BY OATH, LAW AND PRECEDENT': All 10 living former secretaries of defense on Sunday banded together to urge Trump and his allies to ensure a smooth transition of power and to keep the armed forces out of the fray.

"The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived," they wrote in The Washington Post.

The former Pentagon bosses — who served in every Cabinet from the first Bush to the Trump administration, including Mark Esper and Jim Mattis — warned the Pentagon leadership to refrain from meddling in the political process and urged it to cooperate fully with President-elect Joe Biden's transition team.

It is "imperative," they wrote, "that the transition at the Defense Department be carried out fully, cooperatively and transparently. Acting Defense secretary Christopher C. Miller and his subordinates — political appointees, officers and civil servants — are each bound by oath, law and precedent to facilitate the entry into office of the incoming administration, and to do so wholeheartedly.

"They must also refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team," they added.

We ferreted out some additional details on how the letter, which was organized by former Pentagon policy chief Eric Edelman, came together.

GEORGIA ON HIS MIND: Meanwhile, Georgia's pair of runoff elections on Tuesday will determine who controls the U.S. Senate. Trump plans to campaign with the GOP candidates on Monday in what is already a full-blown political war of historic proportions, as POLITICO's Nolan McCaskill laid out on Sunday.

The president is also once again in hot water after The Washington Post obtained an audio recording of an hourlong phone call on Saturday in which he pressured the Georgia secretary of state to somehow find enough votes to tip the Nov. 3 election in his favor.

Did he break the law? "Legal experts say the combination of Trump's request to 'find' a specific number of votes — just enough to put him ahead of Biden — and his veiled reference to criminal liability for Raffensperger and his aides could violate federal and state statutes aimed at guarding against the solicitation of election fraud," POLITICO's Allie Bice, Kyle Cheney and Anita Kumar report.

Related: Congress opens amid fears of Covid spread, via POLITICO's Sarah Ferris, Heather Caygle, and Olivia Beavers.

And: Pelosi reelected speaker despite narrow majority, also via Caygle and Ferris.

AUSTIN WAIVER INTRODUCED: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has filed legislation that would grant an exception for retired Austin to serve as Biden's secretary of defense. McConnell lined up the legislation on the floor under expedited procedures during the Senate's kickoff session on Sunday.

Lawmakers need to pass a waiver for Austin, who hasn't been out of uniform for the seven years required by law for the top Pentagon post. Neither the House nor the Senate has announced a vote on a waiver, though lawmakers have just over two weeks to pass the waiver and hold hearings with Austin before Biden's inauguration.

ICYMI: New cracks emerge among Democrats over Biden's Pentagon pick, via POLITICO's Lara Seligman, Connor O'Brien and your Morning D correspondent.

And: Retired generals are not supposed to run the Pentagon. Here's why, via Salon.

GET THE BIG PRE-INAUGURATION SCOOPS IN TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: Inauguration Day is quickly approaching. Is the Biden administration ready? Transition Playbook brings you inside the transition and newly forming administration, tracking the latest from Biden world and the transition of power. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter breaks big news and analyzes the appointments, people and emerging power centers of the new administration. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today.

Happening This Week

There are a few upcoming events that caught our attention:

On Tuesday, the Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts a webcast with FCC Chair Ajit Pai on 5G and national security at 3 p.m.

On Wednesday, the Intelligence and National Security Alliance holds a discussion with Maj. Gen. Leah Lauderback on the Space Force's intelligence priorities at 4:30 p.m.

Pentagon

NIMITZ TO REMAIN ON STATION: Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller on Sunday said he's directed the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group to remain in the Middle East — just days after ordering it to come home — amid heightened tensions on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. drone attack that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

"Due to the recent threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other U.S. government officials, I have ordered the USS Nimitz to halt its routine redeployment," he said in a statement. "The USS Nimitz will now remain on station in the U.S. Central Command area of operations. No one should doubt the resolve of the United States of America."

And: Iran plans 20 percent uranium enrichment 'as soon as possible,' via The Associated Press.

Plus: Why an Iran attack could be Biden's 'hour one' crisis, via POLITICO Magazine.

WALL FUNDING HEADS TO HIGH COURT: The Supreme Court next month will hear arguments in Trump vs. Sierra Club, the lawsuit that claims the Trump administration exceeded its authority in 2019 when it transferred $2.5 billion from the Pentagon budget to the Department of Homeland Security to construct fences along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Arguments are set to begin on Feb. 22, the high court announced on New Year's Eve. The official SCOTUSbog has more on the developments.

Transition 2020

PENTAGON TEAM SUITING UP: Biden rolled out several more high-level Pentagon nominees last week, including defense policy veterans Kathleen Hicks to be deputy secretary of Defense and Colin Kahl to be undersecretary for policy, Lara reports.

Biden called them "trusted partners to me, the vice president-elect, and Secretary-designate Austin — as well as our dedicated civilian and military team — as we work to restore responsible American leadership on the world stage."

Austin said Hicks and Kahl "share my strong belief that we need empowered civilian voices serving alongside military leaders at the Department of Defense to ensure we are always accountable to the American people."

Meanwhile, Kelly Magsamen, a former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs who is now at the Center for American Progress, will be Pentagon chief of staff, officials told POLITICO.

From the archives: Hicks, a leading scholar at CSIS who worked in the Pentagon policy shop, outlined some of her views on defense spending and on competing with China in Foreign Affairs last year. Kahl, who previously oversaw the Middle East portfolio, also published a critique of Trump's Iran policy in the magazine in 2018.

BLINKEN CONSULTED FOR BOEING: The first batch of financial disclosures for Biden Cabinet picks were also made public by the Office of Government Ethics on New Year's Eve, including for Secretary of State-designate Tony Blinken.

While at the consulting firm he founded with Michèle Flournoy and other Obama administration alumni, WestExec Advisors, Blinken's clients included Boeing, the investment giant Blackstone, Bank of America, Facebook, Uber, McKinsey & Company, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, the pharmaceutical company Gilead, the investment bank Lazard, AT&T, the Royal Bank of Canada, LinkedIn and Sotheby's auction house, our colleagues Alex Thompson and Theodoric Meyer report.

They also report that "Biden's pick to be director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, who was also a principal and consultant at WestExec, was paid $180,000 in 'consulting fees' from Palantir, the data-mining company."

TRANSITION BRIEFINGS RESUME TODAY: The bickering between the Biden-Harris transition and Trump appointees at the Pentagon continued over the holidays, and the president-elect himself called out Defense Department officials for setting up "roadblocks" to gathering information. But after halting meetings over the holiday period, the Pentagon says that there are "over 30 interviews" scheduled for this week.

They include briefings for the transition team with commanders who oversee operations in Afghanistan, Africa and Korea, as well as acquisition officials, department spokesperson Susan Gough reported on New Year's Eve. A series of roundtables are also scheduled on special operations, the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and South Asia, the National Guard, intelligence, and nuclear weapons.

Gough said that since Nov. 23, transition officials have conducted 168 interviews with more than 400 officials, responded to 194 requests for information, and "provided over 6,000 pages of controlled non-public and classified information."

Related: Biden plans resumed nuclear talks with Russia, via The New York Times.

And: Five top challenges for Biden on defense, via The Hill.

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Industry Intel

F-35 MILESTONE ON HOLD: The Pentagon once again has delayed the decision on full-rate production of the F-35, citing "technical challenges and the impact of Covid-19" in preparing the simulation facility to test whether the fighter jets are combat-ready, Bloomberg reported over the holidays.

That means Biden's national security team will have to make the call, and it's likely going to be awhile. After the yet-to-be-scheduled simulations are complete, it will take at least three months to review the data and draft a report to Congress.

If it decides to move ahead, the Pentagon could buy up to 3,200 of the aircraft.

In Memoriam

Michele Evans, a vice president at Lockheed Martin, passed away on New Year's Day, CEO Jim Taiclet announced. She was 55.

"Throughout her career, Michele led some of the most important programs that ensure the security of our nation and its allies and help make our world a safer place," Taiclet said. "Her example was an inspiration to those of us fortunate enough to have worked with her closely, and her leadership in the aerospace and defense industry will have a lasting impact for years to come."

Greg Ulmer, head of the F-35 program, is filling in on an interim basis.

And: Daniel Tellep, engineer who steered Lockheed's growth, dies at 89, via The New York Times.

A NEW YEAR MEANS A NEW HUDDLE IS HERE: Huddle, our daily congressional must-read, has a new author! Olivia Beavers took the reins this week, and she has the latest news and whispers from the Speakers' Lobby. Don't miss out, subscribe to our Huddle newsletter, the essential guide to all things Capitol Hill. Subscribe today.