Overnight Defense: Colin Kahl’s troubled nomination just hit another road bump

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THE TOPLINE: Colin Kahl’s troubled nomination just hit another road bump.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is coming out against President Biden’s nominee to lead the Pentagon’s policy shop, narrowing Kahl’s path to confirmation for what’s considered the Defense Department’s third most powerful civilian job.

What is at issue: In a statement Friday, Collins said she has “significant concerns” about his positions on Iran and the Middle East.

“For example, he warned of calamity following the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, when instead we saw historically close Arab-Israeli ties in 2020,” she said.

Collins also appeared to allude to tweets from Kahl that were highly critical of the Trump administration and that Republicans have argued show he is unfit for the job.

Down to the wire: The opposition from a Republican often considered a swing vote makes it increasingly likely Kahl’s nomination to be under secretary of Defense for policy will come down to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who told reporters Thursday he remains undecided.

Kahl does not need Republican support to be confirmed. But with a 50-50 party split in the Senate, he cannot afford to lose any Democratic votes if all Republicans oppose him. 

A stalled nomination: Kahl’s nomination has stalled amid fierce opposition from Republicans over what they describe as partisan outbursts on Twitter.

Republicans have pointed to tweets such as one where Kahl said Republicans “debase themselves at the altar of Trump” and called the GOP the “party of ethnic cleansing” in response to a news story on Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) defending then-President Trump‘s decision to move troops out of northern Syria ahead of a Turkish invasion.

During his confirmation hearing, Kahl apologized for the “disrespectful” language in his tweets and pledged to approach the Pentagon job in a nonpartisan way, saying his past government service demonstrates his ability to do so.

Read more here.

 

TALIBAN WARN OF ‘REACTION’ IF NO US WITHDRAWAL BY DEADLINE

The Taliban warned the United States on Friday that there will be a “reaction” from the insurgent group should Washington not follow through on a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan.

Where the warning was made: The warning, which the Taliban issued at a press conference in Moscow, came a day after their negotiators met for Russian-led peace talks with senior Afghan government officials, The Associated Press reported. 

“They should go,” Taliban negotiation team member Suhail Shaheen told reporters, adding that if U.S. troops stay past May 1, “it will be a kind of violation of the agreement. That violation would not be from our side. … Their violation will have a reaction.”

The background: The U.S. has been at war in Afghanistan since the 9/11 terrorist attacks launched by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden while he was based in the country. The subsequent American invasion overthrew the Taliban in Kabul, and U.S. forces have remained there ever since, making the conflict the United States’s longest-running war.

Washington officially has about 2,500 troops remaining in the country, a number former President Trump achieved with a draw down to in his final weeks in office.

Where that deadline comes from: Under an agreement with the Taliban the Trump administration hastily made last year, all U.S. troops are to leave by May 1 should the Taliban uphold certain commitments.

U.S. officials, however, have repeatedly said the Taliban have yet to uphold their end of the bargain.

Biden mulling deadline: President Biden this week said that meeting the deadline would be “tough,” and that he is still deciding whether to go through with the withdrawal.

“The fact is that that was not a very solidly negotiated deal that the president, the former president worked out,” Biden said. “And so we’re in consultation with our allies, as well as the government.”

He is reportedly considering keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan until November, a six-month extension.

Read more here.

 

CHINA, US SPAR IN FACE-TO-FACE MEETING

China questioned the state of U.S. democracy in the first face-to-face meeting between Chinese officials and the Biden administration, signaling Beijing’s intention of using former President Trump‘s attacks on the 2020 election for its own interests. 

Foreign affairs director of the Chinese Communist Party Yang Jiechi in his first remarks with U.S. officials at a meeting in Alaska said the U.S. is in no place to preach democracy to other countries. 

“Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States … we believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world,” Yang said. 

Context: The remarks indicate the baseless attacks on the 2020 election by Trump and his allies, which culminated in a mob attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol that interfered with the certification of the Electoral College count and led to five deaths, will be used by China in diplomatic talks.  

Blinken pushes back: The remarks prompted a rebuke by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“What we’ve done throughout our history is to confront those challenges openly, publicly, transparently, not trying to ignore them, not trying to pretend they don’t exist, not trying to sweep them under a rug,” he said. “And sometimes it’s painful, sometimes it’s ugly, but each and every time, we have come out stronger, better, more united as a country.”

Blinken further sought to reinforce U.S. solidarity with allies and partners, in particular Japan and South Korea, where he had traveled immediately before the meeting in Alaska.

“I’m hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we’re reengaged with our allies and partners,” Blinken told the Chinese representatives, signaling a shift from the Trump years. 

Fraught tensions and ‘deep concerns’: Tensions between the two sides are fraught amid ongoing trade disputes that started during the Trump presidency and a coronavirus pandemic that Trump and GOP lawmakers continue to blame on China. 

Senior administration officials had set low expectations for the meeting, where the U.S. is being led by Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. China’s team is led by Yang and Wang Yi, the Chinese state councilor.

Blinken said the Biden administration has “deep concerns” with actions by China “in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States, and economic coercion toward our allies.”

Read more here.

 

ICYMI

— The Hill: Bipartisan House bill would repeal decades-old war authorizations

— The Hill: Marine Corps commandant says China, Russia to pose biggest challenges for years

— The Hill: US and China spar at outset of first meeting in Alaska

— The Hill: Erdoğan calls Biden comments on Putin ‘unacceptable’

— The Hill: Biden says he’s proud of secretary of State after confrontation with China

— Military Times: Lawmaker wants to strip benefits from veterans involved in January’s attack on Congress

— The Associated Press: Pentagon looks to root out extremists targeting US troops

— The Washington Post: Facing vaccine skepticism, one corner of the Army is trying something new