The Senate on Friday approved the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with clauses that would establish a federal cyber czar, and that would give the nation’s top federal cybersecurity agency subpoena power.

The conferenced version of the 2021 NDAA was approved by the Senate by a vote of 84-13 days after the House approved the same version of the annual defense funding bill. 

The clause establishing the position of a Senate-confirmed national cyber director within the Executive Office of the President was not included in the original 2021 NDAA approved by the Senate earlier this year, but was added during negotiations with the House. 

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The position would reestablish and elevate the previous White House cybersecurity coordinator position that was eliminated by former national security advisor John BoltonJohn BoltonHillicon Valley: Federal agencies warn of hackers targeting online K-12 classes | California seeks to join DOJ antitrust case against Google | Senate approves defense bill establishing cyber czar position Senate approves defense bill establishing cyber czar position, subpoena power for cyber agency Defense policy bill would create new cyber czar position MORE in 2018. 

A coalition of bipartisan lawmakers in the House and Senate worked together to ensure the clause creating the position was included in the NDAA, with the new position responsible for coordinating cybersecurity policy across the federal government. 

“This position gives the person who holds this spot, this position, more gravitas than just a staff person,” Rep. Jim LangevinJames (Jim) R. LangevinSenate approves defense bill establishing cyber czar position, subpoena power for cyber agency House chairman endorses Michele Flournoy for Biden’s Pentagon chief Hillicon Valley: Senate Intelligence Committee leaders warn of Chinese threats to national security | Biden says China must play by ‘international norms’ | House Democrats use Markup app for leadership contest voting MORE (D-R.I.), who spearheaded introducing legislation creating this position, told The Hill last week. “He or she would have sufficient staff. They get their hands around the challenges they face, a whole of government approach to protect the country in cyberspace. This is a major step forward.”

However, a memo put out by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) earlier this week, obtained by Reuters, listed the establishment of the position among the reasons President TrumpDonald TrumpBiden team says it’s ‘no surprise’ Supreme Court rejected Texas lawsuit Trump praises FDA approval of COVID-19 vaccine: ‘One of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history’ Giuliani says Trump team ‘not finished’ after Supreme Court defeat MORE may choose to veto the bill. 

OMB wrote that NDAA “increases bureaucracy and confuses cybersecurity policymaking by mandating the appointment of a National Cyber Director within the Executive Office of the President, ignoring the mechanisms by which the Government already performs the functions assigned to this new policy position.”

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Trump has also threatened to veto the defense funding bill due to a repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act being left out, and due to the legislation requiring that military installations named after Confederate generals be renamed. 

The legislation was approved with veto-proof majorities, but it’s unclear if enough GOP lawmakers in both chambers would vote to override Trump. A two-thirds vote is required to overturn a veto.

The cyber czar clause was included as part of a raft of other cybersecurity measures, including a clause giving the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) limited subpoena power.

The clause, based on bipartisan legislation introduced last year, would allow CISA to issue subpoenas to internet service providers, compelling them to release information on cyber vulnerabilities detected on the networks of critical infrastructure organizations.

This power, which had had support from leadership on both the House and Senate Homeland Security committees, would give CISA the ability to further secure critical systems. 

Both measures were part of 26 recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission that were included in the conferenced version of the NDAA.

The group — made up of members of Congress, the federal government and industry — was established in 2018 to provide recommendations to defend the U.S. in cyberspace, with a report rolled out earlier this year.

The threat of a brief government shutdown is growing as the annual defense bill and a stopgap funding measure hit snags that could delay them into the weekend or next week.

Senate leadership had hoped to pass both the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and a one-week continuing resolution  Thursday.

Instead, multiple senators are delaying the bills, meaning the Senate might fail to pass the stopgap measure before Friday night’s deadline, raising the prospect of a government shutdown.

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“It’s got to get done by tomorrow night at midnight … or a temporary shutdown,” said Sen. John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneOVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Biden taps ex-Obama chief for VA | Shutdown looms amid standoff | SCOTUS rules on rape cases in military Sanders, Hawley team up to demand vote on second round of stimulus checks On The Money: Millions of Americans in poverty as Black, Native American wages stagnate | Jobless claims jump to 853K | Economists warn against excluding state aid from COVID-19 relief MORE (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican.

Sen. Richard ShelbyRichard Craig ShelbyVeterans healthcare fight snagging government funding deal Senate squabbling sparks shutdown threat Overnight Defense: Biden defends picking retired general for Pentagon head | House passes weeklong stopgap spending bill | Senate rejects effort to block Trump’s UAE arms sale MORE (R-Ala.), the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, predicted the government funding bill would get a vote, but “if you don’t get a vote on it, you’re going to shut the government down.”

“I don’t believe anybody rationally wants to shut the government down. If they do they need to be talked to,” Shelby said.

Thune pointed to multiple hurdles: Sen. Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard PaulOn The Money: Millions of Americans in poverty as Black, Native American wages stagnate | Jobless claims jump to 853K | Economists warn against excluding state aid from COVID-19 relief Bette Middler blasts McConnell: ‘How did he win with an 18% approval rating?’ Senate squabbling sparks shutdown threat MORE (R-Ky.) is slow walking the NDAA because it reins in President TrumpDonald TrumpBiden and Harris named Time’s 2020 ‘Person of the Year’ US to sanction Turkey over Russian defense system: report Federal government executes Brandon Bernard despite last-minute appeals MORE’s ability to pull troops from Afghanistan; Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersFederal government executes Brandon Bernard despite last-minute appeals Sanders, Hawley team up to demand vote on second round of stimulus checks On The Money: Millions of Americans in poverty as Black, Native American wages stagnate | Jobless claims jump to 853K | Economists warn against excluding state aid from COVID-19 relief MORE (I-Vt.) is using the continuing resolution (CR) to try to get a vote on a stimulus checks proposal; and in an ironic twist, a group of senators wants a vote on a bill to prevent future government shutdowns.

“This is clearly not just one side that takes advantage of these moments, but I always think it’s unfortunate. We’ve got our work to do, we all know we need to get it done, it seldom produces a result that a member thinks it’s going to produce,” said Sen. Roy BluntRoy Dean BluntVeterans healthcare fight snagging government funding deal Senate squabbling sparks shutdown threat Senate approves three FEC nominees, restoring commission’s ability to function MORE (Mo.), a member of GOP leadership.

The setbacks come after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellOVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Biden taps ex-Obama chief for VA | Shutdown looms amid standoff | SCOTUS rules on rape cases in military Sanders, Hawley team up to demand vote on second round of stimulus checks Bette Middler blasts McConnell: ‘How did he win with an 18% approval rating?’ MORE (R-Ky.) hinted at a rare Friday session.

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“For the information of all senators, we should expect the potential for a late night tonight and the possibility of votes tomorrow,” he said.

Part of the headache for leadership is timing and how the bills are lined up for floor votes.

Without cooperation from all senators, the earliest the Senate could take an initial vote on the $740 billion defense bill is Friday, and after that it could still be subjected to an additional 30 hours of debate.

Any action on the government funding measure is stuck behind the defense bill, unless leadership can get an agreement from every senator to let it leapfrog the NDAA. Without full cooperation, the Senate’s handling of the stopgap spending bill could drag on for days, well past Friday’s midnight deadline.

Thune predicted that the fever would break by the funding deadline and senators would cut a deal that resolved the myriad of outstanding issues and allow the CR to pass Friday.

“We’re at that period … where everybody is leveraging their position and situation to get what they want at the end. But when you get up against the deadline, my guess is something breaks,” he said.

Paul, no stranger to scrambling leadership’s floor plans, railed against the defense bill during a floor speech earlier Thursday.

“When a president tries to remove troops, they say, ‘Oh, no, no, no. What we really want are 535 generals in Congress to tell him he can’t leave a war.’ How absurd is that? It’s exactly the opposite of what both the Constitution and logic would dictate,” Paul said.

But while speaking to reporters, Paul stressed that the object of his frustration was the NDAA, not the government funding bill. He said he had offered to let the CR pass on Thursday if Senate leaders agreed to push back the defense bill until Monday.

“We’ve offered to allow all the votes to occur today if the final vote on the NDAA would be moved to Monday. So we would allow compression of time and unanimous consent so people could go home today if they would allow the final bill to be on Monday,” Paul said.

Typically, leadership would offer Paul an amendment, and he in turn would allow them to speed up votes. But the Kentucky Republican said that under the rules governing the final defense bill, that scenario isn’t permissible.

“We looked at that, and I think the logistics of it are, I think, you can’t get an amendment on a conference report. They could, by unanimous consent, set up a whole bill and occasionally we can use our leverage to keep them here over the weekend to get a vote,” Paul said.

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Thune said talks were ongoing with Paul’s staff to try to work out a deal, though any votes were likely to be delayed until at least Friday.

In addition to Paul’s objections on the defense bill, a coalition of senators is trying to use the CR to force votes on their priorities and aren’t ruling out slowing it down.

Sanders wants a vote on a stimulus check proposal that has gained steam with progressives as part of the larger negotiations on a potential COVID-19 relief deal.

“It is absolutely imperative that we provide $1,200 for every working-class adult and $500 for each of their children. This is what we did, unanimously, in the CARES package passed in March. This is what we must do now. Congress cannot go home until we address this crisis,” Sanders said in a statement.

Separately, a group of GOP senators is pushing for a vote on legislation aimed at preventing future government shutdowns. They tried to bring the bill up on Thursday but were blocked.

“We’re looking for a vote. I’m not going to say what we will or will not do,” said Sen. Ron JohnsonRonald (Ron) Harold JohnsonSenate squabbling sparks shutdown threat Relief talks show GOP divisions GOP senator won’t rule out challenging Electoral College results in Congress MORE (R-Wis.), a member of the group, when asked if they were willing to slow down the CR and risk a shutdown for a vote on legislation to prevent shutdowns.

Rep. Deb HaalandDebra HaalandOVERNIGHT ENERGY: McEachin signals interest in Biden administration environment role | Haaland, eyed for Interior, stresses need for Native American representation | Haaland backers ask Udall to step aside in bid for Interior post Haaland, eyed for Interior, stresses need for Native American representation Haaland backers ask Udall to step aside in bid for Interior post MORE (D-N.M.) on Friday stressed the importance of having Native American representation in government — nodding to the role she could play in a Biden administration that has come under increased pressure to select her to lead the Interior Department.

“I think it’s wonderful that our country is progressing in that manner, that a Cabinet-level position filled by a Native American is a conversation that we’re having right now,” Haaland said in a Washington Post Live event.

If selected to lead the Interior Department, Haaland would be the first Native American to hold a Cabinet-level position.

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She would also be in charge of an agency that has often fallen short in its responsibilities to tribes.

Haaland specifically called out the Trump administration for building the border wall along lands sacred to Native Americans and for shrinking national monuments of importance to tribes like Bears Ears.

“We have to include Native Americans in the conversation because this was all Indian country at one time,” she said. “They deserve to be consulted when decisions about our public lands are made. We’ve seen that play out in real time during this administration and what happens when you don’t consult tribes.”

Native American and progressive groups have upped their insistence that President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenBiden team says it’s ‘no surprise’ Supreme Court rejected Texas lawsuit Giuliani says Trump team ‘not finished’ after Supreme Court defeat Cuomo under consideration to become Biden’s attorney general: reports MORE pick Haaland, urging another contender on the shortlist, Sen. Tom UdallTom UdallOVERNIGHT ENERGY: McEachin signals interest in Biden administration environment role | Haaland, eyed for Interior, stresses need for Native American representation | Haaland backers ask Udall to step aside in bid for Interior post Haaland, eyed for Interior, stresses need for Native American representation Haaland backers ask Udall to step aside in bid for Interior post MORE (D-N.M.), to step aside and back his New Mexican colleague.

But Biden is also weighing another Native American, Obama-era Interior Deputy Secretary Michael Connor, for the job.

Haaland dodged the question, however, when asked if Connor’s potential appointment would carry the same significance.

“What I’ll say is I worked extremely hard to make sure that Joe Biden won this election. And I am going to support whoever President-elect Biden chooses for any Cabinet position, it’ll be my job in Congress, or wherever I am to make sure that this administration is a success. And I’m committed to that,” she said. 

Some members of the White House coronavirus task force recommended lifting ban on travel from Brazil, the U.K., and European Union countries, two officials involved in discussions told CNBC.

If the proposal, which was not unanimous, was approved, it would be announced before President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump calls on Georgia AG not to have other Republicans oppose election lawsuit: report Pennsylvania GOP leader on breaking with Trump on election: ‘I’d get my house bombed tonight’ Lawmakers call for lowering health care costs to address disparities in pandemic MORE leaves office, the news outlet reports.

The report comes as the U.S. experiences a surge in coronavirus cases as the colder weather forces more people indoors.

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The proposal would reverse bans on inbound travel for the countries that were implemented at the start of the pandemic, according to CNBC. However, it would not guarantee that U.S. travelers could enter into those countries.

The officials told CNBC that travel bans from China and Iran would stay in place.

The task force agreed that local authorities would handle testing and quarantine guidelines for international travelers, according to CNBC. However, sources told the news outlet that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opposed lifting the restrictions, given its warnings around domestic travel for the holidays.

In addition, there’s still disagreement between nations over what protocols are necessary to limit spread of the virus, and disagreements between the Trump administration and incoming Biden administration could complicate negotiations .

The European travel ban was imposed in March as the pandemic spread, and the ban on travelers from Brazil followed in May. The restrictions on Iran and China were imposed earlier.

Reuters reported in late November that the Trump administration was considering an end to the travel ban.

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The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

There have been 15,393,164 coronavirus cases in the U.S. since the pandemic began, according to a count from Johns Hopkins University, and over 289,000 Americans have died.

Globally, there have been 69,055,853 cases, and over 1.5 million deaths.

A senior FBI cybersecurity official and top security experts at leading health care groups on Thursday warned that nation state hackers and other cyber criminals are targeting the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process. 

“We see our most determined nation state adversaries not just relying on one method to target the supply chain, but combining cyber with using more traditional espionage and human sources to try to penetrate organizations,” Tonya Ugoretz, the FBI’s deputy assistant director of Cyber Readiness, Outreach, and Intelligence Branch, said at the Aspen Institute’s virtual Cyber Summit. 

Ugoretz’s comments were made the same day IBM issued a warning that a “global phishing campaign” was targeting the cold storage portion of the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) put out a joint alert to encourage groups involved in the vaccine distribution process to be on guard against attacks. 

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The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that North Korean hackers had attempted to hack into at least six pharmaceutical groups in the U.S. and the United Kingdom involved in developing the COVID-19 vaccine, including Johnson & Johnson and Novavax.

Marene Allison, the chief information security officer (CISO) for Johnson & Johnson, emphasized Thursday that the incident was an “attempted hack,” but confirmed that the health sector is facing escalating cyber threats aimed at the COVID-19 vaccine. 

“All CISOs in healthcare are seeing attempted penetrations by nation state actors, not just North Korea, every single minute of every single day,” Allison said during the same Aspen Institute panel. 

Both Ugoretz and Allison noted that much of the attempted cyber targeting of health sector groups involved with the vaccine came through targeting third party organizations associated with the primary groups. 

“We are certainly seeing our cyber adversaries move to targeting of those third parties in order to try to then move into the targets that they are trying to reach,” Ugoretz said. 

Meredith Harper, the CISO of pharmaceutical group Eli Lilly, which has worked to develop a COVID-19 antibody drug, said on the same panel that her company had been forced to “spring into action” to protect third party groups associated with Eli Lilly’s work due to the escalation of cyberattacks targeted at them.

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“Probably this year we have done way more incidents around our third parties than we’ve seen in the last few years,” Harper said. 

The overall health sector has become a main target of both nation state hackers and cyber criminals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Groups involved in researching COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, federal and international agencies involved in the response to the pandemic, and overwhelmed hospitals have increasingly been targeted. 

The U.S., the U.K. and Canada warned in July that Russian hackers were targeting COVID-19 researchers, while the FBI and CISA put out an alert in May warning that Chinese government-backed hackers are targeting U.S. organizations developing vaccines and treatments for the COVID-19 virus.

Ugoretz said Thursday that the alert was part of coordinated efforts by the federal government to push back against foreign hackers, and to put them on notice. 

“For too long, we think these adversaries have acted with what they think is impunity, and we want to change that risk calculus for them,” Ugoretz said. 

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the rape convictions of three male Air Force members, reversing a ruling from the military’s top court that dismissed their cases.

In an 8-0 decision regarding U.S. v Briggs, the country’s highest court ruled that a five-year statute of limitations does not apply to military rape prosecutions and convictions that occurred between 1986 and 2006.

The court in October heard the arguments in the case, which concerned how rape committed by U.S. service members is prosecuted and punished. 

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In 2014, Lt. Col. Michael Briggs was sentenced for the 2005 rape of a female service member.

But in a landmark 2018 decision, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces broke with precedent to rule that a five-year statute of limitations applied to military rape prosecutions. As a result, Briggs’s conviction was dismissed as were those of two other airmen, Lt. Col. Humphrey Daniels, who raped a woman in 1998, and Master Sgt. Richard Collins, who in 2000 raped an airman.

Up until then, the U.S. Military Code had no statute of limitations on rape claims.

Thursday’s ruling overturned the lower court’s decision, with the justices finding that the military code weighed “heavily in favor of the government’s interpretation” to prosecute rape claims going back to the 1980s.

“Today’s opinion was a huge win for military rape survivors,” retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, the president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for victims of sexual assault in the military, said in a statement. “The unanimous nature of this opinion is a testament of just how wrong the lower court’s opinion was. Justice has been restored for three survivors and hope has been restored for countless others.”

The newest court member, Justice Amy Coney BarrettAmy Coney BarrettTime to hang up on a bad anti-robocall law Supreme Court rules military rape cases have no statute of limitations Supreme Court allows Muslim men to sue FBI agents over no-fly list MORE, did not participate in the ruling. The case was argued in October, before she was confirmed and joined the bench.

Iran is moving a critical nuclear facility underground following a July explosion that destroyed a centrifuge assembly hall at a nuclear fuel enrichment facility in Natanz, according to the visual investigations team of The New York Times.

The Times collaborated with Jeffrey Lewis, an arms control expert with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California, to interpret a new image depicting tunnel entrances for underground construction in the mountain foothills south of the Natanz facility.

Following the explosion in July, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said the destroyed building would be rebuilt in “the heart of the mountains.”

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It is unclear who was responsible for the attack on the facility. However, a spokesman for Iran’s top security body said in July the cause had been accurately determined but denied to reveal the primary suspect.

“Due to security considerations, the cause and manner of the incident will be announced at a convenient time,” said Keyvan Khosravi.

Lewis said the new location under a mountain ridge is likely to be more secure than the previous centrifuge assembly.

“It is located far from a road and the ridge offers significant overburden that would protect the facility from air attack,” Lewis stated in a written statement.

Lewis cited geographic images of the potential site, pointing toward two tunnel entrances on either side of a large ridge “with a pile of soil from excavation nearby.”

“The major clue is the pile of spoil from the excavation that was not present in July,” said Lewis. “Iran also regraded a pair of roads on each side of the ridge leading to what appear to be tunnel entrances.”

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The July fire at the Natanz facility escalated tensions among Iranian officials alleging evidence of foreign interference attempting to prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear efforts.

Last month, the country’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in a daylight attack, with some Iranian officials alleging Israel and the U.S. were behind the operation.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz responded to Iran’s allegations after the July explosion, saying: “Not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with us.”

Regarding the killing of Fakhrizadeh, Israeli Cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi said in an interview on N12’s “Meet the Press” he had “no clue” who was behind the attack. 

Happy Thursday and welcome to Overnight Defense. I’m Ellen Mitchell, and here’s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.

 

THE TOPLINE: President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Denis McDonough, who served as former President Obama’s White House chief of staff, as his pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

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The Biden transition team announced the pick on Thursday, along with a slew of other official nominations, including Susan Rice for director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Tom Vilsack for Agriculture secretary, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) for Housing and Urban Development secretary and Katherine TaiKatherine TaiBiden makes Fudge, Vilsack, Tai nominations official Biden selects Katherine Tai for top trade post MORE for U.S. trade representative.

“This dedicated and distinguished group of public servants will bring the highest level of experience, compassion, and integrity to bear, solving problems and expanding possibilities for the American people in the face of steep challenges,” Biden said in a statement. 

More on the picks: McDonough is among several Obama alumni with national security experience to be tapped for the incoming Biden administration, along with Rice and Antony Blinken, Biden’s pick for secretary of State.

Rice served as a national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations under Obama while Blinken worked as a deputy national security adviser and deputy secretary of State. McDonough also served as a deputy national security adviser and as chief of staff of the National Security Council.

McDonough, who if confirmed will be the second non-veteran to hold the top Veterans Affairs post, oversaw staffing changes and policy response to the VA’s 2014 wait time scandal that led to the resignation of then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, the Military Times noted.

Praise rushes in: Former VA Secretary David Shulkin, the only other non-veteran to serve as VA secretary, on Thursday took to Twitter to praise Biden’s reported selection of McDonough. 

But some surprised: Still, some indicated their surprise with the selection.

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“We are surprised by this pick, no way to deny that,” Joe Chenelly, national executive director of AMVETS, a congressionally chartered veterans service organization, told the Military Times. “We were expecting a veteran, maybe a post-9/11 veteran, maybe a woman veteran, or maybe a veteran who knows the VA exceptionally well.”

The director added, “We are looking forward to hearing from President-Elect Biden on his thinking behind this nomination.”

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) said in a statement it was “concerned that the nominee does not meet the criteria long championed by the organization” but said it was “cautiously optimistic” about his nomination. The group’s CEO Jeremy Butler called the pick “unexpected but also encouraging.”

 

SENATE SQUABBLING SPARKS SHUTDOWN: The threat of a brief government shutdown is growing as the annual defense bill and a stopgap funding measure hit snags that could delay them into the weekend or next week.

Senate leadership had hoped to pass both the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and a one-week continuing resolution Thursday.

Instead, multiple senators are delaying the bills, meaning the Senate might fail to pass the stopgap measure before Friday night’s deadline, raising the prospect of a government shutdown.

“It’s got to get done by tomorrow night at midnight … or a temporary shutdown,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican.

Setbacks expected: The setbacks come after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hinted at a rare Friday session.

“For the information of all senators, we should expect the potential for a late night tonight and the possibility of votes tomorrow,” he said.

Part of the headache for leadership is timing and how the bills are lined up for floor votes.

Without cooperation from all senators, the earliest the Senate could take an initial vote on the $740 billion defense bill is Friday, and after that it could still be subjected to an additional 30 hours of debate.

Any action on the government funding measure is stuck behind the defense bill, unless leadership can get an agreement from every senator to let it leapfrog the NDAA. Without full cooperation, the Senate’s handling of the stopgap spending bill could drag on for days, well past Friday’s midnight deadline.

Read more here.

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SUPREME COURT RULES MILITARY RAPE CASES HAVE NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS: The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the rape convictions of three male Air Force members, reversing a ruling from the military’s top court that dismissed their cases.

In an 8-0 decision regarding U.S. v Briggs, the country’s highest court ruled that a five-year statute of limitations does not apply to military rape prosecutions and convictions that occurred between 1986 and 2006.

About the case: The court in October heard the arguments in the case, which concerned how rape committed by U.S. service members is prosecuted and punished. 

In 2014, Lt. Col. Michael Briggs was sentenced for the 2005 rape of a female service member.

But in a landmark 2018 decision, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces broke with precedent to rule that a five-year statute of limitations applied to military rape prosecutions. As a result, Briggs’s conviction was dismissed as were those of two other airmen, Lt. Col. Humphrey Daniels, who raped a woman in 1998, and Master Sgt. Richard Collins, who in 2000 raped an airman.

Up until then, the U.S. Military Code had no statute of limitations on rape claims.

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Overturned: Thursday’s ruling overturned the lower court’s decision, with the justices finding that the military code weighed “heavily in favor of the government’s interpretation” to prosecute rape claims going back to the 1980s.

“Today’s opinion was a huge win for military rape survivors,” retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen, the president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for victims of sexual assault in the military, said in a statement. “The unanimous nature of this opinion is a testament of just how wrong the lower court’s opinion was. Justice has been restored for three survivors and hope has been restored for countless others.”

 

INHOFE CALL TRUMP’S WESTERN SAHARA DEAL ‘SHOCKING AND DEEPLY DISAPPOINTING’: The Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is blasting President Trump’s deal to recognize Morocco’s claims to contested territory in the Western Sahara in exchange for the North African country formalizing diplomatic relations with Israel.

In a statement Thursday, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said he applauds Trump’s “unprecedented efforts to foster recognition between Israel and Arab nations through the Abraham Accords” but he called the decision on the Western Sahara “shocking and deeply disappointing.”

“I am saddened that the rights of the Western Saharan people have been traded away,” he said. “The president has been poorly advised by his team; he could have made this deal without trading the rights of a voiceless people.”

Earlier in the day: Trump announced U.S. recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara in a series of tweets Thursday announcing that the country had become the fourth Muslim-majority and Arab country to open ties with Israel in recent months, following U.S.-brokered diplomatic breakthroughs this year with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan.

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Morocco annexed the full territory of the Western Sahara in 1979 but did not receive international recognition of its claims in the face of conflict with the indigenous Sahrawi people, represented by the political-military group Polisario Front. The final status of the territory has stalled under a 1991 cease-fire brokered by the United Nations.

Inhofe ‘won’t stop’: In his statement Thursday, Inhofe vowed that he “won’t stop fighting” for the Sahrawi people, expressing hope the United States will return to alignment with the international community on the issue.

“During my most recent visit to the Sahrawi refugee camps, I visited with the children that lived there. They were joyous, happy, ordinary children who didn’t know yet that they were part of a frozen, forgotten conflict where their hopes and freedoms were dying a cruel death,” he said.

“Today’s announcement does not change the United Nations or [European Union] positions, nor the charter of the African Union, nor the opinion of the [International Court of Justice] – a referendum must still happen,” he added. “I urge these organizations to stand strong to support Western Sahara’s right to self-determination and am confident the U.S. will be able to return to the policy we’ve held since 1966.”

More on this from The Hill:

— Top House Democrat warns against Trump’s Western Sahara designation

 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana will speak at the Atlantic Council’s online discussion on “NATO 20/2020: 20 bold ideas to reimagine the Alliance after the 2020 U.S. election,” at 9 a.m. 

The Center for Strategic and International Studies will hold a webcast on “Nuclear Modernization and Arms Control in 2021,” with House Armed Services Chairman Rep. Adam SmithDavid (Adam) Adam SmithOVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Biden taps ex-Obama chief for VA | Shutdown looms amid standoff | SCOTUS rules on rape cases in military Overnight Defense: Biden defends picking retired general for Pentagon head | House passes weeklong stopgap spending bill | Senate rejects effort to block Trump’s UAE arms sale Defense pick faces big hurdle MORE (D-Wash.), at 12 p.m.

The Heritage Foundation will hear from national security experts for its webinar on “The Navy’s Role in Great Power Competition,” at 1 p.m.

The Woodrow Wilson Center will host an online discussion on “U.S.-Russia Relations in the Biden Administration,” at 1 p.m.

The Woodrow Wilson Center will also hold a virtual discussion with Army officials on “Arctic Security Dialogues: Toward a U.S. Army Arctic Strategy,” at 4 p.m. 

 

ICYMI

— The Hill: US flies two B-52s over Persian Gulf amid tensions with Iran

— The Hill: State Department No. 2 hits North Korea over lack of negotiations, acknowledges Biden win

— The Hill: Pentagon withdrawing support from CIA counter-terrorism efforts: report

— The Hill: Mnuchin faces heat over coronavirus rescue loan to trucking company

— The Hill: Congress vows to further investigate Fort Hood violence, sexual harassment

— The Hill: FCC rejects Huawei appeal of national security threat designation

— The Hill: Opinion: Mike Pompeo’s disastrous legacy

— The Hill: Opinion: The dangerous dance of dealing with a nuclear North Korea

— Military Times: This bill would grant automatic care to veterans who believe burn pit exposures made them sick

— The New York Times:  Afghan Journalist Is Killed in Latest Attack on Media Figures

Wildfires in the arctic are linked to warming temperatures there, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

NOAA’s new 2020 update to its Arctic Report Card said the “extreme” fires in Russia’s Sakha Republic “coincided with unparalleled warm air temperatures and record snow loss.”

Increasing air temperature over the past 41 years is a factor contributing to “more favorable” conditions for fires, the report said. 

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Scientists have repeatedly linked climate change to extreme weather events. 

The new report noted that this year’s annual land surface air temperature in the region was the second highest recorded since at least 1900. 

The new NOAA report also said sea ice loss this year was particularly high, with the end of summer sea ice extent reaching the second-lowest level recorded during the past 42 years. 

It said that changes due to sea ice loss are “challenging” traditional ways of life for coastal indigenous communities and the loss of sea ice cover may be linked to weather shifts.

The report follows recent news showing that the planet in general is reaching warmer temperatures.

The United Nations’s World Meteorological Organization recently projected that 2020 will be among the three hottest years recorded globally. It also said the years 2015 through 2020 are expected to be the six warmest on record.

Sens. Bernie SandersBernie SandersFederal government executes Brandon Bernard despite last-minute appeals Sanders, Hawley team up to demand vote on second round of stimulus checks On The Money: Millions of Americans in poverty as Black, Native American wages stagnate | Jobless claims jump to 853K | Economists warn against excluding state aid from COVID-19 relief MORE (I-Vt.) and Josh HawleyJoshua (Josh) David HawleySanders, Hawley team up to demand vote on second round of stimulus checks On The Money: Millions of Americans in poverty as Black, Native American wages stagnate | Jobless claims jump to 853K | Economists warn against excluding state aid from COVID-19 relief MasterCard, Visa to stop allowing their cards to be used on Pornhub MORE (R-Mo.) are teaming up to push for a vote on a second round of stimulus checks — an unusual alliance that underscores the wide political spectrum that supports more direct payments. 

The two senators introduced a proposal on Thursday that would provide a second $1,200 stimulus check to individuals who make up to $75,000, mirroring language included in the March CARES Act. 

Hawley and Sanders are pledging to try to force a vote, either as part of a weeklong stopgap bill that needs to pass by Friday night or the dual government funding and coronavirus relief negotiations that need to be resolved by  Dec. 18. 

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“My view is that we want a vote on this one way or another, before we leave town,” Hawley told reporters. 

Sanders added in, “at the very least.” 

“All that Sen. Hawley and I are asking for is the exact same language, word for word, that was in the CARES Act,” Sanders said. 

The push by Hawley and Sanders come as a bipartisan group of senators and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellOVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Biden taps ex-Obama chief for VA | Shutdown looms amid standoff | SCOTUS rules on rape cases in military Sanders, Hawley team up to demand vote on second round of stimulus checks Bette Middler blasts McConnell: ‘How did he win with an 18% approval rating?’ MORE (R-Ky.) have offered separate coronavirus relief proposals, neither of which include a second round of stimulus checks. 

The push for stimulus checks divides GOP senators and would beef up the price tag, which could also spark GOP opposition. 

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But several progressives and Hawley have pushed for it to be included as part of any agreement that passes before the end of the year. Hawley, a potential 2024 presidential contender, has also urged President TrumpDonald TrumpBiden and Harris named Time’s 2020 ‘Person of the Year’ US to sanction Turkey over Russian defense system: report Federal government executes Brandon Bernard despite last-minute appeals MORE to veto any coronavirus deal that does not include a round of direct payments. 

Hawley initially said on Thursday morning that he would be introducing a bill. 

But Hawley and Sanders came to the floor late Thursday afternoon to announce that they had teamed up on an effort to get it attached to a continuing resolution (CR) that has to pass by Friday or to get a guarantee of a vote next week. 

“Next week, I am going to do everything that I can to make sure that that happens. We cannot, we will not leave Washington unless we make certain that millions of families have the economic assistance that they need,” Sanders said from the Senate floor. 

The decision to team up comes as GOP leadership is blaming Sanders for threatening to hold up the CR as part of an effort to get a vote on the proposal. 

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Sanders, speaking with reporters, refused to rule that out but said, “let’s play it by ear.” 

Asked about the remarks from Sen. John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneOVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Biden taps ex-Obama chief for VA | Shutdown looms amid standoff | SCOTUS rules on rape cases in military Sanders, Hawley team up to demand vote on second round of stimulus checks On The Money: Millions of Americans in poverty as Black, Native American wages stagnate | Jobless claims jump to 853K | Economists warn against excluding state aid from COVID-19 relief MORE (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, he added: “They can blame me for anything they want.” 

“But people back home by the millions are going to be blaming this Congress for inaction, for leaving their children to go hungry, or to get evicted, that’s where the blame lies,” he said. 

Hawley said that he would let a one-week CR pass by Friday night, but signaled that he viewed the second government funding bill that needs to be passed by next Friday as a leverage point. 

“Tomorrow’s CR I would be willing to let move forward, but I want a vote on this before we leave town,” Hawley said. “There’s various options, we’ll see. Next week will be an interesting week.”