ABOUT:
Defense policy analysis, commentary and discussion.Megan Scully covers defense and national security for CQ. With over a decade of experience as a defense reporter, Megan joined CQ Roll Call in October 2012 after six years at National Journal. She previously worked for Defense News and Inside the Army. Megan cut her teeth in congressional reporting at States News Service, where she covered Washington for several local papers around the country.
A Philadelphia native, Megan is a graduate of American University's School of Communications. She lives in Washington's Takoma neighborhood with her husband and son.
û
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the military’s top officer, is up for confirmation for another two-year term at an awkward time for the Obama administration, as it wrestles with its response to unrest abroad and steep cuts to defense spending at home.
Senate Armed Services Committee members will likely use Thursday’s hearing with Gen. Martin E. Dempsey to flesh out more detail on the fiscal sacrifices the military will make if budget caps remain in place into fiscal 2014.
The Pentagon has vowed to preserve the famed nuclear triad despite President Barack Obama’s goal to cut strategic nuclear weapons by as much as a third, avoiding — at least for now — a heated political debate over the future of the nation’s land-, sea- and air-based delivery systems.
In a twist of bad timing, the nation’s venerable triad of nuclear-capable bombers, ballistic missile submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles all have retirement in sight, just as the Pentagon’s budget takes a sharp downward turn.
Rep. Adam Smith said his baseball career ended as a kid because he was too hard on himself — a condition the Washington Democrat chalked up to the mental issues of a child who simply took the game too seriously.
Pressure is building on Capitol Hill to make sweeping policy changes to deal head-on with the military’s epidemic of sexual assaults, but Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin may prove to be a moderating force as his panel considers a range of proposals aimed at reversing the trend on these crimes.
At last count, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he had reviewed 10 separate bills addressing the problem of sexual assault in the military’s ranks. Here is a rundown of some of the legislation lawmakers are pushing on Capitol Hill:
Lawmakers last year gave the military the benefit of the doubt that its leaders were working hard to stop the epidemic of sexual assault within their ranks, opting for a package of modest changes over far more controversial proposals that had drawn staunch opposition from the Pentagon.
Lawmakers from both parties on Thursday expressed optimism that they could work with the White House on a number of legislative proposals aimed at getting the military’s growing epidemic of sexual assault under control.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., on Tuesday questioned the Pentagon’s decision to postpone an upcoming intercontinental ballistic missile test amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, where Pyongyang warned that war is likely and urged foreigners in South Korea to evacuate.
The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that NATO forces are preparing contingency plans for operations in Syria if called upon to do so by the United Nations.
A military commander’s authority to overturn the decision of a court martial dates back to the Continental Army. But the Pentagon’s top lawyer on Wednesday acknowledged that there is “something that seems odd” about such arbitrary power in the wake of an Air Force general’s decision to overturn a jury’s guilty verdict against a pilot accused of sexual assault.
Flexibility. That’s what the military says it needs to better manage the budgetary havoc it’s facing amid steep and sudden reductions to its accounts, but that’s precisely what it doesn’t have.
The Air Force’s long-stalled effort to replace its fleet of Eisenhower-era aerial refueling tankers has become a poster child for the disruption caused by funding the Defense Department through a yearlong continuing resolution while the Pentagon sheds $46 billion in across-the-board sequester cuts at the same time.
The Senate is expected this week to confirm Chuck Hagel to be the next Pentagon chief, but the weekslong partisan battle over the former Republican senator from Nebraska has provided a taste of some of the biggest national security fights that lie ahead.
Defense Department officials notified Congress Friday that ground and flight operations for the entire F-35 fighter jet fleet, comprising all three variants of the plane, are being halted indefinitely.
Amid accusations of a GOP filibuster, Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a vote on the nomination of Chuck Hagel to be Defense secretary Thursday, but senators appeared poised to clear the nomination after the Presidents Day recess, barring any unexpected revelations.
Sen. Lindsey Graham signaled Thursday that he plans to use John O. Brennan’s nomination for CIA chief as leverage to demand more answers from the White House on last year’s lethal attack at a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya.
The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday said he expects the panel to return to its bipartisan roots once Chuck Hagel’s nomination moves through the Senate.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine on Wednesday announced that she would oppose Chuck Hagel’s confirmation to be the next Defense secretary but would not support a filibuster of the nominee.
The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday said his opposition to Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be the next Pentagon chief has only grown in recent days, and he vowed to work hard to defeat his confirmation.
Hawkish Republicans in the House and Senate on Wednesday responded to President Barack Obama’s call this week for a short-term plan to delay the sequester with their own proposal to avert, at least temporarily, the across-the-board cuts to defense and non-defense discretionary spending.
While Chuck Hagel may not have won over a majority of Republicans in the days following his lackluster appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee, there appears to be enough GOP opposition to an unprecedented filibuster of a Cabinet nominee to, if necessary, generate the 60 votes required for cloture.
Chuck Hagel’s halting and unconvincing appearance Jan. 31 before the Senate Armed Services Committee hardened Republican opposition to his confirmation, but his critics would likely have to mount an unprecedented, and very divisive, challenge to block him from becoming Defense secretary.
Chuck Hagel fielded heated questioning Thursday from Republicans regarding his record on Iran sanctions, Israel and nuclear weapons, but President Barack Obama’s pick to be the next Pentagon chief did not appear to suffer any fatal blows.
Want Roll Call on your doorstep?
SIGN UPAlready a subscriber?
Sign up to have the print PDF emailed to you.
Roll Call has launched a new feature, Hill Navigator, to advise congressional staffers and would-be staffers on how to manage workplace issues on Capitol Hill. Please send us your questions — anything from office etiquette, to handling awkward moments, to what happens when the work life gets too personal. Submissions will be treated anonymously.
