A friendly Senate hearing heated up when Sen. Elizabeth Warren told Acting SecDef Esper “you should not be confirmed as Secretary of Defense.”

With Esper’s nomination, the Pentagon gets its third Acting SecDef in one month, underscoring the continued turmoil at the top of Trump administration’s national security machine.

“After a comprehensive investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, there was insufficient evidence to support any finding of misconduct on the part of Gen. Hyten,” Pentagon spokeswoman Col. DeDe Halfhill said yesterday.

“Arlington is full of our comrades, and we understand absolutely full well the hazards of our chosen profession … and we are not going to be intimidated into making stupid decisions. We will give our best military advice, regardless of the consequences to ourselves.”

“We’re expediting the process, but there are no shortcuts,” says SASC Ranking Member Jack Reed regarding Mark Esper’s SecDef confirmation hearing.

Senate language on the Space Force leaves open the chance that a new administration could walk it back to merely changing the name of Air Force Space Command, says CSIS’s Kaitlyn Johnson.

The Navy’s new $13 billion carrier has run into trouble, and the Navy has called in some outside help.

If the Senate has its way, Gen. John Raymond will lead the new joint US Space Command, the existing Air Force Space Command, and the new Space Force. If this sounds both confusing and daunting, that’s because it is.

The HASC ‘Space Corps’ will be much cheaper than the Trump Administration’s plan for a Space Force, says CBO.

The $750 billion defense policy bill sticks with the administration’s topline, but huge fights loom with the House version. Prepare for a long, hot summer.