Overnight Defense: Latest on marathon markup of $717B defense bill | CIA pick bolsters chances for confirmation | North Korea frees three American prisoners

Happy Wednesday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I’m Rebecca Kheel, and here’s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

 

THE TOPLINE: The House Armed Services Committee’s marathon markup of the $717 billion annual defense policy bill kicked off at 10 a.m. Wednesday and is still going strong.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) markup frequently goes past midnight, sometimes past 2 a.m. and even in one recent year past 4 a.m.

Staffers, lawmakers and reporters are crossing their fingers it won’t go nearly that late this year. But several controversial issues that will eat up time — including nuclear weapons, President Trump’s military parade, transgender troops and troop deployments to the border — have yet to be broached.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights so far:

Aviation accidents: The committee endorsed establishing an independent commission to study military aviation safety after a series of deadly incidents, including a C-130 cargo plane crash last week that killed all nine on board.

The panel approved by voice vote an amendment to its annual defense policy bill that would create the commission.

The amendment was offered by the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who compared the aviation accidents to the Navy’s spate of ship collisions which led to internal investigations.

“This crosses service lines, and personally, I don’t think all of us are 100 percent satisfied with what the Navy came back to us on the accident that happened with the ships,” he said.

“I want to make sure that we have an independent commission that really looks at this. This is becoming a very large problem. It is costing the lives of the men and women who are serving us, and I don’t think it’s just the money.”

Trump administration travel: The committee voted down a proposal that would have required the Pentagon to report on the cost of Trump administration officials using military aircraft for travel.

The amendment was voted down 30-31 during the panel’s markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Two Republicans, Reps. Don Bacon (Neb.) and Steve Knight (Calif.), supported the measure, while another Republican, Rep. Walter Jones (N.C.), did not vote.

Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.) offered the amendment, citing several times that Trump administration officials have used military aircraft for travel.

“Some are indeed rightfully required to travel exclusively by [military aircraft] for national security purposes. But for everyone else there’s rules,” Halleran said. “That’s why I and many other Americans have been outraged by report after report surfacing that senior administration officials are abusing ethics rules and improperly using military aircraft for travel.”

Stay tuned: Committee staffers said more than 400 amendments were filed on the bill. As of 6:11 p.m., the committee has gotten through five of six subcommittees’ portions of the bill. Just the Strategic Forces subcommittee and the chairman’s mark remain, but both of those are expected to take a hefty amount of time.

The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell will be keeping track of the debate throughout the night, so be sure to check back at the TheHill.com for updates.

 

HASPEL HAS HER DAY: Gina Haspel, President Trump’s nominee to become CIA director, was grilled by the Senate Intelligence Committee on her background in the agency controversial post-9/11 interrogation program.

The Hill followed along in a liveblog, available here to catch up on.

Takeaway: Haspel had no major stumbles in her highly anticipated testimony, a performance that earned some muted criticism from Democrats but overall appeared to bolster her chances of being confirmed as the CIA’s next director.

Haspel, a career CIA officer who spent over three decades undercover, wavered little under questioning from Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Kamala Harris (Calif.) and other Democrats about her role in the agency’s controversial post-9/11 interrogation and detention program.

She fiercely defended the agency’s counterterror chops and her own “moral compass,” as Democrats repeatedly pressed her on the morality of torture — and criticized her for providing “legalistic” answers.

Vows not to restart program: Haspel vowed not to bring back the spy agency’s controversial interrogation program, addressing early in her Senate confirmation hearing a key point on her record that Democrats and other critics have scrutinized.

“I can offer you my personal commitment, clearly and without reservation, that under my leadership, on my watch, the CIA will not restart a detention and interrogation program,” she told lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Her pledge not to bring back the CIA’s “rendition, detention and interrogation” program came during her opening remarks at her confirmation hearing.

Says no to ‘immoral’ orders: She also said she would not make the CIA to carry out “immoral” activities, even if ordered to do so by President Trump.

In an at-times testy exchange with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, Haspel said that the CIA was bound to uphold U.S. law and “American values,” and that the country had determined that such interrogation practices run counter to those values.

Asked by Warner if she would follow a hypothetical order from Trump to use harsh interrogation and detention practices, Haspel flatly said, “No.”

She said she would “not put CIA officers at risk” by reimplementing the controversial program again.

But won’t say what’s immoral: She later declined to directly answer repeated questions on Wednesday about whether she views the controversial interrogation techniques used by the CIA following the Sept. 11 terror attacks as “immoral.”

Pressed repeatedly by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) to provide a “yes or no answer,” Haspel said that she supports the “higher moral standards” that the U.S. has embraced since renouncing the use of the techniques.

“I believe CIA did extraordinary work to prevent another attack with the legal tools we were provided,” she added, however.

In a testy exchange, Harris accused Haspel of not answering her question.

“Senator, I think I’ve answered the question,” Haspel said.

“No, you’ve not,” Harris said.

Dem support: At least one Democrat was convinced by the hearing, with Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) announcing later Wednesday he will vote to confirm Haspel.

Manchin is the first Democrat to come out in support of Haspel, bolstering her chances of being confirmed despite engrained opposition from progressive senators and allied outside groups.

“I have found Gina Haspel to be a person of great character. Over her 33 year career as a CIA operations officer, she has worked in some of the most dangerous corners of our world and I have the utmost respect for the sacrifices she has made for our country,” Manchin said in a statement.

 

NORTH KOREA DETAINEES FREED: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came back from his North Korea trip with three American citizens who were detained there in tow.

Trump first announced the news on Twitter on Wednesday morning.

“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting,” the president wrote.

Trump said he would greet Pompeo and the three Americans at Joint Base Andrews at 2 a.m. Thursday morning.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckanee Sanders said the Americans “appear to be in good condition and were all able to walk on the plane without assistance.”

Why Pompeo was there: This was Pompeo’s second trip to North Korea to prepare for Trump’s upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Sanders said in a statement that Trump views the detainee release “as a positive gesture of goodwill” ahead of the talks.

Where and when: Pompeo’s trip also apparently finalized the details of where and when the Trump-Kim summit will be held.

Later Wednesday, Trump said those details will be announced “within three days.”

But he ruled out one place for the summit to happen: the demilitarized zone between the Koreas that he said previously he favored.

In the early evening, CNN reported that the location of the summit will be Singapore.

 

IRAN FALLOUT: The international community on Wednesday grappled with Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal the day prior.

France’s foreign minister declared the Iran nuclear deal “is not dead” and said President Emmanuel Macron would speak with the Iranian president about preserving the deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani apparently told Macron on the call Wednesday that Europe has a “very limited opportunity” to save the Iran nuclear deal.

“Under the current conditions, Europe has a very limited opportunity to preserve the nuclear deal, and must, as quickly as possible, clarify its position and specify and announce its intentions with regard to its obligations,” Rouhani reportedly told Macron, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

Meanwhile, Iran’s chief regional rival, Saudi Arabia, reiterated its position that it will build a nuclear weapon if Iran does.

The Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Wednesday that the country would do “everything we can” to build a nuclear bomb in that situation.

The new U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell is also facing backlash from some quarters of the German government over his comments about companies from that country doing business in Iran.

After Trump’s announcement Tuesday, Grenell tweeted “German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.”

If you missed it: Last night, The Hill looked at five takeaways from Trump’s decision. Catch up on that here.

 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for the nominees to be deputy under secretary of Defense for research and engineering; assistant secretary of Defense for manpower and reserve affairs; assistant secretary of Defense for strategy, plans and capabilities; assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs; and deputy administrator for defense programs of the National Nuclear Security Administration at 9:30 a.m. at the Hart Senate Office Building, room 216. https://bit.ly/2IgWgIG

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on modernizing development finance at 10 a.m. at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 419. https://bit.ly/2jGkuxX

 

ICYMI

— The Hill: Trump incorrectly claims military pay hasn’t gone up for 10 years

— The Hill: House panel approves bill to ‘hack’ the State Department

— The Hill: House panel approves bills to secure energy infrastructure

— The Hill: Kaine: Deadly Niger mission was unauthorized

— The New York Times: Militants kill 15 in Afghan attacks, as Taliban expand their control

— Associated Press: Americans were freed 1 hour before flight out of Pyongyang