The House voted 359-49 today to pass the fiscal year 2019 defense spending bill.
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Key Issues AFRL MQ-9 Missile Defense Agency
Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.
The House voted 359-49 today to pass the fiscal year 2019 defense spending bill.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal year 2019 defense spending bill that rescinds $3.8 billion in prior-year funding for Pentagon programs lawmakers say are delayed or no longer needed, according to a summary provided by committee Democrats.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 30-1 today to advance the fiscal year 2019 defense spending bill to the full Senate.
The House voted today by unanimous consent to enter conference committee negotiations with the Senate on the fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill.
The White House strongly objects to several provisions in the Senate's fiscal year 2019 defense authorization bill, especially a section that would ban the Defense Department from doing business with Chinese telecommunications company ZTE, but the administration is not threatening to veto the legislation, according to a statement of administration policy from the Office of Management and Budget.
The White House opposes several provisions in the House's fiscal year 2019 defense appropriations bill, including one that blocks all funding for the Pentagon's planned shift toward cloud computing until the defense secretary provides Congress with a written strategy.
The House has begun debating the fiscal year 2019 defense appropriations bill.
Senate appropriators seek to direct nearly $4 billion in additional funding to key areas of weapon system innovation including hypersonics, artificial intelligence, cyber, space, microelectronics and directed energy.
The House is expected to vote on the fiscal year 2019 defense spending bill, while Senate defense appropriators take up their version of the legislation. Meanwhile, senior Pentagon officials are scheduled to speak at different events around the Washington area.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has released a department-wide memo warning all Pentagon employees to "be alert" to potential theft of their personal data.
President Trump, who raised eyebrows when he tweeted last week that "there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea," has sent a letter to Congress telling lawmakers that, actually, Pyongyang remains "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States.
A recent boost in the defense budget means the Pentagon should be able to make new investments in cutting-edge capabilities to regain technological momentum from China amid Beijing's military spending binge, according to Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Paul Selva.
A major government restructuring proposed by the White House today would make significant changes to domestic agencies, but would mostly leave the Defense Department unchanged.
House Republicans released a 10-year budget blueprint this week -- influenced by the party's anti-deficit contingent -- that delivers mixed news for defense spending and would slash discretionary and entitlement funds.
China has for years sought to acquire access to key technologies and intellectual property from the United States and other countries as well as "capture" emerging technology industries likely to drive future economic growth and advancements in the defense industry, according to a new report from the White House.
The Army is working to provide more timely reset and recapitalization of recently deployed Patriot surface-to-air missile systems after the Government Accountability Office found that delays in returning the refurbished systems to soldiers have degraded unit readiness.
The Defense Department inspector general announced today it is broadening the scope of an audit meant to focus on the cyber vulnerabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles to include "select commercial items."
Lt. Gen. Austin Miller, nominated to serve as the next commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, appeared on Capitol Hill today with his son, an Army lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne, and acknowledged the 17-year conflict has become "generational."
President Trump announced today he is directing the Defense Department to establish an independent "space force."
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said today there is now a "new avenue to peace" with North Korea after President Trump's meeting with Kim Jong Un, but he cautioned that the United States must remain "vigilant" in blocking Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons.