Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, said the agency will take longer to recover from the shutdown upon reopening, Space News reported Tuesday. During a broadcast meeting, he said the newly reopened agency’s expected recovery time will exceed the shutdown’s 35-day duration.

The administrator stated that the agency began focusing on providing civil employees with back pay after the shutdown’s temporary conclusion on Jan. 25. However, the agency may not guarantee back pay for contractual employees who face varying work arrangements, Bridenstine noted. “Every contract is different, and so we’re working through that right now,” he said.

The space agency, along with other affected agencies, are receiving funds through Feb. 15, while the Congress works to address the situation.

The U.S. intelligence community issued a new report warning the government of a strengthening alliance between Russia and China and the negative impacts on U.S. allies of previous policy changes by the Trump administration, CBS News reported Tuesday.

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During a recent meeting with the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, top intelligence officials presented the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment. The document warns that China and Russia appear more aligned than their relationship in mid-1950s and the two countries may strengthen their ties in the coming year. The IC report also states that some U.S. allies and partners are seeking independence due to recent changes to U.S. policies on security and trade.

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National security threats may also increase as adversaries continue utilizing technological advances, with future U.S. elections still at risk of disruption. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats warned that despite a deal with President Trump, North Korea might retain its nuclear capabilities. CIA Director Gina Haspel said the Islamic State group also remains “dangerous” as it still holds “thousands” of fighters in Iraq and Syria.

House and Senate lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that would require President Trump to seek congressional approval before launching a nuclear first strike. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif, unveiled the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2019 during a recent press conference with nuclear arms control leaders, Markey’s office said Tuesday.

Lieu said the legislation would give Congress “the constitutional duty to decide when a nuclear first strike is warranted.” The move comes as a result of President Trump’s “unpredictable and rash” actions, he noted. “As we’re now coming to realize, we could be one tweet that insults the president away from catastrophe,” Lieu said. Markey described any U.S. president’s power to launch a first strike as “immoral” and “disproportionate.”

Advocates and organizations have expressed support for the Markey-Lieu bill, including the Union of Concerned Scientists Washington, the Arms Control Association and the Federation of American Scientists. 

The National Nuclear Security Administration has confirmed that the Department of Energy commenced production of the W76-2 nuclear weapon at NNSA’s Pantex Plant in the Texas Panhandle, NPR reported Monday.

Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, said the W76-2 is a variant of the U.S. Navy’s submarine launched W76-1 weapon which has a yield of nearly 100 kilotons. Kristensen said the W76-2 will be smaller than its predecessor and have a potential yield of five to seven kilotons.

The Trump administration released the Nuclear Posture Review detailing plans to develop smaller nuclear weapons launched from a submarine. The report claims Russia has developed its own small nuclear weapons that could give the nation a warfighting advantage. The NNSA noted that the first W76-2 production unit is underway ahead of a limited delivery to the Navy in October.

The U.S. Strategic Command has finished 86 percent of the “missionization” phase for the unit’s new $1.3B headquarters at Offut Air Force Base near Omaha and Nebraska, the Omaha World-Herald reported Tuesday.

The second phase involves installing communications and electronics systems in the 916,000-square foot complex to support STRATCOM missions such as missile defense, electronic warfare, space operations and nuclear activities. The command broke ground with the facility in 2012 and was originally slated to open on Sept. 11, 2016. Repair work and natural disturbances such as flooding, fires and a tornado have resulted in the project being over budget by $53M and delayed for two years. 

Vice Adm. David Kriete, deputy commander of STRATCOM, said he expects to transfer the first batch of the command’s over 3,500 military and civilian personnel to the facility in early spring. He said that he plans to move the rest of the staff by the end of 2019.

Mark Esper, Secretary of the U.S. Army, said in an interview the service branch wants to allocate significant funding into science and technology efforts to reach its readiness goals by fiscal year 2022, Defense News reported Tuesday.

He noted that the Army is making progress with 31 programs under the established Futures Command in line with the service’s modernization strategy developed in 2018. He added that one of the Army’s challenges includes developing a network using commercial software that is mobile and reliable.

In terms of funding, Esper said he’s “hopeful and optimistic” that Congress will earmark funding for technological reforms given the bipartisan support the Army has been receiving for its modernization efforts. He also wants to focus on talent management and strengthening industry partnerships during his tenure.

President Trump is expected to sign a draft space policy directive in the coming weeks to establish the Space Force within the Department of the Air Force as the sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces, SpaceNews reported Monday. The Department of Defense noted the new service would only operate temporarily under the same department with the Air Force.

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The space policy directive states the Space Force will have its own four-star chief of staff, a civilian undersecretary of space and run as its own department in the future. After DoD establishes the Space Force, the directive requires the secretary of defense to conduct a “periodic review” and recommend a timeline to move the new service into a “Department of the Space Force.”

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“This department will take over some or all responsibilities for the U.S. Space Force from the Department of the Air Force,” the document states.

Officials said the Pentagon’s recommendation to put the Space Force under the Department of the Air Force comes as many members of Congress warned that creating a new military department would be costly.

The U.S. Navy is forming an experimental squadron to inform approaches to utilize new combatant ships including unmanned surface vehicles and guided missile destroyers, USNI News reported Monday.

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Vice Adm. Rich Brown said during the Surface Navy Association’s recent symposium that the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center would fill a critical role.

“They are cultivating the culture of experimentation, tactics and procedures that the surface navy needs in an era of great power competition,” said Brown who commands Naval Surface Forces and Naval Surface Force Pacific.

In 2015, the Navy opened the San Diego, Calif.-based center to provide the surface fleet with new tactics. Brown added that his proposed surface development squadron would support the effort if approved.

Cmdr. Patrick Evans, who serves as Brown’s spokesman, told USNI News that the vice admiral’s proposal has yet to be reviewed and receive approval from the U.S. Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Pacific Fleet.