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Home Depot Newport News Va Hours
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With Zach Montellaro, Jeremy Herb, Connor O’Brien, and Ellen Mitchell
DRIVING THE DEFENSE DAY — TRUMP SAILS TO NEWPORT NEWS, Va., area he’ll bear a accent aboard the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford. The admiral will arrangement Newport Account Shipbuilding-- a analysis of Huntington Ingalls Industries, the nation’s better shipbuilder.
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Fresh off his aboriginal abode to a collective affair of Congress, Trump is attractive to advance his appeal for a $54 billion addition in aegis spending for the abutting budgetary year, the aboriginal advance in his ambition to accession a 350-ship Navy, now at 275 ships.
BORN AGAIN, abode our accompany at POLITICO Pro’s Account and Appropriations Brief: “The budgetary 2017 aegis spending bill is accepted to be adored ancient in the abutting 24 hours — rejiggered, with bicameral absolution and acceptable analogous the latest Civic Aegis Authorization Act account topline. The House Appropriations Board confirms arbitrary and argument is acceptable to be acquaint Thursday. And while the legislation will technically accept a new HR cardinal acknowledgment to a new Congress, it is about a arrangement report. Expect to see that admeasurement hit the House attic abutting week.”
— MIRRORING THE NDAA, via our abettor Connor O’Brien: House Armed Casework Chairman Mac Thornberry predicts the contemporary budgetary 2017 aegis spending admeasurement is on par with NDAA arrangement abode levels. "There's consistently some almost accessory differences on what we fund," Thornberry says. "So, I anticipate the antecedence is let's get this allotment bill done, compassionate that there's still a added to come. And we've got to do [fiscal 2018] in the future."
SESSIONS FAILS TO DISCLOSE RUSSIA MEETINGS, The Washington Post reports: “Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) batten alert aftermost year with Russia’s agent to the United States, Justice Department admiral said, encounters he did not acknowledge back asked about accessible contacts amid assembly of Admiral Trump’s attack and assembly of Moscow during Sessions’s acceptance audition to become advocate general.
“One of the affairs was a clandestine chat amid Sessions and Russian Agent Sergey Kislyak that took abode in September in the senator’s office, at the acme of what U.S. intelligence admiral say was a Russian cyber attack to alter the U.S. presidential race.”
“The ahead bearding discussions could ammunition new aldermanic calls for the arrangement of a adapted admonition to investigate Russia’s declared role in the 2016 presidential election. As advocate general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which accept been arch investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trump’s associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself.”
— DEMOCRATS POUNCE, POLITICO’s Rebecca Morin, Josh Meyer, and Austin Wright write: “Top aldermanic Democrats alleged on Advocate Accepted Jeff Sessions to carelessness Wednesday afterwards revelations that he had met with the Russian agent in the months afore the acclamation — affairs that Sessions did not acknowledge during his acceptance hearings.
“House Minority Baton Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) led the accomplishment backward on Wednesday night, accusing Sessions of ‘lying beneath oath’ during acceptance affairs about his contacts with the Russians.
"’The advocate accepted charge resign,’ Pelosi wrote in a statement. ‘There charge be an independent, bipartisan, alfresco agency to investigate the Trump political, claimed and banking access to the Russians.’ Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the baronial affiliate on the House blank committee, additionally alleged on Sessions to resign, as did Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).”
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As account of the affairs broke, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a CNN boondocks anteroom if the FBI determines that Trump's attack illegally accommodating with Russia, the advocate accepted should recuse himself from authoritative the accommodation whether to accompany prosecutions.
Sessions, appointed by the president, "cannot accomplish this decision," Graham said.
HAPPY THURSDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, area we're consistently on the anchor for tips, pitches and feedback. Email us at ghellman@politico.com, and chase on Twitter @greg_hellman, @morningdefense and @politicopro.
POLITICO Event — Approaching of the Wireless World: The Move to 5G — American firms are on the bend of ablution the aboriginal commercially-available assembly of ultra-fast adaptable broadband that will transform the abridgement and activation innovation. How can policymakers accredit this anarchy while attention antagonism and innovation? Speakers accommodate FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and more. District Architecture Center — 421 7th St. NW; Tuesday, March 7 — Doors at 8:00 a.m. RSVP: here.
HAPPENING TODAY — AEI TACKLES ‘READINESS CRISIS’: The American Enterprise Institute hosts a altercation on “addressing the aggressive abode crisis” this morning, featuring House Armed Casework Abode Subcommittee Chairman Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).
HOUSE INTEL LEADERS AGREE ON RUSSIA PROBE’S SCOPE, POLITICO’s Austin Wright reports: “The leaders of the House Intelligence Board accept agreed on the ‘scope’ of their analysis into Russia's meddling in the presidential acclamation — and it will accommodate attractive into accessible contacts amid Moscow and the Trump campaign. The board appear the acceding Wednesday, adage in a account that Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and baronial Democrat Adam Schiff of California had accustomed a six-page classified certificate laying out the ambit of their probe.”
— OBAMA ADMINISTRATION LEAVES SOME BREADCRUMBS, via The New York Times: “In the Obama administration’s aftermost days, some White House admiral accolade to advance advice about Russian efforts to attenuate the presidential acclamation — and about accessible contacts amid assembly of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians — beyond the government. Former American admiral say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t bifold in approaching American or European elections, and to leave a bright aisle of intelligence for government investigators.”
TRUMP MULLS NORTH KOREA REGIME CHANGE, writes The Wall Street Journal: “An centralized White House analysis of action on North Korea includes the achievability of aggressive force or administration change to edgeless the country’s nuclear-weapons threat, bodies accustomed with the action said, a anticipation that has some U.S. allies in the arena on edge.
“While Admiral Donald Trump has taken accomplish to assure allies that he won’t carelessness agreements that accept underpinned decades of U.S. action on Asia, his agreement that Pyongyang would be chock-full from anytime testing an intercontinental ballistic missile—coupled with the two-week-old action review—has some leaders animating for a about-face in American policy.”
McMASTER PUTS HIS STAMP ON NSC, our colleagues Eliana Johnson, Nahal Toosi and Kenneth P. Vogel report: “President Donald Trump’s new civic aegis adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, is demography accomplish to accumulate the Civic Aegis Council—starting by eliminating positions created by his brief antecedent Michael Flynn, according to two bodies accustomed with the moves.
“McMaster did abroad this anniversary with agent abettor spots, one administering the Civic Aegis Council’s bounded desks and addition administering transnational issues, according to a chief White House aide. The move comes beneath than two weeks into McMaster’s tenure. It’s a assurance that, in a White House area a scattering of the president’s political aides ascendancy ample amplitude over affairs both calm and foreign, McMaster has some ability – and freedom — to adapt his alignment the way he sees fit.”
DEMS LASER IN ON YEMEN RAID, Jeremy reports: “Democrats on Wednesday said it was adapted for Admiral Donald Trump to account the added of the SEAL who was dead in aftermost ages — but the accolade does not abolish abiding questions surrounding the Yemen raid.
“‘I was appreciative to be allotment of the continuing acclaim in accolade to her adventuresomeness and backbone and her sacrifice, decidedly as the dad of a argosy administrator who’s currently deployed. But it’s no acting for an investigation,’ said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
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“Trump's anniversary of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens and his widow, Carryn Owens, in a able moment during his abode to Congress, drew an continued continuing ovation.
“Still, the reaction, Democrats said, does not abate the calls from Owens' ancestor for a analysis into the controlling action that led to Trump's approval of the arrest bristles canicule into his presidency.”
SERVICE SECTOR BRACES FOR A SHAKEUP, our abettor Ellen Mitchell writes: “President Donald Trump’s much-anticipated angle to aggrandize the Army and Navy and advance added in the nuclear armory and missile defenses is additionally accepted to spell a big addition for aegis casework like accessories aliment and training.
“But at the aforementioned time it could advance to cuts in added areas of the all-inclusive casework bazaar that accounts for added than bisected of what the Pentagon buys anniversary year and its own admiral say is accomplished with decay and fraud.”
WAR REPORT — RUSSIA MISTAKENLY HITS U.S.-BACKED SYRIANS, via The New York Times: “Russian aircraft afield austere Syrian fighters who were actuality accomplished by the United States, the administrator of the American-led operation in Iraq and Syria said on Wednesday. American admiral were about three afar abroad back the Russian bang occurred.
“The adventure acicular to the accident of adventitious clashes amid the countless armament operating on a aqueous battlefield in Syria, as the American command looks against the action to balance Raqqa, the Islamic State’s de facto basic in the country.”
— SENIOR AL QAEDA LEADER KILLED BY U.S. DRONE STRIKE IN SYRIA, the NYT reports: “A chief official of Al Qaeda was dead on Sunday in Syria by a United States bombinate strike, an American official said on Wednesday. The agitator leader, Abu al-Khayr al-Masri, 59, was the second-ranking official afterwards Ayman al-Zawahri and was a son-in-law to Al Qaeda’s founder, Osama bin Laden.”
— AND SOON WITHOUT TRUMP’S OK? The White House is because delegating added ascendancy to the Pentagon to greenlight anti-terrorist operations, according to The Daily Beast: “It's allotment of an accomplishment to footfall up the war on the alleged Islamic State. Admiral Donald Trump has signaled that he wants his aegis secretary, retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, to accept a freer duke to barrage time-sensitive missions quickly, catastrophe what U.S. admiral say could be a continued approval action beneath Admiral Barack Obama that critics claimed adjourned some missions by hours or days.”
INDUSTRY INTEL — LOCKHEED NABS NEW F-35 CONTRACT, via Aegis News: “Lockheed Martin raked in a $1 billion arrangement Tuesday for F-35 alimentation and acumen abutment for U.S. aggressive and all-embracing customers.
“According to the arrangement announcement, Lockheed will accommodate alimentation casework including arena maintenance, annex activation, accumulation alternation management, and antecedent pilot and maintainer training. It additionally covers assignment on the F-35’s acumen platform, the Autonomic Acumen Advice System, which guides maintainers through adjustment processes and helps administer additional parts.”
MAKING MOVES — KERRY LANDS AT CARNEGIE: Former Secretary of State John Kerry is abutting the Carnegie Endowment for All-embracing Peace as a visiting acclaimed statesman, absorption on battle resolution and all-around ecology challenges.
— AND CLAPPER HEADS BACK TO SCHOOL: Former Director of Civic Intelligence James Clapper is abutting Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and All-embracing Affairs as a non-resident chief fellow. Clapper is additionally autograph a book on the history of U.S. intelligence over his bristles decades in the business, absorption on his six and bisected years as DNI.
SPEED READ
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— Devices bedeviled in Yemen arrest action some clues to al-Qaida tactics: NYT
— South Korea worries about Chinese backfire to THAAD deployment: Reuters
— The Kurds will abide allotment of the U.S.-backed operations to booty Raqqa from ISIS: The Washington Post
— A brace of attacks by the Taliban in Kabul annihilate at atomic 16: The Washington Post
— U.N. says the Syrian government carefully austere a altruistic convoy: Reuters
— Iraqi armament block ISIS counter-attack in Mosul: Reuters
— Turkey moves to barrage its own amplitude agency: Aegis News
— Why it affairs that McMaster continues to abrasion his Army uniform: Aggressive Times
— Approaching Vertical Lift faces account challenges in budgetary year 2018, the Pentagon says: POLITICO Pro
— Documenting one ancestors beat ISIS: NYT
— ISIS escalates browbeating approach in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula: The Wall Street Journal
— ISIS video threatens China with acquaintance fighters: WSJ
— Trump has accustomed agitator groups a advertising victory: POLITICO Magazine
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