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From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | |  | | By Joe Gould, Alexander Ward, Matt Berg and Ari Hawkins | |  “Predictably, we now find ourselves in a situation where the Pentagon’s miscalculation of aid calls into question the reliability of its accounting,” Paul told NatSec Daily in a statement. | Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Matt Programming note: We’ll be off Monday, May 29, for Memorial Day, so we’ll next see you in your inbox on Tuesday. Sen. RAND PAUL (R-Ky.) says he will reintroduce his legislation calling for a dedicated Ukraine aid inspector general after the Pentagon disclosed that it miscalculated Ukraine aid by $3 billion. The Pentagon revealed last week that it overestimated the value of arms sent to Kyiv from existing stocks, which potentially allows the department to add $3 billion worth to the $2.7 billion left in the weapons account. Department officials were valuing the items using their “replacement cost” rather than their “net book value,” which was lower, Defense Department officials say. Paul’s legislation would fold Ukraine oversight into the duties of the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. The office, now held by JOHN SOPKO, would be empowered to conduct audits, investigations and oversight for programs run by the Pentagon, State Department and USAID. It would also submit quarterly reports to Congress. This isn’t a new idea for the eye doctor. A year ago, he proposed legislation to establish a federal watchdog that oversaw how dollars are spent on the Ukraine war effort. Paul delayed a $40 billion Ukraine spending package before he got a vote on the measure, which failed. Now the senator, the top Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is essentially saying “I told you so.” “Predictably, we now find ourselves in a situation where the Pentagon’s miscalculation of aid calls into question the reliability of its accounting,” Paul told NatSec Daily in a statement. “I will soon reintroduce my proposal for an independent inspector general for Ukraine aid to provide taxpayers with an accurate accounting of how their money is spent, as well as to detect and prevent waste, fraud and abuse.” Paul isn’t the only one with this idea. Sens. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.) and JOHN KENNEDY (R-La.), as well as Rep. CHIP ROY (R-Texas), backed similar Ukraine IG proposals this year –– indicating there is some bicameral support for the idea. Their proposals would create an IG rather than involving the Afghanistan office. When Hawley’s proposal came to a vote, it failed 26-68, splitting Senate Republicans — and Democrats. Sens. JON TESTER (D-Mont.), JOHN OSSOFF (D-Ga.) and KRYSTEN SINEMA (I-Ariz.) voted for Hawley’s amendment. Hawley is also expected to bring back his legislation. “This is precisely why an IG for Ukraine is needed,” a Hawley spokesperson told NatSec Daily of DoD’s accounting error. “Senator Hawley is committed to getting his proposal passed.” The question now is if either the new Paul or Hawley bills can gain some traction, especially as leading Republican 2024 candidates show some skepticism about an increase in material support for Ukraine. The White House has said it agrees oversight is critical and, at the time of Hawley’s proposal, pointed to Ukraine aid oversight already underway by existing inspectors general for the Pentagon, State and USAID. “We agree that oversight is critical and welcome the funding that Congress has previously provided for existing inspectors general as part of the Ukraine supplemental appropriations acts. That funding has helped ensure increased oversight of the security, economic and humanitarian assistance, which has earned bipartisan support and been critical to Ukraine’s fight for freedom in the face of a brutal and barbaric invasion by Putin,” said NSC spokesperson ADAM HODGE. | | F-16s NOT A ‘MAGIC WEAPON’: Forty-eight F-16 fighter jets are all Kyiv needs to defeat Russia, Ukraine’s defense ministry said on Friday — a day after Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. MARK MILLEY said they wouldn’t be a silver bullet in the war. “4 squadrons of F16s (48 aircraft) are exactly what we need to liberate our country from the aggressor,” the defense ministry tweeted, accompanied by an illustration of the St. Basil’s Cathedral being shredded by a cheese grater with fighter jet cutouts. Even with a substantial number of Western jets, “the Russians have 1,000 fourth-generation fighters,” Milley told reporters on Thursday, per our own PAUL McLEARY. “The smartest thing to have done is exactly what we did do, which is provide a significant amount of integrated air defenses to cover the battlespace and deny the Russians the airspace.” Maintaining the aircraft also would’ve been too costly — about $2 billion for 10 aircraft — earlier in the war, as it would’ve eaten up funding for other capabilities that have helped Ukraine. Still, the U.S. is fully behind NATO allies taking the lead on training Ukrainians on the jets and potentially transferring them to Kyiv, he said. “There are no magic weapons in war, F-16s are not and neither is anything else,” he said. WAR COULD LAST ‘DECADES’: Former Russian President DMITRY MEDVEDEV believes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will drag on with no end in sight as negotiations between the two countries remain unlikely. "This conflict will last for a very long time. For decades, probably. This is a new reality," said Medvedev, who serves as deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, according to Russian news agencies. That tracks, oddly enough, with the belief among some U.S. officials that Ukraine-Russia could join the ranks of the world’s “frozen conflicts.” Moscow on Friday launched another series of missile strikes against Ukraine, the Associated Press’ SUSIE BLANN reports, killing one person. Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, heavily shelled Russia’s southern Belgorod region. The Ukrainian assault, which occurred in the same region as a raid carried out by a pro-Ukrainian Russian this week, followed two drone strikes on a Russian city near Crimea, which damaged a residential and office building. On Thursday, Kyiv’s forces claimed to have struck a Russian reconnaissance ship in the Black Sea with a drone boat, though Moscow’s officials said the attack was unsuccessful. Read: Yushchenko: ‘Putin has Putin-nized Europe’ by Ari. DAYLIGHT RAIDS ON RISE: Israeli raids against Palestinian militants are typically conducted at night. But now, “under the most right-wing government in Israeli history, a growing number of incursions have been carried out during the day, in densely packed urban areas,” the Washington Post’s IMOGEN PIPER, MEG KELLY and LOUISA LOVELUCK report. In one such case, four plainclothes Israeli agents targeted two Palestinian militants in Jenin in broad daylight. A 14-year-old, OMAR AWADIN, was caught in the middle of the firefight and fatally shot. “As of May 15, 108 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including militants and civilians, had been killed by Israeli forces, according to the United Nations, more than double last year’s toll from the same period,” per the Post, further noting that “at least 19 were children.” DRINKS WITH NATSEC DAILY: At the end of every long, hard week, we like to highlight how a prominent member of Washington’s national security scene prefers to unwind with a drink. Today, we’re featuring Rep. BRENDAN BOYLE (D-Pa.), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee and a leader of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. When he’s not dealing with debt crises, you can find the Philadelphian sipping on a Dry Manhattan, especially when he’s marking an occasion. Boyle started ordering the drink in his early 20s after a work colleague introduced him to it, and enjoys it particularly when sitting in his favorite chair in his den. However, the lawmaker is never opposed to a good glass of wine. Cheers, sir! | | A message from Lockheed Martin: Our mission is to prepare you for the future by engineering advanced capabilities today.
Many of today’s military systems and platforms were designed to operate independently. Through our 21st Century Security vision, Lockheed Martin is accelerating innovation, connecting defense and digital to enhance the performance of major platforms, to equip customers to stay ahead of emerging threats. Learn more. | | |
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| | DESANTIS ON TRUMP’S INSTINCTS: RON DeSANTIS, who is running for the Republican nomination for president, said it’s unlikely that DONALD TRUMP will be able to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours, as claimed. But the former president’s foreign policy is grounded in the right approach, the Florida governor told Newsmax on Thursday. "I don't know that it could be done in 24 hours — he's prone to rhetorical flourishes," DeSantis told ERIC BOLLING in an evening interview. “But I do think that his instinct of trying to get a settlement rather than trying to have this thing become a war of attrition — or heaven forbid escalate, with Russia having the largest nuclear arsenal in the world — I do think that's the right instinct,” he added. The Florida Republican also reaffirmed his support for Taiwan and the need to counter aggression from China. That would mean “supporting Taiwan with more weaponry” and “bolstering our own naval power in the Pacific,” he said. In the interview, DeSantis also called the Chinese Communist Party the “number one threat to our country,” and praised the former president’s past remarks calling for NATO member states other than the U.S. to put greater focus on security. "They need to do more to be responsible for their own security, and I think Donald Trump was right," he said.
| | | | GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | GLOBAL CHIPS SPENDING SPREE: The chips must flow. “The semiconductor industry is expected to grow from nearly $600 billion to over $1 trillion by 2030,” PIETER HAECK reports (for Pros!). The influx of cash comes as the U.S. and EU, among others, are spending big bucks and offering subsidies to solidify their semiconductor supply chains. The problem, though, is that such intense growth leads to market inefficiencies, such as costly duplication. “Each region clearly has unique strengths,” Imec CEO LUC VAN DEN HOVE stressed at an industry event last week. “However, if the Chips Acts would be set up such that each region would try to do it all, try to become fully self-sufficient, it would result in a significant setback.” Others, though, see the efforts as complementary and not a major problem.
| | | WE’LL DO OUR BEST: Stockholm is open to training Ukrainians on Gripen fighter jets If Kyiv asks, Swedish Defense Minister PÅL JONSON told CNN’s CATHERINE NICHOLLS. “We are eager to support Ukraine in all ways possible and if they want their pilots to evaluate Gripen, we will try to accommodate that, although some decision remains on both sides,” said Jonson, who met with Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY in Kyiv on Thursday. While Sweden is open to training Ukrainians, it’s not so open to handing over the jets quite yet. “We exclude nothing when it comes to supporting Ukraine,” Jonson added. “However, at this stage we will not be able to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces with Swedish Gripen fighters.”
| | | |   | | | | | MENENDEZ PROBE: Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Sen. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.) and his wife received unreported luxury gifts including a car and an apartment in Washington in connection to a New Jersey-based meat company, reports NBC’s JONATHAN DIENST, COURTNEY COPENHAGEN and TOM WINTER. The investigation, led by the Department of Justice and the FBI, aims to determine if the gifts, which are valued in the tens of thousands, are linked to a halal meat company called IS EG Halal of Edgewater. The company is Egypt’s sole provider of meat that conforms to Islamic law. Investigations are looking into whether Menendez, or his wife NADINE ARSLANIAN, improperly took the gifts, and if the senator took any action in exchange for the items. "I am sure it is going to end up in absolutely nothing," Menendez, who is chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told NBC, denying any wrongdoing in connection with the probe. The Egyptian government in 2019 moved to make the company the only authorized importer of Halal meat into the country, despite warnings from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that the change risked sending meat prices soaring, affecting around 90 million Muslims in Egypt.
| | ‘UNBELIEVABLY CHICKENSHIT’: Lead Democratic lawmakers on defense panels are accusing the House’s GOP leaders of scuttling work on appropriations bills this week and not showing what government spending they’d cut to achieve Pentagon budget increases, our friends at Morning Defense (for Pros!) report. Rep. BETTY McCOLLUM (D-Minn.) said Republicans “have no plan, they have no transparency on the direction that they want to go,” either on the debt limit or in “having conversations about how to limit spending.” GOP leaders are “unbelievably chickenshit,” Rep. ADAM SMITH (D-Wash.) said. “They won’t say what bills they’re not going to pay,” Smith said. “In fact, they lead you to believe [they’re] just going to cut spending in the generic sense. And if you don’t have the balls to say one specific thing that you’re going to cut, if you can’t stand up and say look, ‘I don’t think poor people should get health care. I’m going to cut Medicaid.’ If that’s your position, great. Let’s go have an argument.” Rep. Roy, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, fired back. “Some of our Democratic colleagues, and one individual, said ‘they,’ meaning Republicans, ‘have no plan,’” he said. “Well, l’m sorry, but we passed a bill in April off the House floor that raises the debt ceiling and provides a path to fiscal responsibility.”
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW. | | | | | | | | | –– SARAH LOVELL was recently sworn in as a security engineering officer at the State Department. The Air National Guard member previously spent 10 years as an emerging technology trends policy associate and then as a technical analyst at RAND.
| | –– EMMA SALISBURY, Proceedings: Beware the allure of mission modularity — BEN TERRIS, The Washington Post: Meet the ex-food writer advising TOMMY TUBERVILLE on national security — PAUL DALLISON, POLITICO: Up yours! When politicians give the middle finger
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Our mission is to prepare you for the future by engineering advanced capabilities today.
Many of today’s military systems and platforms were designed to operate independently. Through our 21st Century Security vision, Lockheed Martin is accelerating innovation, connecting defense and digital to enhance the performance of major platforms, to equip customers to stay ahead of emerging threats. Learn more. | | | | | — Freedom House, 9 a.m.: Transnational Threats Faced by Iranian Activists in Europe — Center for Strategic and International Studies, 10 a.m.: Missile Defense in Israel: A Conversation with MOSHE PATEL — Defense Department, 12 p.m.: Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces; Notice of Federal Advisory Committee Meeting — Middle East Institute, 1 p.m.: Security and Stabilization in Africa: The Sahel — Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2 p.m.:U.S. Diplomacy and Section 702: A Conversation with Assistant Secretary of State BRETT HOLMGREN — Atlantic Council, 2:30 p.m.: Prevailing in an age of danger — Center for a New American Security, 3 p.m.: Fireside Chat with Lt. Gen. Loh, Director, Air National Guard Thanks to our editor, Dave Brown, who thinks there needs to be an inspector general to monitor Matt’s expense reports. We also thank our producer, Andy Goodwin, who never makes $3 billion accounting mistakes. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
