 Defense &
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Defense &
National Security |
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US says Biden 'repeatedly' pressed China on virus origin |
Following reports about a new intelligence assessment, the State Department says President Biden has raised with Chinese President Xi Jinping the need for Beijing to address the origins of COVID-19. |
© Hannah A. Bullock, Azaibi Tamin/CDC via AP, File |
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the president and his most senior officials have pressed Beijing to provide more information and allow international investigations to take place unimpeded as part of efforts to determine where the virus originated. "The President has raised this, the Secretary [of State] has raised this, the National Security Adviser has raised this, it's been raised repeatedly and consistently at various levels because it is that important to us," Price said of administration efforts to "impress upon the [People's Republic of China] the importance of transparency." Ongoing questions surrounding COVID-19's origins are a vexing irritant in the U.S. and China relationship, with tensions between Washington and Beijing newly roiling over the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon in late January, plus Beijing's close ties with Russia amid its war in Ukraine and the risk of conflict related to Taiwan. Price would not confirm a reported intelligence conclusion from the Department of Energy that assessed with "low confidence" that the outbreak of COVID-19 was the result of an accidental leak at a laboratory. It was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. Instead, Price pointed to a "variety of views within the intelligence community" that have lent support to two of the main theories for the origins of the virus: the virus leaked from a lab — in particular, the Wuhan Institute of Virology — or was the result of animal-to-human transmission. Price added that some intelligence agencies have reached no answer. "There are some elements within the intelligence community that have reached conclusions on one side. There are others that have reached conclusions on the other. There are a number of intelligence community agencies that have put forward an assessment that essentially makes clear they don't have enough information to conclude one way or another," he said. Read more on the reignited firestorm over the "lab leak" theory at TheHill.com. |
Welcome to The Hill's Defense & National Security newsletter, I'm Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. |
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How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
the future: |
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CIA Director William Burns said in an interview aired Sunday he could not be sure whether Chinese leader Xi Jinping and others in China's top leadership knew about an intelligence-gathering spy balloon that flew across the U.S. "I don't know," Burns told CBS “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan when asked if Xi knew the balloon would be sent to the U.S. "This is something obviously we watch very carefully. … |
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| The Biden administration is barreling towards a legal fight with immigration groups after rolling out a new asylum policy similar to a Trump-era directive already struck down by the courts. The tussle between the administration and its would-be allies on immigration has been brewing for years, but it hit a head Tuesday, when the administration unveiled a proposed rule taking two big hits at the asylum system. |
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) affirmed that U.S. aid to Ukraine is a "direct investment" in the country's interests and against Russian President Vladimir Putin's "war machine" on the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. The senate minority leader said in a statement on Friday that U.S. national security is tied to stability and security in Europe and preventing Russian forces from advancing in the continent. |
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Upcoming things we're watching on our beat: |
- John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, will speak to media on Tuesday at 8 a.m. ET.
- Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks will speak at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies conference on "The All-Volunteer Force at 50: Civil-Military Challenges and Opportunities" at 9 a.m. ET.
- Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, Defense Department Inspector General Robert Storch and Joint Staff Operations Director Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims will all testify Tuesday at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on "Oversight of U.S. Military Support to Ukraine" at 10 a.m. ET.
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill: |
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Top congressional leaders to receive briefing on classified documents |
Congressional leaders and top Intelligence committee members will receive a briefing on Tuesday about the classified documents found at the homes of President Biden, former President Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, two sources familiar with the planned meeting told The Hill. The group … |
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Events in and around the defense world: |
- Billington CyberSecurity will hold a discussion on "Executing DOD's Cybersecurity Mission," with Air Force CIO Lauren Knausenberger, among other defense officials, at 8 a.m.
- The Senate Veterans' Affairs and House Veterans' Affairs Committees will hold a joint hearing on "Legislative Presentation of Disabled American Veterans" at 10 a.m.
- The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on "Combatting the Generational Challenge of Chinese Communist Party Aggression" at 10 a.m.
- A House Appropriations subpanel will hold an oversight hearing on "Quality of Life in the Military" at 10:30 a.m.
- The House Appropriations defense subcommittee will hear from defense officials on "Ukraine Oversight" at 2 p.m.
- A House Armed Services Committee subpanel will hold a hearing on "COVID-19's Impact on DoD and its Servicemembers," at 2 p.m.
- A House Armed Services subcommittee will hold a hearing on "Energy, Installations, and Environment Program Update," at 2:30 p.m.
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News we've flagged from other outlets: |
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Two key stories on The Hill right now: |
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A new federal assessment saying a lab leak was the likely origin of COVID-19 is feeding new oxygen into Republican calls for further investigations, … Read more |
| Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire conservative media mogul who owns Fox News Channel, acknowledged that top hosts at his network endorsed former President … Read more |
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Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill: |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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