Overnight Defense: House panel unveils $696.5B defense policy bill | Bill threatens to suspend nuke treaty with Russia | Corker vows to block Gulf arms sales

by Rebecca Kheel - 06/26/17 6:41 PM ET

THE TOPLINE: The House Armed Services Committee formally unveiled its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — and it’s less money than the chairman has been pushing for months.

The bill would authorize $696.5 billion, broken down into $621.5 billion for the base budget and $75 billion for a war fund known as the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account.

Of the war fund, $10 billion would be used for base budget requirements.

The top line is $28.5 billion more than what was requested by President Trump, but is $8.5 billion less than what the committee’s chairman said he was moving ahead with last week.

{mosads}Thornberry has said he’d be willing to lower his top line if he received assurances on future defense budgets. Committee aides said Monday he’s received those assurances, but would not elaborate on specifics.

“Out of respect for the fact that some of those negotiations are still ongoing — the Budget Committee is still waiting to mark up — I’m not comfortable in getting into the specifics of that, but what I would say is what the chairman said last week absolutely still holds,” an aide told reporters at a background briefing.

BILL REQUIRES AFGHANISTAN, SYRIA STRATEGIES: The NDAA would also require the president to give Congress his strategies for United States involvement in Afghanistan and Syria.

The provisions are meant to ensure the administration follows through on its promise to give Congress an Afghanistan strategy and build off a previous bill’s requirement that it give lawmakers a Syria strategy, a committee aide said Monday.

For Afghanistan, Defense Secretary James Mattis has promised to deliver Congress a new strategy by mid-July that would include a troop increase of a few thousand to break what top generals have described as a stalemate.

To ensure Congress gets a strategy, the NDAA would require the Pentagon to submit a report by Feb. 15 that looks “beyond the next five years and should connect current lines of effort to a steady state for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan that meets U.S. objectives,” according to the bill summary.

BILL TAKES ACTION ON RUSSIA: The bill also includes several provisions aimed at curtailing rising Russian aggression, including the possible suspension of a longtime arms treaty between the two countries.

“Over the past year, Russia has maintained its gains in Ukraine, continued support for the Assad regime in Syria, interfered in U.S. elections, violated landmark disarmament treaties and continued to take unprecedented provocative actions against U.S., NATO-allied and partner ships and planes,” according to a summary of the House bill, released Monday

“These events all point to the importance of ensuring the U.S. military has the capability needed to protect the country and our interests, and to assure America’s allies and partners.”

The bill would make it U.S. policy that Russia is in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and states the United States is legally entitled to suspend the treaty in whole or part as long as Russia is in violation.

The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell has more on the Russia measures here.

CORKER TO BLOCK GULF ARMS SALES: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) will block arms sales to Persian Gulf states until there’s a “better understanding” of how the Qatar crisis will be resolved, he said Monday.

A Saudi Arabia-led group of countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar since earlier this month, citing its relations with Iran and what they say is its support for extremist groups. The situation has pitted United States allies like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against Qatar, another ally that hosts a major U.S. military base.

“All countries in the region need to do more to combat terrorism, but recent disputes among the [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries only serve to hurt efforts to fight [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] and counter Iran,” Corker wrote in a letter Monday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Read the rest here.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW:

The Senate Armed Services Committee will mark up its version of the National Defense Authorization Act behind closed doors at 7:30 a.m. at the Russell Senate Office Building, room 222. http://bit.ly/2s03pFQ

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will testify before a House Appropriations subpanel at 10 a.m. at Rayburn House Office Building, room 2359. http://bit.ly/2sNcpxx

A House Foreign Affairs Committee subpanel will hear from outside experts on terrorist threats to Europe at 2 p.m. at Rayburn 2172. http://bit.ly/2rZSg8c

ICYMI:

— The Hill: Trump admin unveils cyber pact with Israel

— The Hill: Report: US warship was warned of collision

— The Hill: House Appropriations releases defense funding draft

— The Hill: Qatar urges Trump to intervene in Gulf crisis

— The Hill: Dems look to defense bill to put pressure on Trump

— The New York Times: Commando raids on ISIS yield vital data in shadowy war

— Bloomberg: Missile threats surging worldwide, US defense study finds

— Associated Press: Dunford arrives in Afghanistan as Marines work to rekindle relations in Helmand

— Associated Press: ISIS launches counterattacks in areas of Mosul considered liberated

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

Tags Bob Corker