Chris Van Hollen

Democrats Rumble With GOP In Defense-Heavy Districts Over Automatic Pentagon Cuts

Brian Beutler | May 14, 2012, 1:44PM

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

A months-long fight in Congress over how to avoid automatic, across-the-board cuts to defense programs set to kick in next year is increasingly bleeding in to battleground districts home to significant numbers of military service members and contractors.

With the Jan. 1 deadline nearing, and the parties still at loggerheads over how to order national priorities within the budget, Republicans and Democrats are scrambling to avoid blame for the pending cuts, eager to finger members of the other party.

The GOP approach, which passed the House Thursday, would override the defense cuts with billions of dollars in cuts to food stamps and other social programs for the poor. A Democratic alternative would replace the automatic cuts with a mix of cuts to corporate subsidies and higher taxes on the wealthy, but the GOP denied that bill a vote on the House floor.

In the aftermath, a top Armed Services Committee Republican -- Rep. Randy Forbes -- is prepared to host a series of town hall meetings in defense-heavy Virginia to place the onus for replacing the cuts on Democrats. And a leading Maryland Democrat is hoping to spoil Forbes's effort to win the headline war.

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Paul Ryan

'I Really Misspoke': Ryan Apologizes For Comment On Generals' Integrity

Sahil Kapur | April 1, 2012, 10:43AM

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan admitted Sunday he "misspoke" when questioning the integrity of top generals on military spending needs, and said he has apologized to the Pentagon's top adviser to the president.

"I really misspoke," he said on CNN's State of the Union. "And I did not mean to impugn the integrity of the military in any way." Asked whether he has apologized to Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Ryan said, "Yeah, I called him and told him that."

"It was not the impression I meant to give," Ryan added on ABC's This Week. "I talked to General Dempsey on it, and expressed that sentiment."

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Barack Obama

Obama: "The Tide Of War Is Receding"

Susan Crabtree | October 21, 2011, 4:00PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama announced a full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year, a decision he said fulfills a campaign promise to bring the war to a responsible end.

"After taking office, I announced a new strategy that would end our combat mission in Iraq and remove all of our troops by 2011. As commander-in-chief, ensuring the success of this strategy is one of my highest national security priorities," he said Friday, addressing the White House press corps.

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Barack Obama

Obama Sends 100 Troops To Central Africa To Help Fight LRA

Susan Crabtree | October 14, 2011, 2:25PM

President Obama is sending a total of 100 troops into central Africa to help a resistance movement fight the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group known for committing atrocities across the continent.

The first troops left Wednesday and in the next month additional forces are set to deploy, including a second combat-equipped team, as well as communications and logistics personnel, Obama informed Congressional leaders in a letter sent Friday afternoon. The mission's goal is to remove LRA leader Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield, according to the letter.

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Defense Spending

Panetta Confirms Pentagon Considering Replacing Military Retirement With 401(k) Plan

Brian Beutler | August 16, 2011, 5:03PM

Leon Panetta

In a rare joint appearance with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the National Defense University Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta confirmed a CBS News report that the Pentagon is considering a dramatic plan to overhaul the military's once sacrosanct retirement plan.

According to CBS, the plan "would eliminate the familiar system under which anyone who serves 20 years is eligible for retirement at half their salary. Instead, they'd get a 401k-style plan with government contributions."

Panetta largely confirmed the report, with a key caveat.

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Veterans

Judge Allows Army Veteran To Sue Donald Rumsfeld

Megan Reback | August 4, 2011, 12:11PM

A federal judge is allowing a suit brought by a U.S. citizen against former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld to proceed. The accuser is a military veteran who claims he was imprisoned unjustly and tortured by the U.S. Army at Camp Cropper, a military facility near Baghdad. Camp Cropper is known for holding "high-value" detainees.

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Libya

What To Expect Today On House Votes On Libya

Susan Crabtree | June 24, 2011, 10:55AM

The House is set to vote today on a bill that would severely limit funding for U.S. military action in Libya, what would amount to a bipartisan rebuke of a sitting president's decision to authorize military strikes in the North African country without the approval of Congress. Votes are expected anytime from noon to late afternoon.

Republican leaders, who control the House floor, are allowing two key votes on the Libya today. The defunding measure is being offered by Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) and would cut off funds for airstrikes or any other combat but would allow the U.S. to serve in a supporting role to the now-NATO-led operation, which would include air refueling, intelligence and search-and-rescue operations.

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Afghanistan

Obama Announces Plans To Send 10,000 troops Home By Dec. 31

Susan Crabtree | June 22, 2011, 8:19PM

President Obama announced plans to send home 10,000 troops from Afghanistan and another 23,000 by end the September 2012 in a primetime TV and radio address Wednesday night.

In the 10-minute speech, Obama said he was fulfilling a promise he made at a speech at West Point in 2009 when he ordered a surge of 30,000 troops -- that the troops would begin coming home starting in July 2011.

"Tonight, I can tell you that we are fulfilling that commitment," he said.

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'Obama's Wars'

As Obama Mulls Afghan Drawdown, War Weariness Grows On Capitol Hill

Susan Crabtree | June 8, 2011, 3:44PM

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)

With President Obama's July deadline for withdrawing some troops in Afghanistan just weeks away, the future of the U.S. commitment to the nearly 10-year war has been a hot topic on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in recent weeks.

Concern over the nation's budget woes have taken center stage in Washington, and with few tangible signs of progress in Afghanistan, members of Congress are increasingly expressing deep skepticism about maintaining U.S. nation-building efforts there.

The most notable aspect of Wednesday's Senate Foreign Relations hearing on the nomination of Ryan Crocker to be ambassador to Afghanistan, was the absence of voices supporting an ongoing robust U.S. presence there.

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Allen West

Allen West: Military Needs More Money For Toilet Paper But It Doesn't Need More Gays

Ryan J. Reilly | May 31, 2011, 3:05PM

Rep. Allen West (R-FL)

At a time when politicians are looking to cut back the federal budget, the United States needs to expand the military's budget, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) said Tuesday. Otherwise, the Tea Party favorite warned, troops could run out of toilet paper.

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Debt Ceiling

Toomey, Top Republicans: Not Raising The Debt Ceiling? No Biggie!

Brian Beutler | May 18, 2011, 1:56PM

Top Republicans in Congress are advancing the idea that allowing the U.S. to default on its debts for a short time will be fairly harmless, and is a far better option than lifting the debt ceiling without simultaneous, dramatic spending cuts.

The new push comes just days after the country hit its statutory debt limit. In essence, the GOP is arming itself with a rationale to continue to oppose a debt ceiling hike, despite dire warning from economists, finance experts, and the Obama administration about the consequences of default.

At an event at the conservative American Enterprise Institute Wednesday morning, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) laid out the case. "This problem is so urgent that there is -- an alternative school of thought has emerged recently," Toomey said. "The most high-profile advocate for this was Stanley Druckenmiller ... one of the world's most successful hedge-fund managers, extraordinarily wealthy from his knowledge of the markets, a big money manager now, and a big holder of Treasury securities -- and he has said that he would actually accept even a delay in interest payments on the Treasuries that he holds. And he would prefer that if it meant that the Congress would right this ship."

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Pakistan

White House to Pakistan: 'No Apologies' for OBL Raid

Susan Crabtree | May 9, 2011, 3:10PM

White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Obama stands by his decision to order a covert assault-team raid to cross into a Pakistani city and kill Osama bin Laden without telling Pakistani officials.

"We obviously take statements and concerns of the Pakistani government very seriously," Carney told reporters at a briefing. "We also do not apologize for the actions that we took. [The President] said back in the [2008] campaign...if this is the only way we can do it, to do it unilaterally, he would take that chance and we did it. It is beyond a doubt in his mind, that he had the right and the imperative to do it."

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Osama Bin Laden

'Minutes Passed Like Days' As WH Watched Osama Bin Laden Operation Unfold

Susan Crabtree and Ryan J. Reilly | May 2, 2011, 2:25PM

[Late Update: The White House has backed off some of the details of John Brennan's account. More here.]

The President and his national security team spent Sunday afternoon and evening huddling in the West Wing of the White House filled with anxiety while they followed in real time the covert operations of an elite team of Navy Seals penetrating Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan and killing him with shots to the head.

"It was probably the most anxiety-filled periods of times," John Brennan, a chief counterterrorism adviser to President Obama, told reporters Monday in a White House briefing. "The minutes passed like days, and the President was very concerned about the security of our personnel."

TPM SLIDESHOW: Behind The Scenes As Operation Against Bin Laden Unfolded

"It was clearly very tense with a lot of people holding their breath," Brennan recalled, obviously still soaking in the full weight of the raid and the impact of bin Laden's death on the global war on terror. "There was a great degree of silence as we would get the updates. We were finally informed, and there was a tremendous sigh of relief -- that what we believed about the compound and who we believed was in the compound" were in fact true.

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Osama Bin Laden

WH Says Bombing Of OBL Compound Considered, But Never Authorized

Susan Crabtree | May 2, 2011, 9:55AM

President Barack Obama

More than a month before U.S. military forces launched a deadly raid on Osama bin Laden's compound Sunday, President Obama ordered the development of multiple military plans aimed at killing or capturing the notorious fugitive leader of al Qaeda.

Obama's national security team began drawing up several different options back in March, including plans to bomb the Abbottabad compound located 35 miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, according to administration officials.

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Osama Bin Laden

U.S. Authorities Homed In On Osama For Last Nine Months

Susan Crabtree and Ryan J. Reilly | May 2, 2011, 12:02AM

Osama bin Laden

It was the best kept and most closely guarded secret for the last nine months: a select handful of U.S. national security and administration officials tracked a high-value courier for Osama bin Laden to a dusty dirt road leading to a compound 35 miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital.

After months of intelligence gathering and meetings at the highest levels of the U.S. government, a small team of Navy Seals Sunday raided the compound, engaged in a firefight and ultimately killed bin Laden, the notorious leader of al Qaeda who had evaded capture and death since masterminding the 9/11 attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.

TPM SLIDESHOW: Osama Bin Laden: 9/11 Mastermind, Longtime U.S. Enemy Killed In Pakistan

The CIA pinpointed the compound in August and first informed President Obama about the intelligence in September of last year. As evidence mounted in mid-February that bin Laden and his family were living in the compound, the President and the National Security Council began holding a series of "intensive" meetings about a covert military strike aimed at killing him, according to administration officials.

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'Obama's Wars'

McCain, Graham Lead Effort to Strip Holder of Detainee Authority

Susan Crabtree | March 10, 2011, 3:47PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Six senators, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), are pushing for sweeping changes to the nation's laws governing detainees and the war on terror, including one that would strip Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department as a whole of the power to make decisions about where to try suspected terrorists.

The group of senators, which includes Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Scott Brown (R-MA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), are working with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee on a bill that would usher in comprehensive detainee policy changes and would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detains at its discretion without the involvement of the Department of Justice or Holder.

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Senate Armed Services Committee

Counterfeit Electronic Parts Ending Up In DoD Weapons Systems

Susan Crabtree | March 9, 2011, 5:59PM

Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ)

Faulty counterfeit electronic parts are ending up in the Defense Department's weapons systems, and the problem poses a critical risk to national security, according to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), who chairs the panel, and John McCain (R-AZ), its ranking member, on Wednesday called the presence of counterfeit electronic parts in the DoD supply chain a "growing problem" and announced an investigation into just how they are ending up there.

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Military

Lockheed Wins $218 Million Contracts For New Anti-Ship Missiles

Ruth Schneider | January 25, 2011, 8:46AM

Lockheed Martin announced Friday that it won two contracts worth $218 million to continue work on long-range anti-ship missiles for the Navy. The missiles could boost the Navy's range and deadliness in combat.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Quinnipiac Poll: 58% Of Americans Support Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Marc Kilstein | November 18, 2010, 10:35AM

Lt. Dan Choi at a protest against Don't Ask, Don't Tell

On the heels of an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll suggesting an increase in support for gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, a new Quinnipiac poll finds 58% of respondents favoring a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

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Veterans

Melancon Wins Endorsement From Veterans of Foreign Wars PAC

Brian Beutler | October 13, 2010, 1:43PM

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA)

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW PAC) has endorsed Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) in his bid to unseat Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).

"This endorsement is based on your strong support for veterans, national security and defense, and military personnel issues," the endorsement letter reads.

The PAC has been rebuked in recent days by its parent organization for endorsing liberal candidates including Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL).

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Pledge to America

Schools, Cops, And Health Care: What The 'Pledge To America' Would Actually Cut

Brian Beutler | October 7, 2010, 10:15AM

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

"With common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans, and our troops, we will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving us at least $100 billion in the first year alone and putting us on a path to balance the budget and pay down the debt."

So reads the House Republicans' "Pledge to America" -- a supposedly deficit-reducing plan that calls for trillions of dollars' worth of specific tax cuts, but only $100 billion of non-specific spending cuts to offset that cost.

Still, $100 billion pays for a lot of things. Bloomberg took a close look at just what would take a hit under the Republican plan -- adding specificity where the Republicans offered none. Here are the top five issues that would suffer under the Pledge to America.

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Barack Obama

Obama: 'The American Combat Mission In Iraq Has Ended'

David Kurtz | August 31, 2010, 8:02PM

President Barack Obama

The White House provided a copy of the text of President Barack Obama's August 31, 2010, Oval Office address on Iraq, as prepared for delivery:

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Barney Frank

Frank, Paul Plan To Reduce The Deficit Through Military Spending Cuts

Brian Beutler | August 17, 2010, 2:53PM

Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX)

Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX) are enlisting members of Congress to press President Obama's Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to propose "significant cuts to the military budget."

Frank and Paul are seeking signatories to a letter to the fiscal commission, highlighting one trillion dollars in savings they can be achieved, through cuts and efficiencies, in the next 10 years.

"[W]e write to urge in the strongest terms that any final Commission report include among its recommendations substantial reductions in projected levels of future spending by the Department of Defense," the letter reads.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

You've Got Mail: Pentagon Surveys Troops On Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Christina Bellantoni | July 9, 2010, 8:30AM

A US Army solider

More than 400,000 members of the military this week received email surveys about Don't Ask, Don't Tell that contained 100 questions ranging from how troops would handle group showers to how knowing your fellow serviceman was gay would affect morale -- as though troops weren't already serving (and, yes, showering with) gay men and lesbian service members.

But like so many of the twists and turns in the Don't Ask, Don't Tell saga, the surveys have been met with frustration from the LGBT community and the Pentagon is trying to defend its system as critical to the review process for repealing the Clinton-era policy.

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Robert Gates

Gates On Tighter Media Access Rules For Military: It's Not You, It's Us

Eric Lach | July 8, 2010, 3:29PM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

At a press conference announcing his recommendation of Gen. Jim Mattis to lead U.S. Central Command today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates addressed the memo he recently issued regarding the military's interactions with the media.

The memo, issued last Friday, requires top level military personnel to notify the public affairs office before interviews "with possible national or international implications." It was issued in the wake of a Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, in which the general and his aides publicly trashed members of the Obama administration. McChrystal has since been relieved of his command.

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Elena Kagan

Jeff Sessions Uses Camera Time To Call Elena Kagan A Liar

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 29, 2010, 3:57PM

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) spent the second morning of Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination hearing showcasing all the ways a person can call someone else a liar without actually saying the word. It was a tour de force in Washington-speak, but it also showed Sessions' -- the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee -- Wilsonian plan of attack when it comes to Kagan: she lies.

Sessions' claims center around Kagan's time as Dean of Harvard law school and the access military recruiters had on campus during part of her time there. Republicans allege that Kagan denied those recruiters any access to the law school campus or her students. Kagan has said -- and said again today -- that she was balancing Harvard's strict anti-discrimination policy and the law regarding recruiting access as it was understood at the time.

Session's response, essentially? You're a liar.

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Military service

From The Archives: Issa Snared In '98 In His Own Military Exaggeration

Christina Bellantoni | June 2, 2010, 4:09PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

As several politicians have been snared thanks to fibbing about their military records, TPM took a trip down memory lane exploring others who exaggerated service. It turns out that 12 years ago when Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was running for Senate, the San Francisco Examiner uncovered that his Army record was in doubt.

The Examiner published in May 1998 a devastating article detailing the conflicts between Issa's public statements and public records. A focus in the story was Issa's claim he protected then-President Richard Nixon as part of an "elite Army bomb unit" at the World Series in 1971. But it turns out Nixon didn't even attend the games.

The Examiner scoured military records and concluded that Issa's service on the squad "was marred by a bad conduct rating, a demotion and allegations that he had stolen a fellow soldier's car." It cited his 1998 campaign biography saying he served in the Army nine years, even though records showed he served just over five years. He was enlisted from 1970-1972 and was in a college Army ROTC program from 1972 through 1976, the Examiner reported. It also noted that an Issa press release said he was "detailed to the Army security team" which traveled with Nixon, and quoted from a 1990 San Diego Union story that said Issa "was on a bomb disposal unit for President Nixon and got to see the 1971 World Series because Nixon wanted to go and the stadiums had to be secured."

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Polls

Poll: Americans Want DADT Repealed, Split On How To Treat Gays In The Military

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 10, 2010, 12:22PM

Admiral Mike Mullen

As Washington debates the future of Don't Ask Don't Tell, a new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans have already made up their minds about the policy -- and they want it gone.

Quinnipiac University polled more than 2,500 Americans about the military's rules regarding gays serving openly and found that 66% called DADT "discrimination." Fifty-seven percent say that homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly.

Inside the numbers though, is evidence that the issue of gays in the military is still very divisive for some groups, giving cover to the politicians who are fighting changes to DADT in Washington.

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Barack Obama

Obama Awards Two Purple Hearts To Soldiers During Walter Reed Visit

Christina Bellantoni | November 6, 2009, 6:24PM

President Obama pays his respects to fallen American soldiers.

President Obama spent nearly two hours this afternoon meeting privately with soldiers and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

While there, he awarded two Purple Hearts, the White House said.

No press was allowed to witness the visit, but an administration staffer told the pool which accompanies the president when he leaves the White House that Obama "visited with 19 soldiers, three families of soldiers in the ICU, as well as hospital staff."