Overnight Defense: Tillerson plan to skip NATO meeting draws fire | Fallout from electronics ban | Lockheed CEO praises Trump on F-35 deal

THE TOPLINE: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip the first NATO foreign ministers’ meeting since he took office, a move that is raising concerns.

Alexander Vershbow, the former No. 2 official at NATO, told the Senate Armed Services committee that NATO members are worried about Tillerson’s decision.

“I would say as a NATO veteran, a NATO junkie, that the presence of a U.S. secretary of State, particularly his first opportunity to join his counterparts, at a ministerial is something that shouldn’t be passed up, especially when we face so many challenges,” Vershbow said.

NATO is scheduled to hold a meeting of foreign ministers April 5-6, the first such meeting since Tillerson was confirmed as secretary of State.

Read the rest here.

ALBRIGHT: TILLERSON SKIPPING NATO ‘UNFORTUNATE SIGNAL:’ Following news of Tillerson’s decision to skip the meeting, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called it a “most unfortunate signal,” but blamed the issue on scheduling.

{mosads}Albright and former national security adviser Stephen Hadley told the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday the U.S. should not retreat from the world stage.

“While it is comforting to believe that we can wall ourselves off from the ailments of the world, history teaches us that whenever problems abroad are allowed to fester and grow, sooner or later they come home to America,” Albright said in her opening statement.

The pair also strongly condemned the administration’s proposal to cut State Department funding by 28 percent.

Read more here.

AIRPLANE ELECTRONICS BAN STEMS FROM THREAT INTEL: Concern over explosives being hidden in laptop batteries is reportedly behind a new security measure banning large electronics on flights from select airports in the Middle East and Africa.

CNN reported on Tuesday that recently obtained intelligence shows an al Qaeda affiliate has been trying to perfect techniques for concealing explosives in the batteries of electronic devices.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced Tuesday that passengers will be prohibited from carrying electronic devices larger than a cellphone — such as laptops, tablets, cameras and portable DVD players — onto the cabins of certain U.S.-bound flights. Those items could be stowed in checked luggage, instead. 

Read more here on the potential threat.

The fallout from the electronics ban is worrying some travel advocates. The Hill’s Melanie Zanona has more on that here.

A top Democrat backed the Trump administration’s decision earlier Tuesday.

And the U.K. is set to implement its own ban.

DEM: SOCIAL MEDIA HEARING ‘MISSES THE POINT’ ON NUDE PHOTO SCANDAL: Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), on Tuesday slammed the House Armed Services Committee for limiting its public hearing on the military’s ongoing nude photo sharing scandal to a subcommittee hearing on social media policies.

“Framing the issue as military social media policies misses the point,” said Speier, the top Democrat on the Committee’s subpanel on personnel.

Speier was making her comments at the top of a subcommittee hearing with testimony from personnel officials from each of the military services, as well as the acting under secretary of Defense for personnel.

The hearing on social media comes in the wake of the scandal over “Marines United,” a Facebook page where service members were allegedly sharing nude photos of female Marines without their consent and making crude and disparaging comments including rape threats.

 Read more here.

LOCKHEED CEO PRAISES TRUMP ON F-35: The head of defense giant Lockheed Martin on Tuesday said President Trump “absolutely did contribute” to the company’s speedy deal on the F-35.

Lockheed chief executive Marillyn Hewson said Trump’s involvement in the February deal was “perfectly appropriate,” adding that the company has now set a goal to save more than $5 billion on the aircraft.

“We were in discussions … and he helped accelerate that along, and I think he put a sharper focus on price and how we would drive the price down,” Hewson told reporters at a Lockheed media event in Arlington, Va. “So he absolutely did contribute to us getting to closure on that.” 

Hewson did admit cost reductions would have continued as more planes are bought but said Trump’s “emphasis and his engagement did absolutely make a difference.”

Read more here.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:

The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee will have a hearing to review the budget and readiness of the Defense Department with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford at 10:30 a.m. Dirsken Senate Building, room 192.

The House Armed Services Committee will have a hearing on the evolution of hybrid warfare and key challenges with testimony from outside experts at 10 a.m. at Rayburn House Office Building, room 2118.  

Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott West, the director of current operations, will testify before the House Armed Services Readiness subcommittee on the current state of the Air Force at 2 p.m. at Rayburn, room 2118. 

A Senate Armed Services subcommittee will have a hearing on Army modernization at 3:30 p.m. at Russell Senate Office Building, room 222. 

ICYMI: 

— The Hill: Lawmakers want Trump commitment to help Iraq post-ISIS

— The Hill: Top intel Dem: Feds, president need ability to warn about hacking

— The Hill: Kremlin: House intel panel ‘confused’

— The Hill: Schumer: Delay Gorsuch vote because of Russia probe

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