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Presented by Lockheed Martin: From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | | |  | | By Alexander Ward and Quint Forgey | | | | 
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). | Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images | With help from Bryan Bender and Paul McLeary. Welcome to National Security Daily , POLITICO’s newsletter on the global events roiling Washington and keeping the administration up at night. I’m Alex Ward, your guide to what’s happening inside the Pentagon, the NSC and D.C.’s foreign policy machine. National Security Daily arrives in your inbox Monday through Friday by 4 p.m.; subscribe here. Aim your tips and comments at award@politico.com and qforgey@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter @alexbward and @QuintForgey. Your friendly neighborhood NatSec Daily team has kept a close eye on efforts by Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) to block President JOE BIDEN ’s State Department nominees until the United States imposes congressionally mandated sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But with the help of our own NAHAL TOOSI, Alex got to the microscopic level. Basically, the Biden administration is worried Cruz won’t budge, and it’s gearing up for a larger fight. “The secretary of State is lighting up Capitol Hill phone lines. His underlings are using committee hearings and private exchanges to raise alarms. An outside letter-writing campaign is not out of the question. And if things get really bad, President Joe Biden himself may have to say something,” Alex and Nahal wrote. Nearly seven months since he took office, only 10 of Biden’s State Department nominees have been confirmed. Dozens more, including some 60 would-be ambassadors, face what one person familiar with the situation called Cruz’s “death grip.” Other senators have put holds on nominees, but none have enforced such a blanket block as Cruz. Cruz has used a mix of procedural moves in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and on the full chamber’s floor to delay the confirmation process and needle the administration. His actions have two effects: Either delaying nominees’ votes — like when Cruz held over a batch of Biden picks from a SFRC business meeting on July 28 to another session on Aug. 4 — or outright blocking the full Senate from finally confirming a nominee. Cruz isn’t backing down from the broader battle. “Americans and people across the world understand the importance of halting the Biden-Putin pipeline,” a senior Cruz staffer told our duo. The aide wouldn’t say whether there’s anything the administration can offer the lawmaker to lift his holds, short of imposing all of the sanctions on Nord Stream 2. Administration officials have been in “constant, near-daily” contact with Cruz and his staffers, in hopes of getting more nominees through before the Senate breaks for its August recess, a senior State Department official said. But Cruz has resisted the administration’s main argument: That his recalcitrance is damaging America’s interests and national security. To get around Cruz will require Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER to spend precious floor hours pushing through State nominees — time he’d rather spend getting other parts of the president’s domestic agenda through Congress. It was Schumer who blew past Cruz’s hold to confirm Bonnie Jenkins as the undersecretary of State for arms control by forcing a vote on the nomination. A senior Senate GOP aide wished Schumer would devote more time to this issue, saying: “So many State nominees need floor time, and only the leader can make that happen.” But a Senate Democratic staffer pointed a finger at the Texas lawmaker: “I think the sentiment [in the Senate] is Ted Cruz is responsible for Ted Cruz.” Read Alex and Nahal's story here. | | A message from Lockheed Martin: Outpacing air and missile threats: Aegis Combat System evolves even faster with digital thread
Artificial Intelligence, model-based engineering and a common source software library are a few of the techniques that U.S. Navy’s Combat System Engineering Agent Lockheed Martin uses to keep Aegis upgraded at the speed of relevance. Learn More | | | | | | U.S. WOULD ENGAGE “WITH ANYONE” TO BRING AUSTIN TICE HOME: The Washington Post’s FRED RYAN reminds us that Wednesday, AUSTIN TICE — the American journalist and Marine Corps veteran abducted in Syria in 2012 — will turn 40 years old. No U.S. president has secured his safe return, prompting the newspaper’s publisher to ask: Will Joe Biden make it a priority? It looks like he will. “We call on Syria to help release Austin Tice,” a senior administration official told NatSec Daily. “We are committed to following all avenues, including engagement with anyone who can help with Austin’s release and return home.” That’s a big statement. The U.S. doesn’t have formal diplomatic relations with Syria, but Biden’s team is saying they’ll talk to “anyone” to bring Tice home — which thus includes Syrian officials. Biden’s team has shown a deep concern over the American hostage. Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN has spoken with Tice’s family, and U.S. officials have committed to bringing him back to the United States. The question, though, is if this announcement can help get Tice released despite the U.S. having very little leverage in Syria. If not, the 46th president will have followed former Presidents BARACK OBAMA and DONALD TRUMP in failure, and the Tice family will continue to ache. NSA WATCHDOG PROBING CARLSON’S SPY CLAIMS: The National Security Agency’s inspector general is looking into whether the intelligence outfit improperly surveilled Fox News host TUCKER CARLSON’s communications. In a statement, NSA Inspector General ROBERT STORCH said his office “is examining NSA’s compliance with applicable legal authorities and agency policies and procedures regarding collection, analysis, reporting, and dissemination activities, including unmasking procedures, and whether any such actions were based upon improper considerations.” A person familiar told The Wall Street Journal’s DUSTIN VOLZ that the review was about Carlson. Back in June, Carlson alleged a U.S. government whistleblower told him and his staff that the NSA was spying on him. The agency firmly denied the claim at the time. We may soon find out who was right. PEACE PRIZE WINNER ESCALATES WAR: Ethiopian Prime Minister ABIY AHMED, the winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, just called on civilians to join his war against the Tigray region. “All capable Ethiopians” must “show their patriotism” and “work closely with the security forces in being the eyes and ears of the country in order to track down and expose spies and agents of the terrorist TPLF,” Ahmed said in a statement, using an acronym for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The Biden administration’s effort to quell the fighting in Ethiopia has so far failed, as the war has only escalated since June. Biden sent Sen. CHRIS COONS (D-Del.) to Ethiopia to speak with Ahmed and pass along a personal message from the president. And USAID Administrator SAMANTHA POWER was in the country as recently as last week pushing for peace, but there simply has been no sign of progress. IT’S TUESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s newsletter on the national security politics roiling Washington. NatSec Daily is for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Please share this subscription link with a colleague or friend. Follow the whole team here: @alexbward, @QuintForgey, @nahaltoosi, @woodruffbets, @politicoryan, @PhelimKine, @BryanDBender, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmccleary, @leehudson and @AndrewDesiderio. IF YOU’RE MISSING MORNING DEFENSE, DON’T WORRY — WE’RE STILL HERE: Coming at Pro s bright and early every a.m., if you’re not getting Morning D, you’re missing out. Learn more about our best-in-class insider reporters and sign up here. Don’t let your competition be the first to act on industry scoops, breaking Pentagon news, the latest aerospace developments, defense acquisitions and influence plays. And while you’re there, hit subscribe on our brand new Space Beat Memo, a week-ahead look at everything astropolitics. | | | U.S. THREATENS TALIBAN WITH PARIAH STATUS: At a meeting Tuesday in Qatar, ZALMAY KHALILZAD, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, told Taliban officials that they would forfeit any chance of international legitimacy if its fighters seized power in Kabul through force, per KATHY GANNON and TAMEEM AKHGAR of The Associated Press. The warning from the American diplomat came as MOHAMMAD YAQOOB , the Taliban’s military chief, released a roughly five-minute audio message Tuesday instructing the group’s insurgents not to harm Afghan forces or government officials in captured territories. The Taliban has overrun eight of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals in less than a week. Of the country’s 407 districts, 219 have fallen under Taliban control, and another 110 remain contested, according to The Foundation for Defense of Democracies. AS TALIBAN ADVANCES, MOSCOW TESTS ITS MIGHT: Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan wrapped up military drills near the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border Tuesday — with troops wielding new Russian firearms, flamethrowers and surface-to-air missile launchers, according to Reuters. The countries’ armed forces have conducted two series of exercises this month just outside Afghanistan, which has seen the Taliban make a rapid succession of gains in the north alongside Central Asia. Russia and China also kicked off their own joint military exercises this week, per The Associated Press. Those drills are expected to continue through Friday and are taking place in northwestern China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous region. | | | AIR FORCE SECRETARY TALKS NEW TECH: In his first interview since being confirmed as the service’s top civilian, FRANK KENDALL sounded the alarm about China’s efforts to modernize its military and said he wanted the Air Force to focus on emerging technologies to enhance its competitive edge. “The obvious one that people talk a lot about is artificial intelligence and autonomous capabilities,” Kendall told Air Force Magazine’s BRIAN W. EVERSTINE . “But there are others. There’s some sensing advantages that are coming along — there are opportunities there. Things like cognitive radar and cognitive [electronic warfare]. There are things that allow us to take some commercial technologies and communicate much more effectively and process data much more effectively, that allow us to make better decisions — various parts of an engagement scenario, if you will. And I think that we can mature that technology very quickly and get it applied to military problems.” | | | TROOPS COULD BE PUNISHED FOR TURNING DOWN COVID SHOT: Military law experts are warning that U.S. troops who refuse to get their required Covid-19 vaccine in the coming weeks should expect a variety of penalties for saying no to the shot, according to our own JONATHAN CUSTODIO . Those consequences could range anywhere from a reprimand to confinement and being kicked out of the military. The Pentagon has said it will start mandating the vaccine for all service members by mid-September through either a presidential waiver or approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Once the FDA rubber-stamps the available shots, “there is no defense” that the order would be unconstitutional, said military justice attorney EUGENE FIDELL — who also predicted a waiver from Biden would carry the same level of authority. HE’S ON A BOAT: Our own PAUL MCLEARY sends us this missive: After being sworn in Monday night, new Navy Secretary CARLOS DEL TORO took off for Norfolk, Va., to tour the massive Navy base there and check out the inelegantly but accurately named “Large Scale Exercise” — the service’s biggest global exercise in decades. Del Toro also dropped his first official statement Tuesday, identifying the Navy’s “most pressing challenges”: China, Culture, Climate and Covid. Not a huge surprise, as Navy ships are front and center in the Pacific, staring down China’s larger fleet; the Navy has the highest vaccination rates of any of the armed services; and its ships tied up at pier are contending with rising sea levels. “China is determined to reduce our military superiority,” the Navy secretary wrote. “We will not let this happen. We will deter China’s aggression, protect our national security, and preserve the peace.” Del Toro takes a wider view of climate change, calling its effects “a global struggle for resources that demands ingenuity and innovation. It demands solutions that mitigate climate damage while ensuring our operational success and competitive edge.” A solid first day… Now, he just needs nominees from the White House for his undersecretary and acquisition officer, both of which are occupied by temporary officials. CHINA’S ARMY TETHERED TO XI: A recent report compiled by the U.S. Pacific Air Forces sheds new light on the Chinese military and its allegiance to President XI JINPING’s ruling communist government, per BILL GERTZ of The Washington Times. “At its core, the [People’s Liberation Army] views itself as an armed wing of the [Chinese Communist Party],” according to the report, which also states: “Increasing national power, Chinese nationalism and a shifting geopolitical landscape allow the PLA, driven by the CCP, to move unchecked into missions that advance the CCP’s goals of national rejuvenation and the so-called ‘China Dream.’” | | | |   | | | | | | FEWER NUKES, PLEASE: As Biden’s Pentagon embarks on its Nuclear Posture Review, House Armed Services Chair ADAM SMITH (D-Wash.) is calling on the commander in chief to consider options to scale back the size and scope of America’s atomic arsenal, reports our own CONNOR O’BRIEN. “We currently possess, and must continue to have, a strong nuclear deterrent. However, I urge you to take a hard look at whether every ongoing and planned effort is necessary,” Smith wrote in a letter to the White House on Monday. “This includes considering whether its requirement is being driven to dominate our adversaries, or if it is instead focused to provide a credible and reliable deterrent.” The forthcoming nuclear blueprint — which got underway at the Defense Department last month — is slated to be released alongside a new National Defense Strategy that will guide the administration’s budgets and decisions about where and how to allocate resources. | | | “PROFOUND DISAPPOINTMENT”: That’s what former Sen. JOE LIEBERMAN, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee and a veteran hawk, says he feels as he watches the Taliban steadily sweep across Afghanistan while American combat troops withdraw. “The Taliban is surging back, I’m afraid, into control of Afghanistan,” Lieberman told our own BRYAN BENDER on Tuesday. “It’s just profound disappointment about why the Afghan military can’t stop them on their own. But they can’t. And they haven’t.” At this stage, Lieberman sees little prospect for turning things around in Afghanistan beyond reversing course and keeping more U.S. and NATO troops in the country. “We greatly reduced our troop presence in Afghanistan. But that seemed to be enough to hold the Taliban at bay,” he said. Lieberman — who co-sponsored the bill that established the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 as a response to the 9/11 attacks that emanated from Afghanistan, as well as the independent commission to investigate them — said he fears what comes next without an American-led bulwark. “There’s a great worry that a lot of the advances that occurred because of our military presence there, in terms of the government being a more or less democratic government … and adopting some programs that really changed life in Afghanistan for a lot of people, particularly women and girls … that’s all at risk now. And it’s at risk because we’ve decided we were not going to be at all involved in a military aspect of counterterrorism.” | | | PENTAGON AND FOGGY BOTTOM NOMINEES: Biden has tapped SASHA BAKER as deputy undersecretary of Defense for policy. She currently serves as a special assistant to the president and senior director for strategic planning at the National Security Council. The president has also named law professor SARAH H. CLEVELAND as the State Department’s legal adviser. BEIJING BRINGS BACK ENVOY IN VILNIUS: Angered by Lithuania’s efforts to establish a new diplomatic office in Taiwan, China has recalled its ambassador to the small Baltic nation, per our own STUART LAU . China is also demanding Lithuania recall its top diplomat from Beijing, according to a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. NEW PENTAGON STRATEGY CHIEF: The Senate on Monday confirmed MARA KARLIN as assistant secretary of Defense for strategy, plans and capabilities, per JOE GOULD of Defense News. The vote of approval came after Sen. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.) lifted the hold he’d placed on Karlin’s nomination over concerns about the Pentagon’s posture toward China. LIONEL MESSI TO PARIS: The world’s greatest football player left your host’s favorite team, FC Barcelona, to join Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal. Yes, your host is devastated. | | A message from Lockheed Martin: Augmented reality and lidar technologies enable faster, more reliable Aegis maintenance and installation efforts.
Artificial Intelligence, model-based engineering and a common source software library are a few of the techniques that U.S. Navy’s Combat System Engineering Agent Lockheed Martin uses to keep Aegis upgraded at the speed of relevance. Learn More | | | | | | The Economist: “What tech does China want?” Foreign Policy: “North Korea’s Curious COVID-19 Strategy” The New York Times: “‘We Are Here Alone’: An Afghan Translator’s Plea for Help” | | | — The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 3 a.m.: “Withstanding Terror in Afghanistan: A conversation with Afghanistan's Minister for Foreign Affairs, H.E. MOHAMMAD HANEEF ATMAR” — The Atlantic Council, 2 p.m.: “Exploring humanitarian frameworks for Venezuela: Learning from Iraq’s UN program failure” — The Royal United Services Institute, 11 a.m.: “Nation to Nation: Scotland’s Place in the World” — The Institute of World Politics, 6 p.m.: “ Online Seminar: Cyber Critical Infrastructure” — Politics and Prose, 6 p.m.: “‘Here, Right Matters’: Lt. Col. ALEXANDER VINDMAN (Ret.) in conversation with SUSAN GLASSER” Have a natsec-centric event coming up? Transitioning to a new defense-adjacent or foreign policy-focused gig? Shoot us an email at award@politico.com or qforgey@politico.com to be featured in the next edition of the newsletter. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
