Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., speaks during a hearing on the FY2019 budget with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., speaks during a hearing on the FY2019 budget with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. ASSOCIATED PRESS

What the Midterms Mean for National Security

House Democrats are poised to boost oversight of the Pentagon — and its commander-in-chief.

It wasn’t the blue wave that some bullish progressives had projected. But the midterm election netted Democrats a narrow majority in the House, giving broad, unilateral investigative powers to the opposition party under President Donald Trump and reshaping a Congress that has been unified in Republican hands for eight years.

Democrats moved quickly to characterize their victory in the midterm elections as an American vote for “accountability.” On the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., has already telegraphed a more robust oversight agenda as the likely chairman, one that includes more scrutiny of U.S. support for the Saudi-UAE war in Yemen, secret operations in Africa, and the U.S. nuclear weapons posture.

As for a legislative agenda? With control of the Congress split between two parties, “the areas for legislative agreement will be more limited,” observed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

But just the prospect of oversight has rattled President Trump, who quickly threatened to meet House inquests with investigations into alleged leaks of classified information by Democrats in the Senate — a claim for which he provided no evidence.

And should lawmakers investigate him personally, Trump vowed to take “a war-like posture.”

“When that happens, we’re going to do the same thing and government comes to a halt, and then I would blame them,” the president said during a press conference Wednesday.

Much of the partisan animosity is centered on investigations a little closer to home—like Democratic attempts to obtain the president’s tax returns—but with the Pentagon increasingly drawn in to the pitched politics surrounding the Trump White House, oversight of its sprawling operations is almost certain to be contentious.

Last week, Smith fired a warning shot in a piece in Defense One arguing that the Trump administration and its Defense Department leadership have “made conspicuous decisions to roll back transparency and public accountability precisely when we need it most.”

"Remedying this imbalance by bringing back oversight and accountability should be one of Congress's major defense priorities,” Smith wrote.

U.S. support of the Saudi and UAE-led campaign in Yemen is likely to face particular scrutiny. The war has escalated into a wide-scale humanitarian disaster marked by civilian deaths, starvation and cholera outbreaks; the U.S. provides targeting and intelligence support for the coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Smith has backed a War Powers Resolution to end U.S. involvement in the conflict. A number of Democratic lawmakers have also begun to clamor for the U.S. to cut off arms sales to Riyadh amid mounting frustration over the punishing nature of the war and in the wake of a growing international consensus that Riyadh was behind the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Clandestine special operations in far-flung places like Niger—where four U.S. service members were killed last year—are also a point of interest, Smith said at the Defense News conference in September.

And the Trump administration’s nuclear posture review “contemplates a lot more nuclear weapons than I — and I think most Democrats — think we need,” Smith said at the event, adding that low-yield nuclear weapons are “extremely problematic.”

In October, Smith teamed up with the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, N.Y., to send Trump a letter warning against leaving the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Trump recently announced a planned departure from the arms control treaty with Russia, although Mattis has said that diplomats are still working the issue.

Smith has also set himself in opposition to a pet initiative of Trump’s: a new, sixth branch of the military to deal with threats in space. Smith came out against the proposal in September, citing cost.  

Some areas may be less contentious. Democratic control of the lower chamber is likely to reinforce the current momentum towards cuts to the defense budget. Smith has said that this year’s $716 billion budget is “too high”; in a surprise, Trump recently ordered a $33 billion cut in defense spending for 2020.

But although there may be broad consensus over the need for topline cuts, the new majority in the House will be able to use the power of the purse to try to influence policy on a more granular level. The Armed Services Committees scored big political wins for Trump under the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and current House chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas; in control of the House, Democrats may be able to force compromises on controversial issues like the Space Force.

In other ways, Congress will remain limited in its ability to shift U.S. foreign policy, inherently an executive branch function. The House has far fewer powers to directly influence the U.S.’s internal affairs than does the Senate, which can approve treaties and confirm presidential nominees.

Analysts expect lawmakers across both chambers to press the administration to enforce existing sanctions on Russia, and perhaps even seek stiffer penalties.

The midterms have reshaped both Armed Services Committees in a way that could elevate more liberal voices within the Democratic caucus on defense issues.

In the Senate, Democrats lost several key members of the panel, including Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Sen. Joe Donnelly, the top Democrat on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee.

But in the House, the switch will move up now-freshman Rep. Ro Khanna, a progressive Democrat from California—and sometimes bête noir of party leadership—with a fierce focus on ending U.S. support the war in Yemen. He attracted more than 50 sponsors, including Smith, for his War Powers Resolution on Yemen.

Democrats could also select one of their caucus’s fiercest anti-war advocates, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., for a leadership position. Lee, the only member of Congress to vote against the 2001 authorization for war against al Qaeda, has thrown her hat in the ring for the No. 5 spot: caucus chairman. (She does not sit on the Armed Services Committee.)

Then there are the wild cards: a swath of new members are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who could jostle for seats on the panel.

During the uncertain lame-duck period before the new Congress convenes in January, lawmakers from both parties will be busy jockeying for leadership positions—Pelosi’s status as speaker is by no means assured—and it remains unclear whether Trump will force a partial government shutdown over funding for his proposed southern border wall. The president’s campaign-timed military deployment to the border appears poised to fade from Republican talking points—Pentagon officials on Wednesday said they were dropping the name “Operation Faithful Patriot” amid allegations that it was politically tainted.

There is one other key unknown in the wake of Tuesday’s elections: the fate of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Rumors have swirled for months that he could leave amid a cabinet shakeup.

Neither Trump nor McConnell—whose chamber would have to vote to confirm a replacement—provided any clues on Wednesday.

The president has “signaled that there's likely to be a number of changes and we'll process it,” McConnell told reporters. “It's not up to me to tell him to nominate."

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.