Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) has said he would support the nomination of James Mattis, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, as secretary of the Defense Department through a congressional waiver, the Christian Science Monitor reported Tuesday.

Anna Mulrine Grobe writes Congress would need to pass a waiver in order for Mattis, who has not been on active duty for less than seven years, to assume the civilian post at DoD.

“What may tip the balance for me is if the president-elect populates even more positions with former military,” said Schiff, a ranking minority member on the House Intelligence Committee.

“I think if he starts making these other nominations other than Mattis, it’s going to place the Mattis waiver in jeopardy, at least as far as the Democrats are concerned,” he added, according to the report.

President-elect Donald Trump announced his plan to appoint Mattis as DoD secretary during a post-election rally Thursday in Cincinnati.

Defense Secretary Ash has said the U.S. military will look to give back some land in Okinawa to Japan’s government government within the end of the year, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Idrees Ali writes that a senior U.S. defense official said approximately 4,000 hectares of land in Northern Okinawa is planned to be returned to Japan during a formal ceremony slated for Dec. 21 and 22.

“It will be a positive development for the alliance, demonstrating the commitment of both governments to the realignment of U.S. forces,” a defense official told Reuters.

The report noted that Carter went to Japan to address potential anxieties brought by the win of president-elect Donald Trump who has recently announced plans to ask for more money from allies to sustain U.S. forces.

The Defense Department has postponed its decision on a potential location in the East Coast for a $3.6 billion missile interceptor base as the Missile Defense Agency works to finalize a two-year study of three potential sites for the project, Syracuse.com reported Monday.

Mark Weiner writes MDA considers Fort Drum in New York, Fort Custer Training Center in Michigan and Camp Ravenna Joint Training Center in Ohio as candidate sites for the third land-based missile interceptor base.

DoD was originally set to announce its decision in December, Weiner reports.

“MDA requires additional time to complete the study and coordinate with the combatant commanders,” Chris Johnson, a spokesman for MDA, said in an email released Monday.

“The final [environmental impact statement] and proposed alternative will be released once we complete a thorough review,” he added, according to the report.

The U.S. Army plans to integrate electronic warfare and cyber warfare into one career field as well as test new doctrine.

The service branch said Friday Army officials aim to produce a cyber electromagnetic activities operational detachment that is ready to train for warfare within two years.

“We’re going to look at an operational capability that we’re going to deploy to a theater to practice what we preach,” said Brig. Gen. Patricia Frost, cyber director at the Army’s G-3/5/7.

Frost added the electronic warfare 29-series career field will fall under the cyber operations 17-series career field by October 2018 but new electronic warfare operators will start training on a foundation that includes cyber and signals intelligence before then.

The director noted the Army focuses on efforts to train and establish the cyber force before sourcing equipment in order to understand all functions across the joint warfighting force.

A shared defense approach could support the services and allies in multi-domain battle operations, the Army said.

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work has said Defense Department planners have started to develop a budget plan for fiscal year 2018 that aims to increase funds for military weapons and prototyping efforts of DoD’s strategic capabilities office, Defense News reported Monday.

Work told reporters that President-elect Donald Trump’s team would finalize the proposed FY 2018 budget, Aaron Mehta writes.

“We took a careful look at all the different inventory objectives and tried to improve by expanding munition procurements as much as we can,” Work said.

“I can’t get into specifics, because it’s the PB18 budget and that is nothing more than a recommendation to the incoming administration,” he added.

Work also commended how SCO chief William Roper works to understand technology requirements through collaboration with service and combatant command chiefs, Mehta reports.

The Pentagon’s SCO has funded 26 prototyping programs and is expected to get $907 million in funds under the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the report added.