Threats
Inside the Wild Final Week of the Acting Navy Secretary
How it all fell apart for Thomas Modly in seven days that included a two-plane, 50-hour trip to chastise a fired skipper to his sailors aboard a COVID-stricken aircraft carrier.
Policy
Republicans Seek to Punish China for Coronavirus as Trump Waffles
“Having the relationship I have with China is a good thing,” Trump says. But Republicans say China needs to “pay a price.”
Policy
Congress Hears Options—And Concerns—for Using Smartphone Data to Fight Coronavirus
Other countries have been using various forms of location- and proximity-tracing to slow the spread of the disease, with widely varying levels of privacy protections.
Ideas
Don’t Confirm John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence
The U.S. needs a Dr. Fauci, not a Trump cheerleader, to lead America’s intelligence community.
Policy
Pentagon Delays Budget Deadline to Help Staff Work from Home
Service officials had complained that a June 1 deadline was preventing them from implementing coronavirus-related social-distancing guidelines.
Policy
US Military Can Do More to Help with Coronavirus, House Armed Services Chief Says
The House Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat says the Pentagon needs to “get creative” in its response.
Ideas
Where is Trump’s Missing War Powers Report?
The administration is ignoring its legal requirement to explain how it would use military force, and undermining Congress in the process.
Ideas
The Coronavirus Teaches Us Not to Let Trump Press the Nuclear Button
Some of the president’s poor decisions on COVID-19, like proposing to reopen the nation by Easter, have been reversed. But a presidential decision to start nuclear war cannot be.
Business
Defense Contractors Can Go To Work Amid State & Local Lockdowns, Pentagon Says
Companies in California have been struggling to navigate statewide orders to stay at home.
Threats
The US Is Helping the Taliban Fight ISIS, CENTCOM's Top General Says
Gen. McKenzie turned heads with testimony about “very limited support” for an enemy who is also an enemy of an enemy.
Ideas
We Can Still Avoid the Worst-Case Coronavirus Scenario
The spread of COVID-19 may be inevitable, but the choices we make now will determine how bad the outbreak will get.
Policy
As Taliban Attack, Esper and Milley Downplay 'Mixed' Results of Peace Deal
Joint Chiefs chairman argued before Congress that the Taliban’s “small low-level” attacks on Afghan forces don't violate their four-day-old agreement with the United States.
Policy
Exclusive: House Bill Tries To Force Trump To Keep Troops In Africa
The legislation from Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., raises constitutional concerns but might still be a useful messaging tool for lawmakers.
Policy
The Biggest Change In a Sanders Administration Might Be a New Definition For ‘Hostilities’
If Sanders sticks with his own precedent in the Senate, he could reshape American military engagement.
Ideas
The President Is Winning His War on American Institutions
How Trump is destroying the civil service and bending the government to his will.
Policy
A New Nuclear Warhead? STRATCOM Chief Can’t Answer Yes or No
The W93 has been the focus of questions since it appeared in the 2021 budget proposal.
Policy
Lawmakers Fire Back at Trump’s Plan to Divert Military Funds to Border Wall
But the bipartisan team of Smith and Thornberry have attracted few other GOPers to the effort.
Ideas
Top 5 Things to Watch in Congress' 2021 Defense Budget Hearings
On Wednesday, military and civilian leaders of the Defense Department will testify before Congress on their $705 billion budget request for 2021.
Threats
NATO Has ‘Growing Realization’ About Risks of Using Huawei Gear, Top General Says
But USAF’s Wolters offered no evidence that U.S. officials are persuading allies to shun Chinese 5G networking products.
Policy