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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 | Presented by Lockheed Martin | With help from Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman. | 
Sen. Ted Cruz has put a hold on Biden’s pick to lead the State Department’s Middle East bureau. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo | Welcome to National Security Daily, your guide to the global events roiling Washington and keeping the administration up at night. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Quint BREAKING: Homeland Security Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, per chief DHS spokesperson MARSHA ESPINOSA. "He is experiencing only mild congestion; he is fully vaccinated and will isolate and work at home per CDC protocols and medical advice," she said in a tweet. Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) has put a hold on President JOE BIDEN’s pick to lead the State Department’s Middle East bureau, according to an email obtained by Alex and ANDREW DESIDERIO , escalating the Texas Republican’s battle with the administration over diplomatic nominations and opening a sensitive, new policy fight. In the email, Cruz’s team explained to Senate Foreign Relations Committee GOP offices why the lawmaker was seeking to delay the panel’s approval of BARBARA LEAF, a top Middle East National Security Council official nominated to be the assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs. According to the email, Leaf didn’t answer three of Cruz’s written questions to the senator’s satisfaction, and in one case, Cruz’s team claims the NSC official lied. Cruz asked Leaf to detail any “arrangements, deals, or agreements that are being contemplated by the Biden administration to reduce pressure on Iran” instead of a return to the 2015 nuclear deal. “There have been no such arrangements, deals, or agreements contemplated to reduce pressure on Iran,” Leaf responded. “That testimony is false,” reads a two-pager Cruz’s team attached to the email. In the footnotes, Cruz’s team cited two Reuters stories reporting the U.S. considered taking small steps with Iran as a confidence-building scheme, and another about American officials pondering a “less for less” alternative , which would require fewer restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear work in exchange for fewer lifts on sanctions. (Neither story says the goal of those other arrangements were expressly to “reduce pressure on Iran,” but rather reports on ongoing diplomatic discussions and considerations between Tehran and Washington.) The senator also asked to see internal State Department documents instructing staff to refer to Israel’s deals with Arab nations as “normalization agreements” and not the “Abraham Accords” — though the Biden administration still uses the Trump-era term. Leaf said she was “not in a position” to share such documents as a nominee, but said she would “respond to your concerns” once confirmed by the full Senate. The State Department’s long-standing view is that it's not within a nominee's authority to hand over documents to a Congressional committee. Only the agency can do so. Cruz also asked three questions about Egypt, but his main one was about the 16 individuals detained by Egypt in what the U.S. has flagged as a gross human rights violation. He wanted to know if the $130 million the U.S. is withholding from security aid to Cairo is contingent on their release, as well as the names, affiliation and specific charges against those individuals. Furthermore, he’d like to know if any of the 16 people are members of Islamist groups and whether the administration intends to grant them U.S. visas if they were to be released. Leaf’s long answer to those queries didn’t please Cruz’s team — and neither did any of her answers overall. “Leaf wrote back responses running to almost a thousand words. She answered 0 of the questions,” notes the two-page document. “We asked the State Dept. to have her take another run at the questions — the point was to get answers, not do gotchas. They didn’t respond for a couple weeks, and then after Leaf was cleared they sent us an email saying that if we wanted rewrites my boss should lift his Nord Stream 2-related holds,” read the email from Cruz’s staff to Senate allies. As a result, Cruz will hold Leaf’s nomination, forcing the administration to either explain its Middle East policy more fully, put pressure on Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER to spend precious floor time blowing past the hold, or pull her nomination altogether. In response to Alex and Andrew’s full story, which you can read here, Sen. CHRIS MURPHY (D-Conn.) tweeted Cruz’s hold has “NOTHING to do with her qualifications . It’s just more political grandstanding that leaves America vulnerable without a top diplomat in the Middle East.” And in a brief interview Tuesday afternoon, Cruz told POLITICO that he’s leaving open the possibility of delaying Senate floor action on any of the nominees that the committee will consider on Tuesday — not just Leaf’s. “Going to the floor is a different question,” Cruz said. | | A message from Lockheed Martin: Delivered. Deployed. Defending. THAAD offers highly mobile and interoperable missile defense.
Using proven Lockheed Martin technology, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system can intercept threats outside and inside the atmosphere. Its unique layered defense capabilities defend against advanced, evolving threats. Learn More | | | | | | SUMMIT FOR DEMOCRACY ROLL CALL: India and Pakistan are in. Turkey and Hungary are not. That’s the still-tentative plan, anyway, as the White House has begun to send out invitations for Biden’s “Summit for Democracy.” Our friends at Foreign Policy have a bunch of details, but our own NAHAL TOOSI got some additional info from two people briefed on the Dec. 9-10 virtual summit. A few highlights: — The goal is to be more, rather than less, inclusive. But U.S. officials drew the line at places like Turkey and Hungary, which have drifted far from democratic rule. — A hefty interagency process led to the invite list, but it’s still possible that another round will get sent out depending on the initial reaction. — U.S. strategic considerations played a role. That’s likely why an invitation was sent to a country like India, where there are concerns about democratic backsliding but which Biden considers a key ally on countering China. — The region that received the fewest invites was the Middle East. Israel is invited, of course. And there might be one more country from that part of the world. — Expect each leader to get just a few minutes to talk at this initial gathering. The event, though, is expected to lead to a “year of action” that will, if everything works out, lead to a live summit next year. TESTING, TESTING: Pyongyang reportedly fired off a submarine-launched ballistic missile last night, adding to a string of provocations that’s got the world — and the Biden administration — on edge. The weapon landed harmlessly in waters near Japan after flying between 267 and 280 miles, and went up as much as 37 miles in the air. It’s still unclear if the missile is one of the new ones KIM JONG UN showed off at a recent exhibition. If so, then North Korea will have demonstrated yet another capability to deter U.S. aggression and threaten America’s regional allies. SUNG KIM, the part-time U.S. envoy for North Korea, keeps reiterating that U.S. officials would meet with their North Korean counterparts without preconditions. But so far, all Pyongyang offers is a cold shoulder — well, that and missiles. To put a fine point on it, the new test came as Director of National Intelligence AVRIL HAINES was in Seoul to discuss North Korean issues. Today, the envoy met with his Japanese and Korean counterparts, per the State Department. AMERICA’S BACK: Approval of America’s global leadership bounced back during Biden’s first year, though a large chunk of the world population remains skeptical. Per a new Gallup poll today, 49 percent of worldwide respondents said they approve of U.S. global leadership, up from a low of 30 percent during former President DONALD TRUMP ’s last year. But 36 percent still “disapprove” of it — higher than at any point during the Obama administration and lower than during Trump’s time. America “regained ground among the countries in the G7, with ratings rising 38 points in Canada, 36 points in Germany, 30 in the United Kingdom, 22 points in Italy, 18 points in France and 11 points in Japan,” Gallup’s JULIE RAY reported. “Ratings of U.S. leadership headed in a negative direction in just three countries — Russia, Serbia and Benin.” #WERUNNATSEC: The NatSec Daily run club is off to a good start, with many friends of the newsletter sending in their latest jogs outside. Keep getting out there and telling us about it at #WeRunNatSec on Twitter. Oh, and Alex is running Saturday for Team POLITICO in the James W. Foley Freedom Run 5k to support efforts to bring home American hostages and promote the safety of journalists worldwide. IT’S TUESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved 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. Aim your tips and comments at award@politico.com and qforgey@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @QuintForgey. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @woodruffbets, @politicoryan, @PhelimKine, @BryanDBender, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmccleary, @leehudson, @AndrewDesiderio and @JonnyCustodio. | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down and who really has the president's ear in West Wing Playbook, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | HAITI GANG WANTS $1M PER HOSTAGE: The Haitian gang that kidnapped 17 members of a U.S.-based Christian aid group demanded $1 million per person, Haitian Justice Minister LISZT QUITEL said today. Five children are among 16 Americans and one Canadian taken. “The demand was made to the country chief of the Christian Aid Ministries — they asked for $1 million per person,” he told ANDRE PAULTRE and MARIA ABI-HABIB of the New York Times in an interview. “Often these gangs know these demands cannot be met and they will consider a counter offer from the families, and the negotiations can take a couple of days sometimes, or a couple of weeks.” The mass abduction is part of a growing trend in the Caribbean nation, especially after the assassination of Haitian President JOVENEL MOÏSE and a 7.2-magnitude earthquake devastated the country. “At least 328 kidnapping victims were reported to Haiti’s National Police in the first eight months of 2021, compared with a total of 234 for all of 2020, according to a report issued last month by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti known as BINUH,” the Associated Press noted yesterday. | | | POSSIBLY CHINA-ALIGNED GROUP TARGETING TELECOMS: “An advanced network of digital spies with a nexus to Chinese interests has successfully compromised parts of the global telecommunications network, in some cases allowing access to information, call metadata, text messages and other data, according to research released Tuesday by CrowdStrike.” That’s from Cyberscoop’s AJ VICENS, who added the report “identified 13 telecommunications companies as having been compromised by the network dating back to least 2019,” but didn’t name them. It’s not clear if the Chinese government is behind the group known as LightBasin, but ADAM MEYERS , CrowdStrike’s senior vice president of intelligence, did note the people behind the hacks are familiar with the Chinese language and have “remarkable operational security.” | | | VCJCSweepstakes: Everyone’s favorite game show is “Who will be the second-highest military adviser to the president?” but it seems like the administration isn’t interested in playing. Per our own PAUL MCLEARY and CONNOR O’BRIEN, lawmakers are starting to worry about the lack of a nominee for vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, especially as senators are up to their lapels in other issues and Gen. JOHN HYTEN — the current office holder — retires on Nov. 21. "The law is clear, so it should come as no surprise to President Biden that the Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff position will be vacant soon, yet here we are, just over a month out from General Hyten’s departure, and President Biden has yet to put forward a nomination," Sen. JAMES INHOFE (R-Olka.), the top SASC Republican, said in a statement. "Given the enormous threats we face worldwide, it is alarming that President Biden would risk the number-two military advisor position sitting empty.” Adm. CHRISTOPHER GRADY, the Navy Fleet Forces chief, is considered the frontrunner for the job. However, Adm. CHARLES RICHARD, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, remains in contention. | | | |   | | | | | | SENATE DEMS DIAL UP PENTAGON SPENDING: Our colleagues at Morning Defense (for Pros!) have a handy breakdown of Senate Democrats’ newly unveiled $24 billion-plus boost to their annual defense appropriations bill, the latest sign of momentum on Capitol Hill toward a bigger military budget. Among the highlights is a $725.8 billion allocation to Pentagon programs — $19.4 billion more than the Biden administration’s request — not including military programs in the Department of Energy or funding for military installations. That figure is greater than the House defense spending bill’s, which allocated $706 billion in line with Biden’s request. The Senate bill also adds another $2.7 billion — for a total of $13.7 billion — for military construction projects to legislation previously approved by Senate Appropriations. Furthermore, the legislation allocates $1 billion to fulfill Israel’s request to restock interceptors for the Iron Dome missile defense system and a $2.5 billion increase to counter China — including $41 million for a Hawaii-based homeland defense radar and $100 million for development of a missile defense shield for Guam. Read more from our own CONNOR O'BRIEN on Republican opposition to Senate Democrats’ draft fiscal 2022 Pentagon bill, as well as our own BRYAN BENDER on Senate appropriators’ proposed budget uptick for NASA. And don’t forget to subscribe to Morning D! | | | U.K. MILITARY CHIEF WARNS OF MORE AFGHANISTAN FALLOUT: Gen. Sir NICK CARTER , the outgoing U.K. Chief of the Defence Staff, offered an oblique criticism of the Biden administration’s foreign policy as he laid out his worldview today, arguing that “the enduring threat of violent extremism … may well have been emboldened” as result of the withdrawal from Afghanistan of U.S. and NATO forces. Discussing other global threats at a Center for a New American Security event, Carter — who will be replaced as the head of the British Armed Forces by Adm. Sir TONY RADAKIN on Nov. 30 — described the United Kingdom and its allies as “in this era of constant competition,” facing off against “assertive authoritarian rivals.” Russia, he said, was “the acute threat,” while China represented “more of a chronic or systemic challenge.” “Our rivals,” Carter assessed, “tend to see the global strategic context as a continuous struggle in which all of the instruments of statecraft — whether that might be nuclear weapons at one end or diplomacy at the other — can be used unconstrained by any distinction between peace and war.” | | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we’ve got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don’t miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | | — FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY: DANIEL BLEIBERG has been promoted to national security and foreign policy adviser for Sen. JACKY ROSEN (D-Nev.). He previously was a legislative assistant for Rosen. — SAUNDREA J. “DREA” SHROPSHIRE is now senior counselor to the administrator at the Transportation Security Administration. She most recently was senior legislative assistant for Rep. JIM MCGOVERN (D-Mass.) and a part-time research assistant for Professor ANUPAM CHANDER at Georgetown University Law Center. — RICHARD GHANI is now senior product marketing manager at Planet. He previously was a senior consultant in Deloitte’s defense, security and justice sector, and is a Rep. BILL KEATING (D-Mass.) alum. — NAVEED SHAH will become political director of Common Defense. He previously served as government affairs associate and digital advocacy manager at the progressive veterans group. | | | — SAMYA KULLAB, The Associated Press: “The economy on the brink, Taliban rely on former technocrats” — ROGER COHEN, The New York Times: “ These U.S. Veterans Won’t Rest Until They’ve Kept a Wartime Promise” — STEPHANIE SAVELL, The American Prospect: “The ‘War on Terror’ Accelerates in Africa” | | | — The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 9 a.m.: “Asian Architecture Conference 2021: Session One — with ABRAHAM DENMARK, BRIAN EYLER, EDGARD KAGAN, ELINA NOOR and GREGORY B. POLING” — The Heritage Foundation, 9:15 a.m.: “The Launch of the 2022 Index of U.S. Military Strength — with MIKE ROGERS, THOMAS SPOEHR and DAKOTA WOOD” — Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 9:30 a.m.: “ Full Committee Hearing: Nominations — with NICHOLAS BURNS, RAHM EMANUEL and JONATHAN ERIC KAPLAN” — House Foreign Affairs Committee, 10 a.m.: “Subcommittee Hearing: The Strategic Importance of the Pacific Islands — with J UDITH BETH CEFKIN, ALEXANDRE DAYANT, JAMES LOI and CLEO PASKAL” — House Science, Space and Technology Committee, 10 a.m.: “Subcommittee Hearing: Accelerating Deep Space Travel With Space Nuclear Propulsion — with FRANKLIN CHANG-DIAZ, MICHAEL FRENCH, BHAVYA LAL, GREG MEHOLIC and ROGER M. MYERS” — House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 10 a.m.: “Subcommittee Hearing: Achieving Mission Balance: Positioning the Coast Guard for the Future — with SCOTT A. BUSCHMAN” — House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, 10 a.m.: “ Subcommittee Hearing: Hearing to Consider Pending Legislation — with NILIJAH CARTER, MARSDEN MCGUIRE, CHERYL RAWLS, CORY TITUS and JEREMY VILLANUEVA” — The Wilson Center, 10 a.m.: “Britain Alone: The Path from Suez to Brexit — with MICHELLE EGAN and PHILIP STEPHENS” — Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, 10:30 a.m.: “Full Committee Hearing: Nominations — with ERNEST W. DUBESTER, SUSAN T. GRUNDMANN and KURT T. RUMSFELD” — The Acton Institute, 11:30 a.m.: “China: Enigma and Challenge for the World — with SAMUEL GREGG” — The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 12 p.m.: “ The Security Landscape of the Middle East: The View from Israel — with TAREK MASOUD and AMOS YADLIN” — The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, 12 p.m.: “Global Ethics Day Special Event: On the Frontlines of Democracy — with NATHAN LAW, ALFREDO ROMERO, JOEL ROSENTHAL, WAI HNIN PWINT THON, FRANAK VIAČORKA and JENNIFER WILLIAMS” — The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 12 p.m.: “Uzbekistan’s Presidential Elections: What Comes Next? — with NAVBAHOR IMAMOVA, EDWARD LEMON, JENNIFER MURTAZASHVILI, PAUL STRONSKI, STEVE SWERDLOW and TEMUR UMAROV” — The Stimson Center, 12 p.m.: “Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace: The Rise, Demise, and Revival of Arms Control — with BARRY M. BLECHMAN, BRIAN FINLAY, MICHAEL KREPON and JOAN ROHLFING” — The Wilson Center, 12 p.m.: “Politics and Civil Society in Belarus a Year After Mass Protests — with TATSIANA CHULITSKAYA, ANDREI KAZAKEVICH, ALLA LEUKAVETS and MATTHEW ROJANSKY” — The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1 p.m.: “ A Conversation with LTG JON JENSEN, Director of U.S. Army National Guard — with MARK F. CANCIAN” — Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2 p.m.: “Full Committee Hearing: Nominations — with JULIE CHUNG, PETER D. HAAS, PATRICIA MAHONEY and PETER HENDRICK VROOMAN” — Senate Intelligence Committee, 2 p.m.: “Closed Briefing: Intelligence Matters” — Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, 3 p.m.: “ Full Committee Hearing: Nominations — with GUY T. KIYOKAWA and JAMES D. RODRIGUEZ” — Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, 3 p.m.: “Full Committee Hearing: Hearing to Consider Pending Legislation — with MARQUIS BAREFIELD, ELIZABETH BRILL, DAVID CARROLL, LAWRENCIA PIERCE and THOMAS PORTER” 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. And thanks to our editor, Ben Pauker, who would never put a hold on this newsletter. | | A message from Lockheed Martin: How Experimentation Can Speed Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO)
By partnering with every branch of the U.S. military and allies in experiments like Northern Edge, Lockheed Martin is helping warfighters make better, faster decisions in the battlespace. Learn More | | |
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