Overnight Defense: General warns State Department cuts would hurt military | Bergdahl lawyers appeal Trump motion | Senators demand action after nude photo scandal

THE TOPLINE: The head of U.S. European Command on Thursday said President Trump’s proposed cuts to the State Department would make his job more difficult in the face of an increasing Russian threat.

“I rely heavily on our relationships with the other agencies in our government,” Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who also serves as NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The White House budget blueprint for fiscal 2018, released last week, proposes a 28 percent cut to the State Department budget, among other major agency cuts, while proposing a $54 billion boost to defense spending.

Scaparrotti said European Command also hopes to obtain more troops, systems and munitions, and is coordinating with the Pentagon for “additional maneuver forces, combat air squadrons, anti-submarine capabilities, a carrier strike group and maritime amphibious capabilities.”

Read the rest here.

SENATORS DEMAND PENTAGON ACTION AFTER NUDE PHOTO SCANDAL: Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee pushed the Pentagon for details on its plan to combat sexual harassment in the military following the nude photo-sharing scandal rocking the Marine Corps.

A bipartisan group of 12 lawmakers led by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) sent a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis this week asking him to detail the “proactive steps the Department of Defense will take to discover and eliminate all forms of service members’ online harassment.”

The letter, dated Wednesday, notes that “this is not the first time the Department has dealt with this kind of inappropriate behavior of service members. We are disappointed that the Department once again must react to reports of online harassment.”

Lawmakers have pressed for action after it was revealed earlier this month that service members allegedly shared nude photos of female Marines without their consent in the Facebook group “Marines United.”

Read more here.

AIR FORCE SECRETARY HEARING COULD COME NEXT WEEK: The Senate Armed Services Committee could hold a nomination hearing for President Trump’s pick for Air Force secretary as early as next week, Defense News reported.

Trump named former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) as his nominee for Air Force secretary in January, and on Thursday Senate Armed Forces Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said lawmakers had received her official nomination paperwork from the White House.

That step means the committee can more forward with a confirmation hearing, possibly as soon as next week, according to Defense News.

Wilson remains the only official nominee in place for the military branches. Army Secretary nominee Vincent Viola and Navy Secretary nominee Philip Bilden both withdrew from consideration last month. They both have vast financial holdings, which would have made it difficult to meet Pentagon requirements against conflicts of interest.

Read the rest here.

BERGDAHL LAWYERS APPEAL TRUMP MOTION: Lawyers for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on Thursday asked the top military court to toss out their client’s case because of disparaging comments made by President Trump on the campaign trail.

In a 314-page motion filed Thursday with the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, defense lawyers said the “unprecedented circumstances” of Trump repeatedly calling Bergdahl a traitor who should be executed constitute apparent unlawful command influence (UCI). 

“To describe President Trump’s comments about Sgt. Bergdahl as merely ‘troubling,’ ‘made without consideration of their possible impact on the trial of the accused,’ ‘disturbing and disappointing,’ and ‘problematic,’ … does not begin to vindicate the important interest in fostering public confidence in the administration of military justice,” they wrote in the motion, quoting the judge in Bergdahl’s court-martial.

Read more about the case here.

ICYMI: 

— The Hill: NATO to reschedule meeting to accommodate Tillerson

— The Hill: Senators introduce new Iran sanctions

— The Hill: Bush DHS secretary: ‘Vladimir Putin is winning’

— The Hill: WikiLeaks publishes CIA hacking tactics for Apple products

— The Hill: House Intel chairman under fire from all sides

— The Hill: Intelligence chairman apologizes to committee Dems for press briefing

— The Hill: Pentagon worried about Chinese investment in US startups: report

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