OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Military pay bill thrown in shutdown mix

Two lawmakers, Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Jerry Moran
(R-Kan.), on Wednesday introduced
a bill that would allow members of the military to continue receiving
paychecks in the event of a shutdown.

A similar tactic was attempted in the days before a shutdown
nearly occurred in 2011, but it did not come close to getting signed into law.

Part of the problem is that military pay is one of the most
obvious signs that a shutdown is having a harmful impact.

{mosads}“One side or the other might not want to pass it because it
takes away leverage,” said Todd Harrison, a budget analyst at the Center for
Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “If you make it less bad, it makes the
odds of a shutdown greater.”

Harrison and congressional aides said that military pay also
is unlikely to be disrupted in the event of a short government shutdown.

Members of the military will receive their checks on Oct. 1,
they said, and would still be able to receive the next scheduled paycheck on
Oct. 15 if a shutdown only lasts a few days.

Cruz, who held the Senate floor for nearly 22 hours to
protest ObamaCare, suggested last week that the House could pass a
military-only funding bill as a response to the Senate.

GOP House leaders on Wednesday were mulling several
different actions to take after the Senate passes a clean CR and sends it to
the lower chamber, as expected.

DOD mulls cutting
contractors from clearance process: The Defense Department is weighing
whether to stop
using private contractors for background checks in the aftermath of the
Navy Yard shootings. 

“I think that is something we need to look at,”
Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday. 

Former Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Aaron Alexis shot and
killed 12 people during a shooting spree at the Navy headquarters in Southeast
Washington, D.C., on Sept. 16 before being killed by law enforcement.

Alexis, who was honorably discharged from the Navy, gained
access to the facility due to his status as a civilian contractor.

“Bottom line, we need to know how … warning flags
were missed, ignored or not addressed in a timely manner,” Carter told
reporters at the Pentagon. 

Earlier this month, a Defense Department official told reporters
that Alexis was not subjected to a reinvestigation for his security clearance
after being hired for the IT job at the Navy Yard. 

Reinvestigations for security clearances could be triggered
when a former military member is transitioning into contractor or civilian
service, according to Pentagon officials. But that only occurs if the time
between retirement and re-entry is more than two years and if “derogatory
information” is uncovered, officials say.

Concerns over how Alexis and other civilian workers receive
security clearances reached a fever pitch on Capitol Hill in the aftermath of
the Navy Yard massacre. 

“It may be time for a [congressional] review to see how
well these contractors are doing their jobs” in terms of vetting
candidates for sensitive national security positions, Sen. Jeff Sessions
(R-Ala.) told reporters a day after the shootings. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), head of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said last Wednesday the panel planned to hold hearings
on the security clearance process.  

Syrian rebels kill
top al Qaeda leader: A top commander with al Qaeda’s Iraq faction was
killed on Wednesday as clashes between Syrian rebels and Islamic
extremists in the country continued to erupt along the Iraqi-Syrian
border. 

Abu Abdullah al-Libi was killed when al Qaeda fighters
engaged with anti-government forces in the northwestern Syrian border town of
Idlib, according to al
Alarabyia.

Officials from the Free Syrian Army, the largest and most
organized rebel faction fighting in Syria, denied responsibility for al-Libi’s
death. 

Sporadic firefights have begun to erupt along Syria’s border
with Iraq and Turkey, as rebel forces in the country are beginning to purge
Islamic militant elements from their ranks. 

Gunmen from the al Qaeda-linked group Jabhat al-Nusra
exchanged fire last week with Kurdish fighters from the Democratic Union Party, a
militant separatist group based in Turkey, according to
reports. 

Members from al Qaeda in Iraq and Jabhat al-Nusra, an
extremist group tied to the terrorist organization, have taken a leading role
in the rebels’ fight to oust embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad. 

However, rebel forces have begun to battle back against the
terror group’s influence among rebel forces, accusing the groups of co-opting
the fight to overthrow Assad into an effort to expand al Qaeda’s reach into
Syria. 

House Armed Services holding
classified readiness briefing: Two Pentagon officials will provide a classified
briefing on military readiness to the House Armed Services Committee on
Thursday, according to a committee aide.

The committee will receive testimony in the closed briefing from
Laura Junor, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Readiness, and Brig. Gen. Martin
Schweitzer, deputy director of regional operations from the Joint Staff.

Last week, the four military service chiefs testified before
the panel on the impact of sequestration, warning that it was destroying
military readiness. 

The service chiefs have also been scheduled to testify next
week before the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

In Case You Missed
It:

— Kerry signs
UN Arms Treaty

— Senators unveil NSA reform bill

— Scalia predicts
court will decide NSA spying

— FBI releases video
of Navy Yard gunman

— Holder: No confirmation
Americans part of Kenya attack

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