Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking member of the Senate panel, have announced the leaders and members of seven SASC subcommittees for the 117th Congress. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., will chair the 12-member subcommittee on airland responsible for Army and Air Force planning and operations policy and programs.
Read More »Sen. Jack Reed Poised to Lead Senate Armed Services Committee
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., will assume leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee once U.S. senators hammer out a power-sharing arrangement between the Democratic and Republican members of an evenly divided Senate. Reed will succeed Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and lead hearings the panel will hold to gather information about President Joe Biden's nominees for Department of Defense leadership positions.
Read More »Senators to Call on FCC to Reconsider Decision Over Ligado Application
A group of 30 senators will urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) through a letter to reverse its approval of Ligado’s application to use the L-band spectrum to field a mobile broadband network to provide 5G services, C4ISRNET reported Thursday.
Read More »Four Lawmakers Express Opposition to FCC Approval of Ligado’s Application
The chairmen and ranking members of House and Senate Armed Services Committees have asked the Federal Communications Commission to retract its approval of Ligado Networks’ application saying the company’s proposal poses a threat to the country’s GPS capabilities, economy and national security.
Read More »Senate, House Panel Chairmen Aim to Meet Deadline for FY 2021 NDAA Markup
The chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees still hope to meet the deadline for the markup of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic, Defense News reported Tuesday.
Read More »Senate Armed Services Committee to Expedite David Norquist Nomination Hearing
Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., have announced the Senate Armed Services Committee's intention to conduct an early nomination hearing for David Norquist, a 2019 Wash100 Award recipient and President Trump's pick for deputy secretary of defense. SASC said Thursday that it will host the nomination hearing on Wednesday, July 24 to provide advice and consent.
Read More »Senate Armed Services Committee OKs Space Force Proposal
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the Trump administration's proposal to establish a Space Force as part of the panel's fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Hill reported Thursday. The $750 billion NDAA earmarks $72.4 million to establish the new military branch to operate under the U.S. Air Force and mandates the appointment of a Space Force commander.
Read More »James Mattis, Lawmakers Discuss Planned $33B Defense Budget Cut With Trump
President Donald Trump has met with Defense Secretary James Mattis and chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to discuss the administration’s plan to implement a $33B cut to the Pentagon’s fiscal 2020 budget, Defense News reported Tuesday. “I had a frank and productive conversation about our national security goals with the president," Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), SASC chairman, said in a statement.
Sen. Jim Inhofe, Rep. Mac Thornberry Urge White House to Back $733B DoD Budget for Fiscal 2020
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) have called on the Trump administration to back away from the plan to impose a $33B cut to the Defense Department’s budget for fiscal 2020. Inhofe and Thornberry, chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, wrote in a Wall Street Journal commentary piece posted Thursday that such a move would force DoD to enforce cuts in “areas where most money can be saved quickly—troops, new equipment, training and maintenance—as it did under sequestration in 2013.”
Patrick Shanahan: DoD Rescinds Contractor Payment Proposal
The Defense Department has decided to withdraw its proposed rule to regulate payments to contractors based on performance, Defense News reported Monday. “Recently, proposed amendments to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) were prematurely released, absent full coordination,” Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan wrote in a statement obtained by the publication.
Read More »