Lawmakers huddle to plot next steps on the budget – Politico

With Connor OBrien

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Top House and Senate budget lawmakers plan to meet this evening to figure out the way forward for the fiscal 2020 budget.

Lawmakers say Turkeys president shouldnt meet with President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

The Pentagon chief says an Army officer who testified in the impeachment inquiry shouldnt face retaliation.

HAPPY TUESDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, where we're always on the lookout for tips, pitches and feedback. Email us at dbrown@politico.com, and follow on Twitter @dave_brown24, @morningdefense and @politicopro.

HAPPENING TONIGHT: The four top appropriators on Capitol Hill Sens. Richard Shelby and Patrick Leahy, and Reps. Nita Lowey and Kay Granger will meet tonight to breathe life into plans to pass a budget even as the clock ticks down to the end of the current continuing resolution, POLITICOs Caitlin Emma reported last week.

That includes figuring out how to deal with Trumps plans to divert funding for the border wall. Were going to talk about everything any way to move the process, Shelby said. We have to do the best we can as soon as we can.

And while everyone agrees that the impeachment proceedings are sucking the oxygen out of the quest to pass appropriations bills, The Associated Press writes that the hearings bring one benefit.

The odds for a spending deal could be helped by the apparent sidelining because of impeachment of acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and budget office chief Russell Vought, two hard-liners with whom [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has clashed in the past.

AID WITH STRINGS ATTACHED: Aides to President Donald Trump are drafting plans to condition U.S. aid to other countries on how well they treat their religious minorities, two White House officials said, POLITICOs Nahal Toosi and Gabby Orr report.

The proposal is expected to cover U.S. humanitarian assistance, and could also be broadened to include American military aid to other countries. If the proposal becomes reality, it could have a major effect on U.S. assistance in a range of places, from Iraq to Vietnam.

Subject to change: Two White House officials ... stressed that the idea is in its early stages and an executive order is still being drafted, meaning questions about, say, whether military aid will be covered remain unanswered.

NSC SHRINKAGE: White House national security adviser Robert OBrien is moving quickly to shrink and reshape his staff rattling some nerves already frayed by the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Toosi reports.

The changes at the National Security Council are both sweeping and minute: several dozen policy roles will be eliminated as staffers return to their home agencies or leave government in the coming two months; at least two NSC divisions are being phased out completely; a third, meanwhile, has been handed off to a separate White House-based group.

CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF: A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is urging Trump to call off a Wednesday meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citing the countrys cross-border incursion into Syria last month, our colleague Connor OBrien reports.

The incursion has had disastrous consequences for U.S. national security, has led to deep divisions in the NATO alliance and caused a humanitarian crisis on the ground, the 17 lawmakers write. "Given this situation, we believe that now is a particularly inappropriate time for President Erdogan to visit the United States, and we urge you to rescind this invitation.

Related: Behind Trump-Erdogan 'bromance,' a White House meeting to repair U.S.-Turkey ties, via Reuters.

ABOUT THAT OTHER FREEZE: House lawmakers are demanding to know more about the administrations freeze of aid to Lebanon, Al-Monitor reports.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., have written a letter to White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to find out why the White House put a hold on $105 million in foreign military financing to Lebanon in October.

We are confounded by the decision to hold this assistance, they wrote, asking Mulvaney to fill in the blanks by Friday.

HAPPENING TODAY: Sen. Todd Young, a Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, discusses U.S. national security and geopolitical challenges at 11:30 a.m. at the Hudson Institute. And Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch talks about China's political and economic influence in Europe at 3 p.m. at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

NO RETALIATION: Defense Secretary Mark Esper says an Army officer who testified in the impeachment inquiry shouldnt face retaliation, Reuters writes.

He shouldnt have any fear of retaliation, Esper told reporters traveling with him to New York. Thats DoDs position.

Esper added that hes spoken to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy about the need to protect the officer, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, along with anyone else who comes forward.

Coopers take: Trumps decision to freeze military aid to Ukraine this summer sent shockwaves through the administration as different corners scrambled to figure out what was going on, according to testimony by Pentagon official Laura Cooper released Monday night, per POLITICOs Andrew Desiderio and Kyle Cheney.

She also learned through the White House that the holdup was somehow related to concerns about corruption.

The House also released the transcript of Christopher Anderson, a top aide to Kurt Volker, the administrations point man on Ukraine negotiations.

In his testimony, Anderson recounts that Trump once called then-national security adviser John Bolton at home after seeing a CNN report that a U.S. destroyer would be conducting a freedom-of-navigation operation in the Black Sea in a message to Moscow.

The operation was canceled.

THE INVISIBLE MAN: Foreign Policy is out with a new piece on Espers growing influence in the administration and his relationship with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, drawing differences between the two West Point grads leadership style.

A senior Defense Department official notes that Esper defers to Pompeo, even though the former has a larger agency.

Ive seen this now half-a-dozen times, the official noted. Whenever Pompeo calls, Esper clears the room and closes the door. People have noticed. I dont think that Pompeo runs Esper, but its a bad look.

Another official took note of how Esper handled Trumps surprise decision to pull U.S. troops from northern Syria.

Esper was more than a good soldier on this one, the official said. He was tireless. He spent that weekend on the telephone, talking to his counterparts, worked with the [Pentagons] anti-ISIS task force until all hours and then appeared on news programs to defend the president. It was an impressive performance.

Code of silence: Recently retired senior officers are struggling over whether to speak out against Trumps policies, according to a story in The Atlantic.

Following one of Trumps most controversial defense-policy decisions yetthe announcement that he would take U.S. troops out of the way of a Turkish assault on Americas Kurdish counter-ISIS partnerswe made efforts to contact more than two dozen four-star generals and admirals who retired under Trump to see whether they believed the moment warranted breaking silence.

Only three agreed to speak on the record, including former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford, who spoke out in defense of Vindman.

Another was retired Army Gen. Vince Brooks, who said hes uneasy with how Trump treats the Pentagon.

I think what youre seeing is a growing concern that that military advice is not being sought, and if sought, is not being considered, he said. I share the concerns as well.

KEEP THE PACT: The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff called on South Korea to stay in a military information-sharing pact with Japan, part of a high-level U.S. push to hold together the agreement between two of its closest allies days before it is due to expire, The Wall Street Journal writes.

Gen. Mark Milley, who is visiting Japan and South Korea on his first overseas trip as chairman, told reporters on a military jet before landing in Japan on Monday that strong three-way military coordination was needed to face threats in the region.

UN reports increasing violations of Iran nuclear deal: The Associated Press

Afghanistan to swap Taliban militants for American, Australian captives: Reuters

US troops at Syria base say they'll keep pressure on IS: AP

USAF logs fewer severe aviation mishaps in fiscal 2019: Air Force Magazine

2 veterans serving in Congress want the Global War on Terrorism memorial built on the National Mall: Task & Purpose