Tag Archives: Pentagon

CNN reports: President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team on Wednesday disputed suggestions from Pentagon officials who questioned the accuracy of Biden’s assertion a day earlier that the Department of Defense has refused to brief his team on the massive cyberattack on government agencies and major American technology and accounting companies. “As the President-elect noted yesterday, the Department of Defense has continued …

Stars And Stripes reports: Troops serving in Space Force are now referred to as Guardians, Vice President Mike Pence announced Friday. “It is my honor on behalf of the president to announce henceforth the men and women of the United States Space Force will be known as Guardians,” Pence said during a ceremony to celebrate Space Force’s first birthday, which …

Politico reports: The tension between the Trump administration and President-elect Joe Biden’s team spilled out into the open on Friday, as officials traded accusations over the status of a series of Defense Department transition meetings that a Biden spokesperson called “invaluable” for national security. Biden spokesperson Yohannes Abraham directly contradicted acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller’s claims that the two teams …

The New York Times reports: The scope of a hack engineered by one of Russia’s premier intelligence agencies became clearer on Monday, when some Trump administration officials acknowledged that other federal agencies — the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and parts of the Pentagon — had been compromised. Investigators were struggling to determine the extent to which the …

Just in via press release from the Pentagon: Today, the Department of Defense announced that it intends to appoint Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, Ambassador Thomas Carter, Dr. Edward Luttwak, Mr. Scott O’Grady, Mr. Thomas Stewart, the Honorable Randy Forbes, Senator Robert Smith and Ambassador Charles Glazer to the Defense Policy Board. “Today, I’m proud …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday repeated his threat to veto a massive defense spending bill, setting the stage for a major battle with U.S. lawmakers at a time when they are racing to hammer out a compromise on more coronavirus relief. Passage by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate on Friday sent the measure to Trump, giving him 10 …

Politico reports: Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, once viewed as a long-shot candidate to be President-elect Joe Biden’s defense secretary, has been chosen to lead the Pentagon, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. The decision comes two weeks after Biden announced the other senior members of his national security team. In recent days, Austin, the former commander of …

CNN reports: The Trump administration prevented President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team from meeting with its counterparts at Pentagon intelligence agencies this week, according to a former senior intelligence official familiar with intelligence transition discussions. The slowdown means the Biden team has not yet been able to meet with officials from the military intelligence agencies within the Defense Department — including …

Boing Boing reports: Donald Trump and his administration have effectively enacted a purge in the Defense Department, in the last 45 days of his term. On Friday, the Pentagon announced that two of Trump’s longtime loyalists, Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, have been appointed to the department’s Defense Business Board. Neither Lewandowski nor Bossie have any Defense experience. Or business …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s nominee to become a senior Pentagon official spread debunked conspiracies on Twitter that called Trump’s election loss to Joe Biden a “coup” attempt and shared tweets that suggest Trump should declare martial law. Scott O’Grady, a former fighter pilot and Trump loyalist, repeatedly retweeted tweets that falsely stated Trump won the election in “landslide fashion” …

Via press release from the Defense Department: The Department has received notice that pursuant to the Presidential Transition Act, the GSA Administrator is making certain post-election resources and services available to the Biden-Harris Transition Team. This evening, DOD has been contacted by the Biden-Harris team and their designated lead for the DOD Agency Review Team and, based on the ascertainment …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump is threatening to veto legislation to fund the military as one of his final acts in office unless a widely supported, bipartisan provision to rename military bases honoring Confederate military leaders is removed, according to White House, defense and congressional sources. Since the Nov. 3 election, Trump has privately told Republican lawmakers that he …

CNBC reports: Acting Pentagon chief Christopher Miller said Tuesday that the United States will reduce its military presence in Afghanistan to 2,500 troops and 2,500 troops in Iraq by Jan. 15. The United States has approximately 4,500 troops currently in Afghanistan and more than 3,000 in Iraq. Last week, Miller ascended to the Pentagon’s acting Secretary of Defense role after …

Politico reports: The Pentagon’s acting policy chief resigned on Tuesday after falling out of favor with the White House, raising fears of a post-election purge at the Defense Department. The departure of James Anderson, the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, potentially paves the way for Anthony Tata, President Donald Trump’s controversial nominee for the top policy job who was …

CNBC reports: In a tweet Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump said he terminated his Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. “I am pleased to announce that Christopher C. Miller, the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by the Senate), will be Acting Secretary of Defense, effective immediately,” Trump wrote. The latest revelation comes as Trump refuses to …

NBC News reports: Defense Secretary Mark Esper has prepared a letter of resignation, according to three current defense officials. It’s not uncommon for Cabinet secretaries to prepare undated letters of resignation during a presidential transition, giving the commander in chief the chance to replace them for a second term. The president decides whether to accept the resignation letters, and the …

Axios reports: White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is leaning on the Pentagon to move ahead with a plan to stand up a 5G wireless network, sources tell Axios, and the idea, despite opposition from key government and private-sector players, could well outlive the Trump administration. The Department of Defense could lease out capacity to wireless carriers and other …

And nothing will be done about it: President Trump’s reelection campaign is using the Pentagon’s senior civilian and uniformed officials in a new online advertisement, in violation of standing Pentagon policy. The ad, which appeared as recently as Monday and targets possible mail-in voters, features a photo of Trump with Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman …

The Texas Tribune reports: A federal appeals court ruled late Friday that President Donald Trump’s use of his emergency powers to build his long-promised border wall with military funds is illegal, striking a blow to one of his signature campaign promises just weeks before the November election. The 2-1 decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes as …

The Associated Press reports: The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and other top military leaders are under quarantine after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for the coronavirus, two U.S. officials said. Gen. Mark Milley and the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force have tested negative for the virus, but remain under quarantine as a …