NSC Staffers’ Politics Questioned
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Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions, and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, reports AP News. Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, indicated his intention to get rid of all nonpolitical appointees and career intelligence officials serving on the NSC by Inauguration Day to ensure the council is staffed with those who support Trump’s agenda.
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, was grilled about allegations of sexual assault and financial mismanagement, women in combat, and a political purge in the military at a fiery confirmation hearing Tuesday. Hegseth dismissed criticisms, and Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee defended his record, says Military.com.
Keith Bass, President-elect Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon’s sprawling health care systems, was effectively fired by the CIA in 2021 for his poor management of the spy agency’s Office of Medical Services, reports Military.com. Bass was “pushed out,” two authoritative sources told SpyTalk, after fumbling the agency’s handling of Havana Syndrome. A source said Bass was not pushed out for misconduct but because “OMS was being poorly run.”
US intelligence has found no evidence linking a foreign power to the mysterious Havana Syndrome injuries reported by some US diplomats and other government personnel, though two agencies now say it’s possible a foreign adversary may have developed or even deployed a weapon responsible for the injuries, reports AP News. In the new assessment, five of the seven intelligence agencies concluded that it is very unlikely that a foreign adversary was behind the injuries.
Last year marked the first time in several years that the US Army achieved its ambitious recruiting goals — primarily due to an increase in female recruits, reports Military.com. Nearly 10,000 women signed up for active duty in 2024, an 18% jump from the previous year, while male recruitment increased by just 8%.
The Army is already nearly halfway to meeting its goal of recruiting 61,000 active-duty soldiers during this fiscal year, reports Military.com. The service has 30,000 new enlistments this year — an increase of 6,000 compared to the same period last year.
More than 1,000 F-35s have been delivered to date, 110 of those last year, reports Aero-Mag.com. The F-35 program has reached a new milestone in scale and capability. The F-35 program generates approximately $72billion annually. This economic impact is supported by a vast network of 1,650 suppliers across all 50 states, providing employment for 275,000 Americans, including an estimated 22,750 union jobs.
The Idaho National Guard have deployed 10 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and more than 80 soldiers to provides airlift capabilities to official personnel in the Capital region, reports Stars and Stripes. The year-long deployment to Fort Belvoir, VA, will support the Joint Emergency Evacuation Plan mission in the National Capital Region.
The California National Guard upped its active force to more than 1,800 troops over the weekend to help fight fires consuming the Los Angeles area, reports Stars and Stripes. The force will support federal and local firefighting crews, military police, and eight C-130 aircraft equipped with modular airborne firefighting systems.
More than 100 mostly homeless veterans were evacuated from temporary shelters on the sprawling grounds of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center to protect them against the bad air and encroaching wildfires that have devastated the city, reports Military.com.
Three Humvees and other military equipment were stolen from an Army Reserve center near Santa Ana, CA, Wednesday, as wildfires devastated parts of Los Angeles County, reports Stars and Stripes. The Tustin Police Department reported on Facebook that the theft at the Army Reserve Center occurred between 8pm and 11:30pm.
The two soft-sided Humvees were recovered, reports Task & Purpose, but an up-armored Humvee is still at large — along with eight machine gun vehicle mounts, seven free-standing machine gun tripods, 18 bayonets, 40 pairs of binoculars, and medical supplies. The Tustin Police Department said in a posted update that the two recovered Humvees were located in Santa Ana in Orange County on Saturday.
The US Navy will name the two latest Ford-class aircraft carriers after former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Military.com reports the future USS William J. Clinton and the future USS George W. Bush will become the fifth and sixth ships of the Ford class — the class of ships that is slated to eventually replace the venerable Nimitz-class carriers that are in operation today.
The confirmation hearing for VASec nominee Doug Collins, originally scheduled for Tuesday morning, has been postponed by Senate leaders to Jan. 21 because of missing background checks from FBI officials, reports Military Times. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee leaders said the delay is not the fault of Collins, a former US House representative from Georgia who is expected to be confirmed as the next VA leader in coming weeks.
Trump on Thursday tapped former Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown to serve as the head of cemetery and memorial affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs, putting a combat-wounded veteran in charge of the key post, reports Military Times.
Russia’s top diplomat said Tuesday that Moscow is open for talks with the incoming US president and praised Trump for saying NATO’s plan to embrace Ukraine was a root cause of the nearly 3-year-old conflict, reports Military.com.
Retired Navy intelligence officer Thomas Caldwell was cleared of the most serious charges in his US Capitol attack trial, reports AP News. Alongside Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, Caldwell avoided additional time behind bars when he was sentenced on Friday. He was acquitted by a jury in Washington’s federal court of seditious conspiracy and two other conspiracy offenses in one of the most serious cases brought by the Justice Department in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. And one of two counts he was found guilty on at trial was dismissed in light of a US Supreme Court ruling last year.
Military bases throughout North America resumed the Trusted Traveler Program this week, which allows those with Common Access Cards or Defense Biometric Identification System cards to escort people onto base. The program was suspended amid heightened security concerns from public attacks on New Year’s Day, reports Military.com.
NATO has taken command and control from the United States of air defense in Poland, where an Army Patriot missile team also is expected to soon be replaced, according to US military officials, reports Stars and Stripes.
Contracts:
APTIM-Harper Construction JV LLC, Alexandria, Virginia (N62478-20-D-4001); B.L. Harbert International LLC, Birmingham, Alabama (N62478-20-D-4002); Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Honolulu, Hawaii (N62478-20-D-4003); Kiewit Infrastructure West Co., Honolulu, Hawaii (N62478-20-D-4004); Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis, Minnesota (N62478-20-D-4005); RQ-ABSHER JV, Carlsbad, California (N62478-20-D-4006); Stronghold Engineering Inc., Riverside, California (N62478-20-D-4007); HHM Laulima Constructors JV, Honolulu, Hawaii (N62478-20-D-4013); Nan Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii (N62478-20-D-4014); and TNT Constructors JV, Bremerton, Washington (N62478-20-D-4015), are awarded a $77,000,000 modification to previously-awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award, design-build/design-bid-build contracts for new construction, repair, alteration and related demolition of existing infrastructure. The cumulative face value of the contract is $1,128,000,000. Work will be performed primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Hawaii area of operations and is expected to be completed by June 2025. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy) and military construction defense agencies contract funds. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. NAVFAC Hawaii, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is the contracting activity.
RQ Construction LLC, Carlsbad, California (N69450-25-D-0011); Centerra Integrated Services LLC, Herndon, Virginia (N69450-25-D-0012); Islands Mechanical Contractor Inc., Middleburg, Florida (N69450-25-D-0013); Hasen JV*, New Braunfels, Texas (N69450-25-D-0014); and King & George LLC, Fort Worth, Texas (N69450-25-D-0015), are awarded a combined $249,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contract for the procurement of general construction projects primarily at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Each awardee is awarded $1,000 at contract award. Work will be performed at, but is not limited to, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and is expected to be completed by January 2030. Fiscal 2025 operation and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $5,000 will be obligated at the time of award. All other funding will be made available at the delivery order level as contracting actions occur. This contract was competitively procured on the SAM.gov website via the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment Solicitation Module, with seven offers received. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity.
ASRC Federal Facilities Logistics LLC, as successor-in-interest to Science Applications International Corp., Fairfield, New Jersey (SPE8E3-25-D-0008, $3,008,600,000); and Noble Supply & Logistics,* Boston, Massachusetts (SPE8E3-25-D-0009, $1,940,200,000), have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SPE8E3-21-R-0001 for commercial maintenance, repair and operations products. This was a competitive acquisition with four responses received for both Northeast Zones One and Two. These are two-year base contracts with four two-year option periods. Locations of performance are West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont, with a Jan.14, 2027, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2025 through 2027 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
National Industries for the Blind Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $86,319,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for unisex coats. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are North Carolina, Illinois and Texas, with a Jan. 14, 2030, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2025 through 2030 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-25-D-B002).
