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Republican senators didn’t hold back in calling out Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN and President JOE BIDEN for waiting five days to provide “direction” to the military on whether to shoot down that Chinese spy balloon last month, our own LARA SELIGMAN, LEE HUDSON and ERIN BANCO report.

Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. GLEN VANHERCK, commander of U.S. Northern Command, said he scrambled armed fighter jets to intercept the balloon when it was detected on radar over Alaskan airspace on Jan. 28. But at the time, only Biden or Austin had the authority to shoot it down, because the military did not believe the balloon had hostile intent. VanHerck said didn’t have a discussion with the secretary about the matter until Feb. 1.

“On the fifth day, it is apparent that you took the right steps,” Sen. ROGER WICKER (R-Miss.) told VanHerck. “But it’s also clear that you received no direction from the president of the United States or the secretary of defense until the fifth day of this crisis, by which point the balloon had traversed Alaska and Canada and then reentered the United States.”

Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) was also confused by the timeline and pressed VanHerck to explain the decision making process in the days leading up to the balloon’s downing.

“So all that was needed on January 28 was to pull the proverbial trigger?” Cotton asked during the hearing.

The hearing comes almost two months after the Chinese surveillance balloon first emerged over the U.S. Since then, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have pressed Biden officials for more details on what led the administration to shoot down the inflatable, what it’s learned from its debris and what more it plans to do to track aerial objects floating in American airspace. Both Republicans and Democrats have said they are still waiting for answers to their questions despite several rounds of briefings – some of them classified – with the administration.

The Inbox

TIKTOK IN TROUBLE: As we predicted yesterday, TikTok CEO SHOU ZI CHEW faced an insurmountable uphill battle that didn’t help the app’s case as he attempted to ease Congress’ national security concerns on Thursday, our own REBECCA KERN reports.

Things got off to a bad start for Chew, and they didn’t get better: “We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values. Your platform should be banned,” House Energy and Commerce Chair CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS (R-Wash.), said during opening statements.

Chew played his usual cards, trying to rebut what he says are “myths” about TikTok’s relationship with Beijing and emphasizing that ByteDance, the social media platform’s parent company, is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government. When asked about allegations that ByteDance uses the app to spy on Americans, Chew said, “I don’t think ‘spying’ is the right way to describe it.” That didn’t calm lawmakers’ nerves.

The hearing made clear that the White House and Congress will press forward, aiming to ban the app nationwide if TikTok doesn’t divest from its Chinese owner.

GEARING UP: Ukraine’s top ground forces commander said Kyiv is preparing for its counterassault “very soon,” Reuters’ PAVEL POLITYUK reports.

Those comments, made by Col. Gen. OLEKSANDR SYRSKYI on Thursday, were the strongest indication yet that Ukraine is closer to its next offensive push following recent missile strikes and shelling from Russia. As the Wagner Group forces lose “considerable strength” in the battle for Bakhmut, Ukraine plans to strike, he said.

His remarks come as Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY toured the city of Kherson on Thursday, one of several stops this week along the frontline to boost his troops’ morale, the Associated Press’ KARL RITTER reports.

AUKUS FOR ALL OF US: The Biden administration is open to looping other countries into its massive defense partnership with the U.K. and Australia in the future, Semafor’s JAY SOLOMON reports.

Once the pact enters its next phase, it’s very likely the U.S. could move to add others into the agreement, according to a senior administration official, as “we are looking for innovative ways to connect allies in the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic.” In its current stage, there’s “no intention” of expanding the project beyond the trio, the official added.

The deal, agreed to earlier this month, allows the U.S. to sell several nuclear-powered submarines to Australia — a historic step that could pave the way for Canberra to co-develop and build its own attack boats in the decades ahead.

BIDEN’S TRIP NORTH: President JOE BIDEN will arrive in Ottawa on Thursday evening for a visit with Canadian Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU, during which the allies will broach topics including the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Haiti and defense spending, our own MYAH WARD reports.

The trip is intended to take “stock of what we’ve done, where we are and what we need to prioritize for the future,” National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY told reporters Wednesday, calling it “the first true, in-person, bilateral meeting between the two leaders in Canada” since visits by former President BARACK OBAMA.

Overseas, another meeting between world leaders was set: Spanish Prime Minister PEDRO SÁNCHEZ accepted an invitation by Chinese leader XI JINPING to visit China next week, the Associated Press reports. A key reason for the meeting is the “possible mediation in the war in Ukraine,” Spanish officials said, referring to Xi’s efforts to garner support for China’s peace proposal for Russia and Ukraine.

IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at [email protected] and [email protected], and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33.

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2024

RON’S RECALIBRATION: Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS’ recent foreign policy comments and the backlash he faced from others in his party have got everyone trying to figure out what his foreign policy really is. Alex helps us unpack DeSantis’ worldview and how he got there, noting that the GOP presidential hopeful manages to embrace both a traditional Republican outlook and a more MAGA-centric worldview.

He’s a candidate who wants to project strength abroad, without losing sight of domestic issues. Those within DeSantis’ camp have noted he shares Republicans’ view of countering China’s aggression in military, technological and economic areas, which have become bipartisan efforts in Congress.

Desantis did damage control for calling the war in Ukraine a “territorial dispute” during an interview with PIERS MORGAN set to air Thursday. In their talk, DeSantis called Putin a “a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons”, a phrase coined by the then-Sen. JOHN MCCAIN (R-Ariz.) our own DAVID KIHARA reports.

Keystrokes

CHINA IN THE POWER GRID: Senators pushed a top Energy Department official on Thursday for details on how much Chinese equipment is being used in the U.S. energy grid, as experts warned that hackers may be embedded in the grid and ready to launch an attack, our own MAGGIE MILLER writes.

Sen. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.) prodded PUESH KUMAR, director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response Preparedness, to provide information on what the percentage of equipment used in U.S. power grids is from China during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

Kumar did not give an exact percentage or number, but stressed that his office is working to analyze the issue.

“We really need to be focused on the China threat when it comes to the grid equipment both hardware and software that is deployed across the United States,” Kumar testified. He said his office is examining four areas around this, including testing grid components for threats, establishing where each part is sourced from, and identifying which areas, if disrupted, would have a “debilitating impact on the United States.”

Kumar did not give a clear answer on when this analysis would be completed.

The Complex

BUDGET WISH LISTS, UPDATED: A draft copy of the Navy’s unfunded priorities list that outlines just over $2.5 billion in needs that didn’t make the Pentagon budget, our own LEE HUDSON, CONNOR O’BRIEN and PAUL McLEARY report.

The service is seeking enhancements to some of its ships, aircraft and infrastructure, but the list doesn’t include extra ships. The move draws a clear contrast with the Marines, who are seeking $1.7 billion for a new amphibious ship in their own wish list.

LOCKHEED INVESTS: Lockheed Martin Ventures is pumping cash into electric seaglider startup Regent to kickstart development of a military variant of the company’s aircraft, our friends over at Morning Defense (for Pros!) report.

The 12-passenger Viceroy seaglider is a battery-powered, zero-emission craft that features eight electric motors driving propellers along its wings. The exact amount of money Lockheed is putting into the project is undisclosed.

Regent has said it plans to certify the aircraft as a maritime vessel in order to bypass the lengthy FAA airworthiness certification process, and it expects the aircraft to enter service in the mid-2020s.

On the Hill

SPECTRUM SPAT: The Pentagon is wrestling with a split among senior leadership over how to safeguard its airwaves as lawmakers debate how to auction its spectrum to private telecom companies, our own JOHN HENDEL and LEE HUDSON report (for Pros!).

The tension is exacerbating a monthslong political fight and exposing a fissure within the Biden administration. Gen. MARK MILLEY had objections to a recent letter from Austin endorsing legislative text outlining protocols around a future sale of Pentagon spectrum, according to a memo.

A spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs disagreed with the story’s characterization of the memo. “This story does not accurately represent the views [of] Chairman Milley or the Joint Staff,” said Col. DAVE BUTLER, without elaborating.

The memo is alarming key Senate Armed Services Committee members at the center of the ongoing spectrum fight: “The joint chiefs nonconcurred with [Austin’s] recommendation — I’ve never heard of that ever happening before,” committee member Sen. MIKE ROUNDS (R-S.D.) said.

WARNING ON UKRAINE AID: House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair KEN CALVERT (R-Calif.) had harsh words for the Pentagon at a budget hearing Thursday, chiding the Biden team for not seeking more money to assist Ukraine earlier in the budget process, Connor reports (for Pros!).

Addressing Austin, Milley and Comptroller MIKE McCORD, Calvert, whose panel controls the bulk of the Pentagon budget, reiterated a talking point from Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY that Congress won’t back “blank checks” for Ukraine, reflecting a reality that the new House GOP majority plans close scrutiny of U.S. assistance.

“It’s important that you communicate future requests for funding for Ukraine clearly thoroughly and early,” Calvert added.

He also estimated that billions in U.S. drawdown authority — the mechanism the Biden administration has used to take weapons off the shelf and ship them into the fight — will be exhausted in just a few months.

Austin, Milley and McCord didn’t directly reply to the argument. But McCord said during the Pentagon’s budget rollout that not enough is known about how the spring offensive will go to forecast Kyiv’s needs that far in advance.

Broadsides

NOT JUST UKRAINE: Republicans are openly split over whether to cut off approval for the Iraq war, two decades after it began, our own ANTHONY ADRAGNA and BURGESS EVERETT reported Wednesday evening.

As party lawmakers debate the authorization for the conflict, they’re also hashing out bigger questions about the Republican identity heading into the 2024 presidential primary. A GOP that looked uniformly hawkish when GEORGE W. BUSH first won Congress’ approval to go to war in Iraq is now routinely split on major foreign policy matters, notably Ukraine.

Now, a new breed of non-interventionist Republicans says they’re winning the battle of ideas.

“Voters are tired of wars that don’t have any justification or basis,” said Hawley, who has supported advancing the repeal of 1991 and 2002 authorizations for war in Iraq. “The Iraq thing, that was not justifiable … And that’s hard for my party to admit. Because they pushed it, they carried the water for it.”

Transitions

— DANIEL WHITE will become the deputy chief of staff to the secretary of the Army. He previously served as the chief of staff to the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs.

What to Read

— PHIL KLAY, POLITICO: America Doesn’t Wage War. Government Institutions Do.

— GERSHOM GORENBERG, The Washington Post: Israel’s president proposes a dangerous compromise to end a crisis

— ANDREA KENDALL-TAYLOR and ERICA FRANTZ, Foreign Affairs: Putin’s Forever War

Tomorrow Today

— The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 9 a.m.: Missile Defense at 40

— The German Marshall Fund, 9:30 a.m.: International Support for Earthquake Response Efforts in Turkey and Syria

— The Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1:30 p.m.: The U.S. Defense Industrial Base in an Era of Strategic Competition with Reps. MIKE WALTZ (R-Fla.) and JASON CROW (D-Colo.)

CORRECTION: In yesterday’s edition of NatSec Daily, Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s length of time in office was misstated. He is in his second term.

Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who accused us of slow-walking this newsletter.

We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who made sure we wrote it on time.

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