OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Grounded Air Force planes get airborne

by Jeremy Herb - 07/15/13 10:24 PM ET

Defense hawks praised the Air Force’s decision to restore
the training hours, while pointing to the news as yet another example of why
sequestration should have been averted in 2013 and needs to be reversed in
2014.

“I commend the Air Force for working creatively to keep our
pilots in the skies, if only temporarily, but this decision is a band-aid
solution that cannot be sustained,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a
statement, noting that an A-10 squadron based in Tucson, Ariz., was included in
the Air Force decision.

{mosads}Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the
Senate Armed Services Committee, said Monday’s announcement was “welcome news,” adding that he fully expected the Air Force to do away with furloughs, too.

“Today’s announcement proves the military’s pain from
sequester could have been mitigated all along had my bill to give flexibility
to the Department of Defense been rightfully considered,” Inhofe said in a
statement, referring to a bill voted
down by the Senate in March before the sequester took effect.

“Instead, the president chose politics over the needs of our
warfighters and issued a veto threat of my bill,” Inhofe said.

On the heels of the Thunderbirds news, Rep. Duncan Hunter
(R-Calif.) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday asking for
justification for canceling the Miramar Air Show in San Diego, one of numerous
shows the Pentagon said it cut in 2013 due to sequestration.

Amash pushes GOP
leaders on defense amendments: Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) vowed
to introduce an amendment defunding the National Security Agency’s
surveillance programs during floor debate on the defense appropriations bill.

But he appears to face long odds to get his amendment to the
floor.

The Rules Committee said that it
was curtailing the amendments that would get votes on the floor because
“there are a number of sensitive and ongoing issues related to national
security that are more appropriately handled through an orderly amendment
process.”

The defense appropriations bill has been considered under an
open amendment process since Republicans took over the House in 2011, but
defense sources told The Hill that GOP House leadership is worried about
amendments on Egypt, Syria — and the NSA.

Amash seemed to sense what he was up against on Monday.

“Most important bill this week: DoD Approps. We can defund #NSA’s
unconstitutional spying on Americans—if House leaders allow amendments,” the
libertarian-leaning Republican tweeted.

The Rules Committee has scheduled a Wednesday meeting to
consider a rule on the bill, which will determine
whether the amendment process is open, closed or structured — and means the
Rules panel must approve amendments before they get a vote.

Watchdog outlines
problems with sex assault investigations: The Pentagon inspector general
issued a report Monday that found 11 percent of sexual assault investigations
had significant deficiencies.

The
report reviewed 501 cases from 2010 and found 56 had significant problems,
returning them to the investigative agency. Of those, 31 had been re-opened,
the inspector general report said, although it didn’t talk about what the
outcome was.

In addition, the report found that 72 percent of the cases
had minor deficiencies that did not negatively affect the investigation.

Investigations with significant deficiencies included cases in which key evidence was not collected, crime scenes weren’t examined, witness and
subject interviews weren’t conducted or thorough or when re-interviews did not
happen after new information came to light.

Senate Armed Services
gets briefed on Syria: The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a
closed briefing on Syria Tuesday with top Pentagon officials.

Pentagon Undersecretary for Policy James Miller and
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. James Winnefeld will brief the panel in
the classified hearing.

The briefing comes amid a debate between the Obama administration
and Senate and House Intelligence Committees over the administration’s plans to
provide military aid to the Syrian opposition.

The Intelligence panels voted last month to restrict the
aid, and they have been working with the administration to address their
concerns.

Because the aid is being approved secretly through the
Intelligence Committees, the Senate Armed Services panel doesn’t get a vote,
but its members are keenly interested in the Syrian aid developments.

The members of the panel have been some of the most vocal proponents
of increased U.S. action in Syria, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Chairman
Carl Levin (D-Mich.).