Overnight Defense: Senators go to White House for North Korea briefing | Admiral takes ‘hit’ for aircraft carrier mixup | Lawmakers urged to beef up US missile defense

by Ellen Mitchell - 04/26/17 8:09 PM ET

THE TOPLINE: Senators headed to the White House on Wednesday for an unusual briefing on North Korea, behind closed doors at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The Hill’s Jordain Carney has the story:

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that the trip across Pennsylvania Avenue marked an “unusual setting.”

“In my congressional career, there’s never been a similar type of meeting held at the White House,” he told reporters. “[But] I don’t want to read too much into this.”

{mosads}Top administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, briefed the senators. President Trump briefly stopped by the meeting, which had originally been expected to take place at the Capitol.

“He welcomed senators to the White House. It was encouraging to see virtually every senator there, both Democrats and Republicans, and it was a long and detailed briefing,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said after the meeting.

The administration has pledged to take a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid escalating tensions with the isolated country over its nuclear program after a failed missile launch last week.

In an apparent show of force, the U.S. submarine USS Michigan arrived in South Korea this week. Tillerson is expected to chair a special meeting on North Korea at the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

Senators said after the meeting that they expected the administration to step up pressure on North Korea, including pressing China and others in the region to take a tougher stance against the country.

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CALLS TO STRENGTHEN MISSILE DEFENSE: Hours ahead of the briefing, the top commander in the Pacific told lawmakers Wednesday that the United States needs to strengthen missile defense systems amid heightened concerns over North Korea’s rapidly advancing weapon program.

“I believe that across the range of integrated air missile defense – IAMD – that we can and need to do more,” Adm. Harry Harris, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

Harris said the U.S. could improve on the number of radar and interceptors — defense systems designed to take out incoming missiles — particularly in Hawaii. The U.S. currently has interceptors in California and Alaska.

While current systems are currently sufficient to protect against an attack by North Korea, he said, they could eventually become overwhelmed.

Harris also warned lawmakers not to take the threat posed by North Korea lightly. Although the reclusive country is not currently capable of striking the U.S., he said, leader Kim Jong Un has made that a clear priority.

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ADMIRAL TAKES BLAME FOR AIRCRAFT CARRIER MIX-UP: Testifying before Congress, Adm. Harry Harris told lawmakers that he deserves blame for the misunderstanding over the location of an aircraft carrier bound for North Korea.

“With regard to the [USS] Carl Vinson, that’s my fault on the confusion and I’ll take the hit for it,” Harris said during testimony to the House Armed Services Committee.

“Where I failed to was to communicate that adequately to the press and the media,” he said. “That is all on me.”

The Navy said April 9 that it was moving the Vinson strike group toward the Korean Peninsula amid rising fears over North Korea’s weapons tests.

The Vinson would reportedly skip a regularly scheduled visit to Australia and head toward the western Pacific Ocean instead.

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ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:

Brookings Institution will hold the event “Assuring a ready fleet,” featuring Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and experts from 8 a.m. at its Washington, D.C. office, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW.

Major defense contractor Raytheon will hold a conference call with company leaders to discuss its first quarter earnings result at 9 a.m. Click here for the webcast.

The full House Armed Services Committee will host “Member Day,” where other lawmakers can make requests for the annual defense policy bill, at 10 a.m. at Rayburn room 2118. http://bit.ly/2oxyEkW

The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hear from outside experts on policy options in Syria at 10 a.m. at Rayburn 2172. http://bit.ly/2oRFHID

A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee will hold a hearing on Afghanistan at 2 p.m. at Rayburn 2172. http://bit.ly/2otX6EE

A House Armed Services subpanel will hold a hearing on post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury at 2 p.m. at Rayburn 2118. http://bit.ly/2p3gdsx

A Senate Armed Services subcommittee will have a hearing on cyber-enabled information operations at 2:30 p.m. at the Russell Senate Office Building, room 222. http://bit.ly/2pZ1ITQ

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–The Hill: Russian defense chief: US missile strike on Syria threatened Russian troops

–The Hill: Trump administration weighing order to withdraw from NAFTA

— The Hill: McCain: China has done ‘nothing’ on North Korea

Please send tips and comments to Rebecca Kheel, rkheel@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Ellen Mitchell, emitchell@digital-staging.thehill.com