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Andrew Clevenger

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The Senate bill would authorize the purchase of two more Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

Senate Armed Services panel goes big with new defense budget

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted June 16, 2022 at 6:09pm
Some lawmakers are pushing for a defense budget increase that exceeds the rate of inflation.

After subcommittees’ work, Pentagon funding remains a question mark

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted June 13, 2022 at 6:00am
A Patriot antimissile system points east at Rzeszow Jasionska airport in Poland in March.

Armed Services panel nudges Pentagon toward more Patriot batteries

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted June 7, 2022 at 2:27pm
On duty in Germany in 2020: Cavoli, as head of the U.S. Army in Europe

Ukraine looms over the US general charged with leading NATO

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted May 26, 2022 at 3:07pm
Taliban forces secure the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 29, 2021, as U.S. forces departed.

Afghanistan’s fall was inevitable once U.S. left, watchdog finds

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted May 18, 2022 at 12:00am
The Navy wants to take out of service Littoral Combat Ships that it believes would be unhelpful in a war with China.

Tensions rise in House over Navy shipbuilding

By John M. Donnelly and Andrew Clevenger
Posted May 11, 2022 at 3:49pm
President Joe Biden met with top military advisers at the White House on April 20.

Pentagon to work with Congress to mitigate inflation’s budget bite

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted May 6, 2022 at 4:33pm
Crow traveled to Ukraine on a congressional delegation trip last weekend.

After Kyiv trip, Crow details Ukraine’s battlefield needs

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted May 5, 2022 at 6:00am
President Joe Biden developed the funding proposal with input from Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.

Biden asks Congress for $33 billion in Ukraine aid

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted April 28, 2022 at 1:06pm
Ukrainians unload Javelin anti-tank missiles at Boryspil airport in January.

Defense contractors expected to struggle to meet weapons demand

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted April 26, 2022 at 2:56pm
Chinese and Russian ambitions don’t end with Earth’s orbit. Both nations have planned missions to the moon, where they might exploit its extensive natural resources, a report from the Defense Intelligence Agency notes.

Chinese and Russian ambitions in space pose threat, Pentagon warns

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted April 12, 2022 at 5:27pm
Navy Adm. Charles Richard wrote to lawmakers this month to warn that the U.S. faces a "deterrence and assurance gap" in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Military brass undercuts Biden budget by requesting billions more

By Mark Satter, John M. Donnelly and Andrew Clevenger
Posted April 6, 2022 at 7:15pm
Harvesters at work in a Ukrainian wheat field in 2017.

Food shortages loom as conflict roils Ukraine

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted March 17, 2022 at 4:27pm
Protests have broken out in Taiwan against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine invasion echoes in Pacific region

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted March 9, 2022 at 4:14pm
An Air Force veteran, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan served three years on active duty and 13 in the Air Force Reserve.

Give Ukraine US aircraft, Democratic lawmaker urges

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted March 4, 2022 at 5:12pm
An F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter aircraft descends to land on the flight deck of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier during a training exercise in the Pacific in 2020.

Lawmakers push Navy to reconsider plans in light of Ukraine

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted March 3, 2022 at 5:26pm
Turner warned that Russia could attack NATO members, potentially drawing the United States into war.

Putin won’t stop at Ukraine, key Republican lawmaker warns

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted February 18, 2022 at 12:52pm
Ukrainian volunteers train for a possible Russian invasion last month in Kyiv.

Congress should pass defense budget to deter Putin, senators say

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted February 3, 2022 at 4:16pm
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown told a House Appropriations panel that Congress' failure to agree on fiscal 2022 appropriations could delay plans to replace the F-35 fighter.

Pentagon caught in funding fight

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted January 12, 2022 at 4:37pm
Rep. Doug Lamborn is now ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee's Strategic Forces panel, having vacated the top GOP spot on the Readiness Subcommittee.

Nunes departure prompts GOP reshuffling on Armed Services

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted January 10, 2022 at 4:37pm
The USS Theodore Roosevelt patrols the Pacific Ocean in 2019.

Senate clears compromise defense policy bill

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted December 15, 2021 at 1:17pm
House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith says the bill will toughen prosecutions of sexual assault in the military.

Senate advances compromise defense policy bill

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted December 14, 2021 at 2:12pm
U.S. Navy Admiral Christopher Grady speaks during a Memorial Day celebration at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York on May 28, 2018.

Senators question Biden nominee on fighting China and Russia

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted December 8, 2021 at 3:21pm
Congress would bar the Pentagon from retiring the older, A-10 Thunderbolt for one year.

House passes compromise defense policy bill

By Andrew Clevenger, Mark Satter and John M. Donnelly
Posted December 7, 2021 at 4:02pm, Updated at 9:58pm
Marco Rubio's insistence on a vote on his amendment targeting slave labor in China could cost his GOP colleagues votes on their proposals.

Defense bill’s new path forward would cost votes on GOP priorities

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted December 3, 2021 at 2:43pm
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans blocked progress on the defense bill to secure more amendment votes.

Leaders point fingers as defense bill remains stalled in the Senate

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted November 30, 2021 at 4:12pm
Sen. Tim Kaine is seeking a vote on his amendment to end the 2002 authorization for the use of military force against Iraq.

Senate pushes action on defense bill to after Thanksgiving

By Andrew Clevenger and Mark Satter
Posted November 19, 2021 at 3:09pm
Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth believes a commission independent of Congress should examine the Afghanistan war.

Duckworth’s Afghanistan commission set for inclusion in defense bill

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted November 18, 2021 at 2:53pm
Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed and ranking Republican Jim Inhofe hope to shepherd the defense authorization bill through the Senate this month.

Defense policy amendments pour in ahead of floor action

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted November 9, 2021 at 4:42pm
Top appropriators, Leahy (left) and Shelby, have not agreed on overall spending levels, delaying an agreement on funding the government this fiscal year.

Leahy says GOP intransigence on spending threatens defense

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted November 4, 2021 at 3:44pm
Onlookers examine the site of a U.S. drone strike that killed 10 people in Kabul in August.

Pentagon investigator finds no crime in Kabul drone strike

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted November 3, 2021 at 5:31pm
Sen. Tammy Duckworth wants the commission to investigate all the U.S. agencies involved in the failed nation-building campaign in Afghanistan.

Duckworth touts independent commission to study Afghanistan War

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted October 27, 2021 at 3:46pm
Taliban celebrate before storming Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 31.

Hundreds of Americans remain in Afghanistan, Pentagon official says

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted October 26, 2021 at 4:54pm
The Taliban, led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, center, arrive for talks with Russian officials in Moscow in 2019.

Lawmakers press Pentagon to keep Taliban from sheltering terrorists

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 29, 2021 at 4:54pm
Gen. Mark Milley, left, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III testify during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Sept. 28.

Pentagon told Biden not to withdraw from Afghanistan

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 28, 2021 at 12:55pm
A soldier gets ready for a Navy and Marine Corps training exercise at Camp Lejeune in October 2017.

Hawks have upper hand as Pentagon spending debate looms

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 24, 2021 at 2:10pm
Flight deck personnel work near an F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter aircraft aboard the USS Nimitz in 2020.

House passes major defense policy bill

By Andrew Clevenger and Mark Satter
Posted September 23, 2021 at 4:14pm, Updated at 9:30pm
In the annual defense policy bill, Congress directs and authorizes Pentagon programs.

House defense policy debate underway

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 22, 2021 at 2:36pm
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall says lawmakers should stop blocking the retirement of aircraft simply because they are built or based in their home state or district.

Air Force secretary asks Congress to let him retire aircraft

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 20, 2021 at 4:03pm
Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, admitted Friday that a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan killed 10 civilians.

Pentagon admits Kabul drone strike killed only civilians

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 17, 2021 at 5:10pm
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, right, and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III leave the Capitol after briefing members of Congress on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug. 24, 2021.

White House backs Milley after reports he called China

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 15, 2021 at 3:24pm
John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in February 2020.

Congress’ Afghanistan watchdog will continue oversight

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 14, 2021 at 4:54pm
Women and minorities are underrepresented among Air Force pilots.

Air Force takes hard look at racial disparities

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 9, 2021 at 6:04pm
Former Trump budget chief Russell Vought says he won't leave his position on the Naval Academy's board.

Biden moves to purge Trump appointees from service academy boards

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted September 8, 2021 at 5:39pm
U.S. servicemembers assist with the evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 24, two days before a terrorist attack killed 12 servicemembers.

Attack in Kabul prompts more calls to extend withdrawal deadline

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted August 26, 2021 at 5:44pm
Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, right, here testifying at a House hearing with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III in June, says “nothing” indicated that the Afghanistan forces or government would collapse so quickly.

Pentagon counters critics of Afghanistan withdrawal

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted August 18, 2021 at 5:05pm
The collapse of the Afghan government may cause handwringing in Washington, but “it ultimately does not affect the defense authorization or appropriations process in any significant way,” says Todd Harrison, the director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Afghanistan collapse won’t dramatically alter defense spending

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted August 17, 2021 at 5:00am
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, who testified about the defense budget last month, announced Monday that the Pentagon would start to require all active-duty troops to get a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-September.

Pentagon to add COVID-19 to required vaccines for troops

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted August 9, 2021 at 3:24pm
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said lawmakers are skeptical of retiring weapons built in their states.

Navy, Air Force defend plans to retire planes and ships

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted July 21, 2021 at 2:28pm
House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith pushed back at experts who said the Pentagon budget is ill-focused on near-term threats.

Pentagon budget puts US at risk of Chinese and Russian aggression, experts say

By Andrew Clevenger
Posted July 20, 2021 at 5:23pm