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Presented by Lockheed Martin: Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Morning Defense examines the latest news in defense policy and politics. | | | | | |  | | By Bryan Bender | Presented by |  | | | With Connor O’Brien Editor’s Note: Morning Defense is a free version of POLITICO Pro Defense's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our s 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 firing of a Space Force officer who accused the military of instituting Marxist ideas reignites charges of a partisan witch hunt. — A new appeal for the Pentagon and intelligence agencies to coordinate the study of UFOs. — Bipartisan efforts reach a critical mass to reform how sexual assault is policed in the military. HAPPY MONDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE , where we got a few laughs out of the work of this prankster, who apparently got the best of the retired general who organized the letter last week attacking the president and Democrats. Just remember, “there are more fools in the world than there are people,” as the 19th century German poet Heinrich Heine wrote. 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 Lockheed Martin: Lockheed Martin’s F-35 – Powering job creation for America and its allies.
The F-35 creates and sustains more than 254,000 direct and indirect high-paying, high-tech jobs for American workers across the country and abroad, generating over $49 billion annually in economic impact. Learn More | | | | | | ‘IT’S OUTRAGEOUS’: Conservative Republicans accused the Pentagon of a political witch hunt over the weekend after the Space Force fired a commander who had criticized military leaders for pursuing what he called a Marxist agenda. Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, commander of 11th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado was relieved Friday by Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of Space Operations Command, Military.com first reported on Saturday. "The diversity, inclusion and equity industry and the trainings we are receiving in the military ... is rooted in critical race theory, which is rooted in Marxism," Lohmeier said in a recent podcast interview about his self-published book, "Irresistible Revolution: Marxism's Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military." He also took aim at Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, saying: "I don't demonize the man, but I want to make it clear to both him and every service member this [diversity and inclusion] agenda, it will divide us, it will not unify us." In a statement to Military.com, Lohmeier said, "My intent never has been to engage in partisan politics. I have written a book about a particular political ideology (Marxism) in the hope that our Defense Department might return to being politically non-partisan in the future as it has honorably done throughout history.” The episode fueled building concerns from Republicans that the Pentagon’s recent efforts to root out extremism is creating a political litmus test in which troops with more conservative or religious views are being marginalized in favor of liberal orthodoxy. A host of GOP lawmakers sounded off. Sen. Ted Cruz called Lohmeier’s firing troubling. “Far left critical race theory is taught while speaking out against MARXISM is punished??” tweeted Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL. And Rep. Michael Waltz, a retired Army colonel, also complained of a double standard. “It’s outrageous that Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier was removed from his command in the Space Force for voicing concerns that the U.S. military is promoting Marxist ideologies,” tweeted Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado. Steven Metz, a former director of research at the Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, took Buck to task : “Seriously man -- buy a book and learn what Marxism is. This is just embarrassing.” But other members of Congress are demanding more scrutiny of the firing. “We are just starting,” tweeted Rep. Matt Gaetz. “We need the SecDef before the Armed Services committee.” ‘STONEWALLED’: In another line of attack, the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch sued the Pentagon last week for emails between top Pentagon officials about the controversial comments by Fox News host Tucker Carlson in March denigrating the military for eroding readiness by making more accommodations for women and sexual minorities. The lawsuit comes after the group filed a Freedom of Information Act request in March seeking emails between Austin and Gens. Mark Milley and John Hyten containing the terms “Tucker Carlson” and/or “Fox News.” “We are deeply disturbed over the Pentagon’s illicit secrecy about its coordinated attacks on the First Amendment-protected speech of Tucker Carlson,” the group says. “To sum up, we asked the Pentagon to search two weeks’ worth of email, in three accounts, using two search terms. And they stonewalled.” Pentagon spokesperson Jamal Brown told Morning D on Sunday that “we are aware of the FOIA request and we will respond appropriately.” | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO WEST WING PLAYBOOK: Add West Wing Playbook to keep up with the power players, latest policy developments and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing and across the highest levels of the Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | The National Defense Industrial Association kicks off its week-long SOFIC special operations conference. The Arms Control Association hosts an event on alternative options on nuclear modernization with speakers including Rep. John Garamendi at 2 p.m. The Heritage Foundation hosts a virtual event on efforts to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Gulf War and Iraq War authorizations featuring Sens. Tim Kaine and Todd Young at 3:30 p.m. | | | On Tuesday, AFCEA kicks off a two-day virtual symposium on multi-domain operations. The Brookings Institution hosts a discussion with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger at 10 a.m. On Thursday, the Center for a New American Security releases a report titled “More than Half the Battle: Information and Command in a New American Way of War” at 1 p.m. On Friday, the Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts a discussion with Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, head of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, at 10 a.m. | | | |   | | | | | | ‘DONE SO WELL’: A bipartisan push to overhaul how the military handles sexual assault in the ranks is picking up steam, as bills making their way through the House and Senate would give specialized military prosecutors — not unit commanders — authority to prosecute felony-level criminal cases. A bill sponsored in the Senate by Kirsten Gillibrand and Joni Ernst got a big supporter Friday in Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, a senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, our colleague Lara Seligman reports. Turner, who had been against previous iterations of the bill, said this version addresses all of his concerns, including promoting equal rights protection for service members accused of sexual assault. “This is done so well that I think that in the end it is really going to professionalize criminal prosecution within the military, and I think it is going to help the commanders in their overall responsibility,” Turner said in an interview. It also comes as Rep. Jackie Speier has launched a similar bill with high-profile support. Related: Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Joni Ernst on sexual assault in the military, via CBS’ Face the Nation. A FEW EARMARKS: Lawmakers have submitted nearly 3,000 earmark requests under new House guidelines for funding local projects, but only 15 have so far have targeted the upcoming defense appropriations bill — a shift from the last time the practice was allowed, our colleague Connor O'Brien reports for Pros. The bulk would dedicate money to research programs at colleges and universities. The requests are limited by a host of restrictions, such as the Pentagon accounts that are eligible. For-profit entities that typically receive the bulk of defense contract dollars also cannot receive earmark money. Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee has sworn off earmarks entirely on defense legislation, making member-driven defense spending a potential point of conflict between the two chambers. HEARING SCHEDULE: Congress is holding a slew of defense hearings this week — on the situation on the Korean peninsula, nuclear programs, science and technology and more: On Tuesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Army Gen. Paul LaCamera to be commander of U.S. and U.N. forces in Korea at 9:30 a.m. The Defense Appropriations Committee’s Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies panel will hold a hearing on Air Force quality of life and installations at 10 a.m. The SASC Subcommittee on Cyber will hold a hearing on cybersecurity of the defense industrial base at 2:30 p.m. And the House Armed Services Committee’s Readiness and Seapower Subcommittees hold a joint hearing on the “posture and readiness of the mobility enterprise” at 4 p.m. On Wednesday, SASC will also hold a hearing on the Department of Energy’s atomic weapons programs with the head of naval reactors and acting head of the National Nuclear Security Administration at 4:30 p.m. On Thursday, HASC’s Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies and Information Systems will hold a hearing on the Defense Department’s science and technology strategy at 11 a.m. | | | GUARD BILL: A $2 billion emergency spending package in the House includes $721 million to cover the continuing National Guard deployment in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and to establish a quick reaction force for future contingencies, our colleague Connor O’Brien reports for Pros. The bill introduced by the House Appropriations Committee on Friday also includes money for security improvements, the U.S. Capitol Police and federal agencies investigating the insurrection. It is expected to pass the House this week. Related: House members announce bipartisan deal for Jan. 6 commission, via The Washington Post. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | | THE TRUTH MAY BE OUT THERE: The anticipation continues to build over what the feds will reveal as early next month when they submit a public report to Congress on unmanned aerial phenomenon, more commonly known as UFOs. CBS went all-in over the weekend, featuring the former head of a Pentagon research program and a mix of military pilots, current and former lawmakers, and others who have reported or studied such incursions or received a classified briefing about them. Coming forward publicly for the first time was former Navy Lt. Alex Dietrich, who was one of the F/A-18 pilots who reported being stalked by “multiple anomalous aerial vehicles” that descended 80,000 feet in less than a second. “I never wanted to be on national TV,” she told CBS’ 60 Minutes. But she is speaking publicly “because I was in a government aircraft, because I was on the clock, and so I feel a responsibility to share what I can and it is unclassified.” "This is a difficult one to explain,” said fellow former naval aviator Lt. Ryan Graves. “You have rotation, you have high altitudes. You have propulsion, right? I don't know. I don't know what it is, frankly." "I would say, you know, the highest probability is it's a threat observation program," he added, not ruling out Russia or China. Leading the charge to find out is Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee who authored the provision requesting the public report. “I want us to take it seriously and have a process to take it seriously,” he said on the CBS program. “I want us to have a process to analyze the data; every time it comes in that there be a place where this is cataloged and constantly analyzed until we get some answers. Maybe it has a very simple answer. Maybe it doesn’t.” Yet another leaked UFO video also amped things up — this one of a spherical craft that seemed to disappear beneath the waves and was captured on film by the littoral combat ship USS Omaha off the California coast in 2019. The video, which was confirmed as authentic by the Pentagon, is being investigated as part of the department’s UAP Task Force established last year. “I can confirm that the video was taken by Navy personnel, and that the UAPTF included it in their ongoing examinations,” Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough told The Debrief. Related: Mystery surrounds upcoming Pentagon report on UFOs, via CNN. | | | Lisa Hershman, most recently chief management officer at the Defense Department, has joined the board of directors of satellite company Echostar. | | A message from Lockheed Martin: IRST21®: Passive Unmatched Threat Detection Crucial for Fighter Pilot Survivability
A necessary tool for achieving air superiority, IRST21 uses infrared search and track technology to detect, track and engage airborne threats with weapon-quality accuracy in radar-denied environments. Learn More | | | | | | — Pentagon announces end of mask mandate for vaccinated personnel: POLITICO Pro — U.S. warns extremists may strike as virus restrictions ease: The Associated Press — Joint Base Andrews reopens after bomb hoax; suspect in custody: Air Force Times — Trump’s war with his generals: Axios — U.S. Air Force to cut F-35 buy in future years defense plan: Air Force Magazine — After 15 years, the Navy’s littoral combat ships are still in search of a mission: The San Diego Union-Tribune — As Hamas rockets rain on Israel, Iron Dome proves it can withstand the barrages: The Wall Street Journal. — Taliban control in Afghanistan expands significantly since 2018: Long War Journal — Afghan ceasefire ends amid calls for fresh peace talks: The Associated Press — American will have to reckon with its cynicism about Afghanistan: The Atlantic — New strategic imperatives for the defense industry: Aviation Week — The crisis in space: Foreign Policy — Joe Biden’s Pentagon honeymoon: The Nation — Jack Reed is crucial to our national security. How will he handle it? The Washington Post — The case for a robust defense budget by Rep. Anthony Brown: Defense News — Why the U.S. needs a space czar: Defense One | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
