Overnight Defense: Funding bill would ease Trump Defense pick’s confirmation | Obama delivers final security speech

THE TOPLINE: Congressional Republicans are using a short-term government funding bill to ease the nomination of President-Elect Donald Trump’s pick for Defense secretary. 

Under current law, a former service member must be retired from the military for seven years before being able to hold a senior level civil position with the Department of Defense.

Trump’s nominee, Gen. James Mattis, though, only retired in 2013.

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The continuing resolution released Tuesday evening would lower that waiting period from seven to three years, easing his path to confirmation.

The fix, according to the funding bill, would only apply to Mattis and not subsequent nominees to lead the Pentagon. The bill also lays out an expedited floor procedure for formally approving the change early next year.

The move, though, sets up a fight with Democrats who warned Republicans not to include a measure tied to Mattis to the funding bill.

The Hill’s Jordain Carney has more. 

TRUMP CALLS FOR CANCELING AIR FORCE ONE CONTRACT: President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday ripped Boeing for the cost of a new Air Force One plane, calling for the contract to be canceled.

“Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” Trump tweeted.

Speaking to reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday morning, Trump was asked about the tweet.

“Well the plane is totally out of control,” he said, adding the costs are “ridiculous.” 

“I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money.”

The Hill’s Harper Neidig has the story.

CONGRESS WANTS HEARING ON PENTAGON WASTE REPORT: Lawmakers on Tuesday called for a hearing on a Pentagon study that found as much as $150 billion in wasteful back-office spending. 

The lawmakers also called for the full report, which The Washington Post on Tuesday reported had been withheld by Pentagon officials, to be made public.

“I think we should have a hearing about that and find out what happened,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday.

Sen. Claire McCaskilll (D-Mo.), who is expected to be the ranking member of a Senate oversight committee, called for an investigation. 

“If this is true, the Pentagon played Congress and the American public for fools,” she said. “I vow to get to the bottom of this.”

The Hill’s Kristina Wong has more here.

OBAMA DEFENDS COUNTERTERRORISM STRATEGY: President Obama on Tuesday offered a sweeping defense of his efforts to fight terrorism at home and abroad in his final major speech on national security before leaving office.

“Adhering to the rule of law is not a weakness,” Obama said during his speech in Tampa, Fla., alluding to Trump’s tough talk on terrorism that helped propel him to victory last month. “In the long term, it is our greatest strength.”

Obama warned that terrorist groups want to “scare us into changing the nature of who we are and our democracy.” But he said the only way they can “destroy our way of life” is “if we lose track of who we are and the values that this nation was founded upon.”

Obama insisted his approach of relying on special operators and “a network of partners,” which include Western allies and local fighters, is “breaking the back of” ISIS. 

The Hill’s Jordan Fabian has more here. 

ARMY BEATS NAVY AT HOCKEY: The Army skated to victory over the Navy in the first official pickup hockey game between the two services on Monday evening. 

The Army scored five goals over the Navy’s three during the roughly-hour long game, held at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. 

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Vice Chief of Staff Daniel B. Allyn coached the Army team, which included members of the Army and Air Force. Milley played hockey at Princeton University. Army Under Secretary Patrick Murphy also played in Monday night’s game, along with wounded warrior Joe Bowzer, a retired Army veteran and now an Army civilian. 

The game was hosted by the Washington Capitals, to celebrate the spirit of the storied sports rivalry between the nation’s two leading military academies, the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy.

United States Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Ted Carter coached the Navy team, which included Marine Corps and Coast Guard players. 

The hockey game comes in advance of the competitive Army-Navy football game in Baltimore on Dec. 10. 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW: 

A Foreign Affairs subcommittee will hold a hearing on corruption in Europe and Eurasia at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Rayburn 2172. http://bit.ly/2h301Ez

The House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the National Guard bonus scandal at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Rayburn 2118. http://bit.ly/2g1blPr

ICYMI: 

The Hill: Air Force chief to Trump: Boeing deal ‘complicated’

The Hill: Trump cuts ties with Flynn Jr.

The Hill: Pentagon’s suppressed waste report only tip of the inefficient machine

Defense News: Graham: Defense Hike Under Trump ‘Harder Than It Looks’

Defense One: Buying a New Air Force One Is Complicated