U.S. News
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is warning that troop readiness and retention is at risk as the Army’s chief recently stepped down, leaving the military’s two ground combat forces without Senate-confirmed leaders for the first time in history. Austin said Friday that the Senate’s failure to confirm the services’ new leaders is disruptive to the force and could impact relationships with allies and partners around the globe. The confirmation of the next Army chief and Marine commandant are among more than 300 nominations that are stalled by a Republican senator over the Pentagon’s policy to pay for travel when a service member has to go out of state to get reproductive care.
August 04, 2023 -
New lawsuits claim that the U.S. Defense Department and the Department of Veteran Affairs are making it difficult and sometimes impossible for veterans to get infertility treatments. Multiple lawsuits were filed Wednesday in federal courts in New York and Boston seeking to hold the United States accountable for creating obstacles to health care access for a population that advocates say has a higher rate of infertility than the population at large. The lawsuits seek to obtain in vitro fertilization coverage for military service members and veterans who don't fit the Veterans Affairs definition of infertility as pertaining solely to married, heterosexual couples.
August 02, 2023 -
The Pentagon is pulling 1,100 troops from the U.S.-Mexico border that it had deployed in response to a surge in migrant crossings. A defense official, on the condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press on Tuesday the details ahead of an announcement. The active duty troops were sent to the border in May amid fears that the end of COVID-19 immigration restrictions was going to result in a crush of migrants attempting to cross into the United States. But immediately after Title 42 expired, the number of encounters dropped sharply, and have stayed low, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
August 01, 2023 President Joe Biden has decided to keep the U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado, overturning a last-ditch decision by the Trump administration to move it to Alabama. The choice ended months of thorny deliberations, but an Alabama lawmaker vowed to fight on. U.S. officials say Biden was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. His view, however, was in contrast to Air Force leadership, which studied the issue at length and determined that moving to Huntsville, Alabama, was the right move.
July 31, 2023-
The Senate has passed a massive annual defense bill that would deliver a 5.2% pay raise for service members and keep the nation’s military operating. The Senate sidestepped more divisive policy matters to move the bill forward with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. The Senate's bill sets up a clash with the House, which passed its own version of the annual defense bill along party lines after repeated clashes over social issues like abortion access and diversity initiatives. The Senate bill authorizes $886 billion in defense spending for the coming year, in line with President Joe Biden’s budget request. Congress will have to allocate the funding later during the appropriations process.
July 27, 2023 -
President Joe Biden has nominated former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to lead the Social Security Administration. If confirmed, O'Malley would run one of the biggest social programs in the nation and grapple with the surrounding uncertainty over its funding. Roughly 70 million people — including retirees, disabled people and children — receive Social Security benefits. O’Malley served as Maryland’s governor from 2007 to 2015 and was Baltimore mayor for two terms. O'Malley was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016 but has ruled out running again. Biden on Wednesday said O’Malley “has spent his career making government more accessible and transparent, while keeping the American people at the heart of his work.”
July 26, 2023 -
Hugh “Sonny” Carter Jr. has died. He's the Carter who helped organize the “Peanut Brigade” that helped elect his cousin Jimmy to the White House and later enforced the president’s frugal ways in the West Wing. The Carter Center announced his death without saying the cause. Hugh Carter was among the many extended family members who campaigned alongside Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter and their children early in the 1976 presidential campaign, when the Georgia Democrat was considered a longshot candidate. The 39th president then assigned Hugh Carter the task of curtailing waste among White House staffers, a job that earned him the nickname “Cousin Cheap.”
July 26, 2023 -
The White House has nominated a career airlift and cargo pilot with key deployments in Afghanistan and Europe to serve as the Air Force's next top general. In a notice to Congress posted Wednesday, the White House nominated Gen. David W. Allvin to serve as the service's next chief of staff.
July 26, 2023 President Joe Biden has elevated CIA Director William Burns to his Cabinet. It's a symbolic move that underscores the intelligence chief’s influence and his work in U.S. support for Ukraine. In a statement, Biden said Burns had “harnessed intelligence to give our country a critical strategic advantage." Burns has been a central figure in the Biden administration, particularly in the White House strategy to declassify intelligence findings that Russia was intending to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A career diplomat and former ambassador to Russia, Burns was sent to Moscow months before the war to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin of Washington’s analysis.
July 21, 2023-
President Joe Biden has chosen Adm. Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy. If confirmed, she will be the first woman to be a Pentagon service chief and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Biden’s decision to tap Franchetti goes against the recommendation of his Pentagon chief. But Franchetti, the current vice chief of operations for the Navy, has broad command and executive experience. She was long considered by insiders to be the top choice for the job. In a statement Friday, Biden noted the historical significance of her selection and said “throughout her career, Admiral Franchetti has demonstrated extensive expertise in both the operational and policy arenas.”
July 21, 2023 -
The House has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would give the Federal Aviation Administration more money to hire air traffic controllers. It also aims to address pilot shortages by raising the mandatory retirement age. The measure, passed Thursday, seeks to improve air travel and reauthorize FAA programs for the next five years. Lawmakers in both parties widely supported the bill as they respond to this summer’s wave of cancellations and delays. It passed by a vote of 351-69. The Senate is working on its own version of the legislation. Aviation programs are set to expire Oct. 1 unless Congress approves the measure.
July 21, 2023 The Pentagon is announcing a new $1.3 billion package of long-term military aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, including four air defense systems and an undisclosed number of drones. The new assistance comes on the heels of a meeting Tuesday by defense and military leaders from around the globe to discuss ongoing efforts to give Ukraine the weapons it needs in its battle to retake territory seized by Russian forces. The new aid is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. It includes money for four National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS, and munitions for them.
July 19, 2023- Cybersecurity labeling for smart devices aims to help people choose those less vulnerable to hacking
The Biden administration and major consumer tech players are launching an effort to put a nationwide cybersecurity certification and labeling program in place. The program announced Tuesday is to help consumers choose smart devices that are less vulnerable to hacking. Officials liken the new U.S. Cyber Trust Mark initiative to the Energy Star program, which rates appliances’ energy efficiency. The initiative will be overseen by the Federal Communications Commission. Industry participation is voluntary. Amazon, Best Buy, Google, LG, Logitech and Samsung are among industry participants. The labels are for products including baby monitors, home security cameras, fitness trackers, TVs and smart climate control systems. The labels could be ready by next year.
July 18, 2023 The U.S. is sending additional fighter jets and a warship to the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman to increase security in the wake of Iranian attempts to seize commercial ships there. The Pentagon says the USS Thomas Hudner, a destroyer, and a number of F-35 fighter jets will be heading to the region. Defense officials last week announced the deployment of F-16s to the area over the past weekend and there have been A-10 attack aircraft there for nearly two weeks in response to the Iranian activity. The latest deployments come after Iran tried to seize two oil tankers near the strait early this month, opening fire on one of them.
July 17, 2023-
The House has passed a sweeping defense bill that provides a pay raise for service members but strays from traditional military policy with Republicans add-ons blocking abortion coverage, diversity initiatives at the Pentagon and transgender care.
July 14, 2023