Senate Republicans and Democrats remain far apart on using DoD money for the border wall — so far that the government might not gets its 2020 budget on time,

A key Trump ally, Sen. Lindsay Graham, bucks the White House on its proposed $8 billion arms sale.

CAPITOL HILL: It’s not every day you hear a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asking Congress to undo part of the administration’s budget proposal. But National Guard Bureau director Gen. Frank Grass is in a unique position, the only chief caught between the Pentagon and the states. So this morning, Gen. Grass explicitly… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: This week, the House Armed Services Committee gave advocates for the Army National Guard about half of what they wanted. Next week, a staffer told me, the Senate Armed Services Committee may look at giving the Guard the other half. But because Guard backers have taken very different approaches in each chamber, it’ll be… Keep reading →

[UPDATED with Army & Senate responses] WASHINGTON: After convening in Washington for briefings on the Army budget and how to implement it, the state-level commanders of the National Guard have instead launched a new offensive against the Army plan to cut their forces, flooding Capitol Hill with letters and PowerPoint slides (embedded below). Their immediate goal:… Keep reading →

UPDATED: Sen. Leahy, 12 Other Senators, Decry Planned Guard Cuts To Hagel (6:20 PM Monday) PENTAGON: Congress and the Pentagon are likely to battle for most of the rest of this year over the administration’s budget plans: to retire the U-2 (again); to retire half the Navy’s current cruiser fleet; to trim and consolidate pay… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Daniel Inouye is dead. Who will succeed him? Well, it might be a “she.” It is callous, even ghoulish, that we media have started speculating on who will succeed one of the nation’s most respected Senators within four hours of his death, but that’s Washington for you. As the condolences and eulogies pour in… Keep reading →