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From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | |  | | By Matt Berg and Eric Bazail-Eimil | |  Over the past few weeks, a progressive veterans advocacy group has poured some $300,000 into national cable ads attacking the Sen. Tommy Tuberville's nine-month hold on senior military promotions. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo | With help from Maggie Miller, Lara Seligman and Gabriel Gavin Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Matt With Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.) showing no sign of ending his nine-month hold on senior military promotions, a progressive veterans advocacy group is preparing to ramp up the pressure. VoteVets, which has been at the forefront of messaging within the military community against Coach’s blockade, will “have to continue to escalate,” according to JON SOLTZ, who heads the PAC. “There’s no price we're not going to pay” to end the blockade, he added, speaking to NatSec Daily over a cup of joe at Ebenezers Coffeehouse on Capitol Hill this morning. Over the past few weeks, the advocacy group has poured some $300,000 into national cable ads attacking the Alabama senator’s hold; set up a visual display on the Senate lawn showing pictures of nominees being delayed; and organized a group of retired generals to meet with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Those efforts have begun to pay dividends, Soltz said, with the most prominent example being the pushback from Sens. TODD YOUNG (R-Ind.), MITT ROMNEY (R-Utah) and JONI ERNST (R-Iowa) during the Republican lunch last week, as Punchbowl News reported. Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER’s votes to confirm three top military leaders last week was also a win for Democrats, he added, though it’s worth noting that Tuberville’s team viewed it as Schumer bending to his whims. The key to ending the holds, Soltz repeated, is to convince as many Republicans as possible to speak up against Tuberville. “There are a lot of Republican senators that … from a policy standpoint, we agree with them, and they agree with us,” said Soltz, an Army veteran. “But we need to push them to have the political will to take on Tuberville. That's how this fight ends.” When asked by NatSec Daily if there are any GOP senators who oppose the holds but haven’t publicly spoken out, he replied simply: “I can’t tell you that.” Soltz made it clear in our conversation that his organization has the determination — but more importantly the cash — to expand the pressure campaign. A new tactic they may employ would be a sort of modification from the PAC’s strategy of attacking Tuberville with ads in his home state, ramping up public messaging and events in states where senators support the holds. “If you're a senator, and you have five people that are being held up by this, maybe you need to see those pictures of who those people are coming into your state,” Soltz said, emphasizing that local media coverage would bolster the efforts. Meanwhile, Tuberville’s team seemed unbothered by the prospect of more criticism from both sides of the aisle. “Has this pressure campaign you speak of begun yet? Coach feels no pressure at all. Their TV ads were riddled with falsehoods, but fortunately, they are having absolutely zero impact,” Tuberville spokesperson STEVEN STAFFORD told NatSec Daily. With Tuberville unlikely to fold anytime soon and a government shutdown looming, VoteVets budgeted to maintain its campaign and keep hosting events — such as flying generals to the Capitol and running TV ads — even if the House doesn’t pass a continuing resolution to avoid a shutdown. “We're always prepared,” Soltz said. “Because if we're not doing it, who's doing it?”
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Using Artificial Intelligence to help firefighters better detect, predict and fight wildfires.
Lockheed Martin is collaborating with commercial companies to integrate our technologies and expertise with their capabilities to help first responders detect, predict and fight wildfires. Learn more. | | | | | NORTH KOREAN RELEASE: Pvt. TRAVIS KING, the American soldier who crossed into North Korea in July, is en route to the U.S. after a clandestine journey across the border to China, our own LARA SELIGMAN and Matt report. King has departed Chinese airspace and is heading to a U.S. military base, a senior administration official said. National security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN confirmed the administration had secured King’s return. The plan to bring King home came together over the last few weeks after Sweden, a frequent interlocutor between Washington and Pyongyang, conveyed to U.S. officials that North Korea wanted to release him, according to the senior administration official. Chinese officials did not play any mediating role. EXODUS IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH: The humanitarian crisis in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region is only getting worse, triggering a massive exodus from the enclave in the wake of Azerbaijan’s military incursion into the territory last week. Over 50,000 Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh in the last few days, our own GABRIEL GAVIN and VICTOR JACK report. Azerbaijani officials also detained RUBEN VARDANYAN, the former minister of state in Nagorno-Karabakh’s unrecognized government, according to a release from Vardanyan’s family. Vardanyan is expected to face trial in Baku. Armenian diaspora groups are pushing for the U.S. to respond more forcefully. Two-hundred people rallied at the Reagan Presidential Library in California Tuesday night, in anticipation of tonight’s Republican presidential debate happening there. “It’s important for us to continue to raise our voices,” JOSEPH KASKANIAN, one of the rally organizers, told NatSec Daily.. “Whether that be the Republican candidates who are potentially going to be our next president, or whether that’s continuing to hold President [JOE] BIDEN accountable for what he’s done, because the Biden administration is complicit in genocide.” Scroll down to On the Hill to see the latest response from lawmakers. ISRAEL VISA WAIVER: The U.S. has added Israel to its visa-free entry program, allowing Israelis to enter the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa, NPR’s DANIEL ESTRIN reports. The decision is a major win for Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, who pushed hard for the U.S. to grant Israel the designation, despite concerns about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. IT’S WEDNESDAY: 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 mberg@politico.com, and follow us on X at @alexbward and @mattberg33. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @reporterjoe, @JGedeon1 and @ebazaileimil.
| | | | HAPPENING 9/28 — INSIDE THE CANCER MOONSHOT: Join POLITICO on Thursday, Sept. 28 for an in-depth discussion on the future of cancer treatment and innovation. Hear from experts including scientists, government officials and industry leaders as we explore the critical roles played by private industry, nonprofits, the National Cancer Institute and the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health in achieving the Biden administration's goal of cutting the cancer death rate in half over the next 25 years. Don't miss this opportunity to dive into the progress of cancer treatments and learn about the challenges patients encounter in accessing care. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | CHRISTIE’S ‘FIRST ACTION’: GOP presidential candidate CHRIS CHRISTIE said he’d deploy the National Guard to the southern border as his “first action” as president. “Trump told everyone that he was going to build us a ‘big beautiful wall’ and that Mexico was going to pay for it. We got 52 miles of new wall and haven’t received a single peso from Mexico,” Christie tweeted Tuesday night. “This disaster at the border is just as much his fault as it is Biden’s.” While Christie hasn’t said he would support using military force at the border (as candidates RON DeSANTIS, NIKKI HALEY, VIVEK RAMASWAMY and DONALD TRUMP have), the former New Jersey governor’s comment echoes DeSantis’ remark at the last debate that he’d attack drug cartels in Mexico on his first day in office — a declaration his campaign later walked back to NatSec Daily.
| | | | GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | | | | KEEP AN EYE ON CHINA: A coalition of U.S. and Japanese agencies warned today that Chinese state-backed hackers are exploiting routers to go after organizations across a variety of critical sectors, our own MAGGIE MILLER writes in. The alert — put out by the FBI, the NSA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and multiple Japanese security agencies — says that a Chinese government hacking group, known as “BlackTech,” is specifically targeting the networks of company corporate headquarters in the U.S. and Japan. It adds that the hackers have gone after organizations in the government, telecommunications, media and defense sectors, among others.
| | | MENENDEZ OUT, F-16S IN? Washington’s push to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey may have better odds after a top critic, Sen. BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.), stepped down from a key congressional post, House Foreign Affairs Chair MIKE McCAUL (R-Texas) told our own JOE GOULD and CONNOR O’BRIEN. Menendez, sidelined after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, had blocked the jet sale, citing Ankara’s aggression against its neighbors and internal repression. But he’s only one piece of the puzzle — the U.S. can’t sell the warplanes without buy-in from the top Republicans and Democrats on the foreign policy panels in both chambers. And there is still plenty of opposition on both sides of Capitol Hill. “I’m reading the tea leaves, and he was one of the four that was still kind of holding out, so I think it’s more likely it’s going to be approved,” McCaul said. Read: Menendez pleads not guilty to corruption charges by our own ERICA ORDEN. MILLEY’S LAST DAYS: Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. MARK MILLEY is handing the reins over to his replacement on Friday. It couldn’t come at a more precarious time, as the West shows signs of running out of weapons — and out of patience — with Ukraine, Lara writes. The war is far from over, and Milley is leaving his successor, Air Force Gen. C.Q. BROWN, an array of challenges. As Ukrainian forces push for a breakthrough before winter sets in, there is a growing sense in Washington and Europe that the West may be weary of the fight. On Capitol Hill, hardline Republicans oppose sending additional aid; across the Atlantic, Poland recently said it could not send any more weapons to Ukraine in the short term, and French officials recently hinted the country would soon reach that point as well. Another piece from Lara, examining “The Quotable Milley,” is worth a read. A history buff known for lengthy soliloquies, the general had a tendency to turn 30-minute scheduled meetings with reporters into hours-long interviews, and congressional hearings into viral moments. Take a stroll down memory lane with some of his best quotes here. GERMANY’S STALLING: Berlin is holding off on sending Kyiv its Taurus long-range precision missiles due to concerns that doing so would require German technicians to operate on the ground, German officials told The Wall Street Journal’s BOJAN PANCEVSKI. While Germany’s government has approved the transfer, Chancellor OLAF SCHOLZ has stalled the move over concerns that it could bring Germany closer to a direct confrontation with Russia, the officials said. He also believes requiring German personnel to move into a war zone would require a vote from parliament, they said. A Scholz spokesperson told WSJ that there’s no imminent plan for the Taurus delivery. Read: Netherlands to deliver first F-16 jets to Ukraine in 2024 by our own CLAUDIA CHIAPPA. ICYMI — Republicans demand investigation into Iranian-backed influence operation by Semafor’s JAY SOLOMON TOUTING THE TALENT SHOW: The Army's senior enlisted leader is in California to support the 82nd Airborne Division Chorus as they compete in “America's Got Talent.” On the heels of a visit to Fort Cavazos, Texas, Sergeant Major of the Army MICHAEL WEIMER traveled to the Golden State to meet with members of the chorus prior to the announcement of “America's Got Talent” winners, spokesperson DANIEL WALLACE told NatSec Daily.
| | FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — NAGORNO-KARABAKH LETTER: In more Nagorno-Karabakh news, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has written to Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN and Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN urging the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Azerbaijani officials, under the Global Magnitsky Act. They are calling on the U.S. to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its recent military incursion into the enclave and the worsening humanitarian and refugee crisis that has ensued. “These actions represent a gross violation of human rights and the perpetration of violent conflict, which both pose a direct assault on American values and interests,” the two dozen senators and 72 representatives wrote in a letter. “The perpetrators of these human rights violations must be held to account by the United States.” Among the signatories are Reps. FRANK PALLONE (D-N.J.), GUS BILIRAKIS (R-Fla.), SETH MAGAZINER (D-R.I.), CHRIS SMITH (R-N.J.), BARBARA LEE (D-Calif.), ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.), KATIE PORTER (D-Calif.), and Sens. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-R.I.), BILL CASSIDY (R-La.), MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.), GARY PETERS (D-Mich.), TAMMY BALDWIN (D-Wisc.) and JACK REED (D-R.I.). ‘DEAD ON ARRIVAL’: House Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY told Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL that the House won’t take up a bill that funds Ukraine and doesn’t address issues at the southern border, Punchbowl News’ JAKE SHERMAN reports. “In other words, if it wasn't clear, the [continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown] the Senate is taking up is dead on arrival in the House,” Sherman tweeted. On Tuesday evening, the Senate unveiled a temporary funding bill that includes billions to help arm Ukraine and replenish U.S. weapons, but falls well short of Biden's request, Connor reported (for Pros!). The bipartisan stopgap, which would keep the government operating through Nov. 17, allocates $4.5 billion in emergency Pentagon funding related to Ukraine.
| | NOT A NAZI? A top Canadian politician resigned on Tuesday after fierce backlash for honoring a man who fought in a Nazi division during World War II. But Ukraine doesn’t think he’s a Nazi. Canadian lawmakers gave a standing ovation to YAROSLAV HUNKA, 98, after Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY’s speech in Parliament on Friday. It soon came out that Hunka was part of the First Ukrainian Division, also known as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS under the Nazis. The gesture by the now outgoing House of Commons Speaker ANTHONY ROTA, who had called Hunka a “hero,” was not “intended to be a provocation against Ukraine or Canada,” according to a document sent to Ukrainian government officials by Kyiv’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, obtained by NatSec Daily. “The veteran environment of the Galicia Division in any country does not profess Nazi or neo-Nazi views, but positions itself as participants in the national liberation movement of Ukraine,” the document continues, adding that no Nazis were found among division members living in Canada during a government inquiry in the 1980s. MAKSYM SKRYPCHENKO, president of the Transatlantic Dialogue Center, confirmed that Ukraine doesn’t believe Hunka is a Nazi, telling NatSec Daily that “Russian propaganda is now working at its best.”
| | | |   | | | | | — Former Air Force Chief Scientist MARK LEWIS has joined the advisory board of Voyager Space.
| | — DUSTIN RACIOPPI, POLITICO: The fall of New Jersey’s ‘pope’ — ALISTAIR MacDONALD, The Wall Street Journal: The war in Ukraine is also a giant arms fair — KATHLEEN McINNIS, Foreign Policy: What does victory look like in Ukraine?
| | — The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 8:45 a.m.: China's strategy of political warfare: views from Congress — The Intelligence and National Security Alliance, 9 a.m.: A conversation with GARY BUCHANAN, chief information security officer for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency — The Middle East Institute, 9:30 a.m.: Oslo at 30: legacies, hard realities and alternatives for Israel-Palestine — The Senate Armed Services Committee, 9:30 a.m.: A hearing on the nominations of DEREK CHOLLET and CARA ABERCROMBIE — The Wilson Center's Polar Institute, 9:30 a.m.: The rules-based order in Antarctica and global challenges — The House Homeland Security Transportation Committee, 10 a.m.: Projecting presence and power in the Indo-Pacific: An examination of the United States Coast Guard's contributions to maritime security — The Hudson Institute, 10 a.m.: A virtual discussion on navigating toward resilience: technological gamechangers with NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation Gen. PHILIPPE LAVIGNE — The House Foreign Affairs Committee, 10 a.m.: Reclaiming Congress's Article I powers: counterterrorism AUMF (authorization for use of military force) reform — The House Armed Services Committee, 10 a.m.: Examining irregularity in the strategic basing process for U.S. Space Command — The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 11 a.m.: The Biden administration and Iran: where is U.S. policy headed? — The National Press Club, 12:30 p.m.: Newsmaker luncheon address with Director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command Army Gen. PAUL NAKASONE — The House Foreign Affairs Committee, 2 p.m.: Lasers and water cannons: exposing the Chinese Communist Party's harassment in the South China Sea — The House Foreign Affairs Committee, 2 p.m.: Communism on our doorstep: The threat of China's malign influence in Latin America — The Hudson Institute, 3 p.m.: NATO and the Franco-American alliance — The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs' Space Policy Institute, 4 p.m.: A book discussion on "Fight for the Final Frontier: Irregular Warfare in Space — The Institute of World Politics, 5 p.m.: The structure of INDOPACOM and comparable U.S. agencies for the Asia-Pacific region CORRECTION: Due to incorrect information provided to POLITICO, Tuesday’s newsletter misstated the type of car Sen. Ben Cardin drives. Thanks to our editor, Emma Anderson, who will continue her pressure campaign against us, especially if the government shuts down. We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who always speaks up on our behalf.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Using Artificial Intelligence to help firefighters better detect, predict and fight wildfires.
Lockheed Martin is collaborating with commercial companies to integrate our technologies and expertise with their capabilities to help first responders detect, predict and fight wildfires. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
