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Chinese spy balloon has GOP saying no cuts to defense

A growing number of Senate Republicans are saying that President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should take defense spending cuts off the table in their negotiation over the debt ceiling.

The Republicans are digging in their heels after receiving a classified briefing on a Chinese spy balloon that floated over sensitive military installations.  

“The entire civilized world should recognize that communist China is probably the greatest threat we’ve ever faced, more severe than Soviet Russia was because of its economic integration into the West,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) after receiving a briefing from senior administration officials on the spy balloon. “We should take every step we can to try to reduce our dependency on China [and] try to build stronger military deterrence against them. 

“I do not think that we should be talking about cutting the defense budget at all right now. If anything, substantial defense increases,” he said.  

Defense cuts weren’t popular with most Republicans even before the controversy surrounding the Chinese spy balloon, which was shot down off the coast of South Carolina a week ago Saturday.

But the balloon controversy, which some see as underlining an aggressive stance from Beijing, has become a No. 1 reason to draw a line against defense cuts.

“Having a strong robust national security is essential to deterring bad behavior,” said Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). “I think it’s OK to try to find savings and do the audits and do all that sort of thing to become more efficient, but just willy-nilly saying we’re going to cut defense I think would be a mistake.” 

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said “there is no way that we should be looking at defense cuts right now.” 

“We’re probably going to need more and not less with regard to that. The primary responsibility of the Congress of the United States is the defense of our country and this one is a serious threat,” he said of China.  

The tough GOP line on defense spending could make it even harder to reach a deal on spending cuts — which House and Senate Republicans are demanding as a price for raising the debt ceiling.

Democrats are against cuts to discretionary domestic spending and certainly do not want to reduce social spending if the Pentagon’s budget is not going to be touched.

President Biden has also drawn a line against cuts to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. McCarthy on Monday also pledged that cuts to Medicare and Social Security are off the table.  

Senate Republicans had previously said they would leave the deficit reduction talks entirely to Biden and McCarthy, but it’s getting tough for them to stay out of it completely when there’s growing talk of the need for a new military buildup to counter China and Russia, which is beginning a new offensive in Ukraine.  

“They believe in in strength,” Rounds said of China, noting that the Senate Armed Services Committee, on which he serves, has authorized the new B-21 stealth bomber. “We’re not going to be a pushover.”  

He pointed out that a Chinese-owned company tried to set up a corn milling plant within 12 miles of Grand Forks Air Force base in neighboring North Dakota, which he called extremely suspicious.   

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), another outspoken opponent of cutting defense funding, said he’s open to cutting wasteful programs within the Pentagon but he wants to redirect those savings to other defense-related priorities.  

“I don’t mind reforming the Defense Department and doing away with certain programs. I want to apply it back into the Defense budget and put it in other areas. We need a bigger Navy,” he said. 

“I don’t think anybody believes our Navy and our military footprint west of the international dateline is sufficient to deter China,” he said.  

Republican lawmakers also say they’re not interested in cutting funding for veterans, law enforcement or border security, which doesn’t leave much on the table for Biden and McCarthy to discuss.   

“Boy, I tell you they’re making their job very difficult,” said Bill Hoagland, a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center who previously served as the Republican staff director of the Senate Budget Committee.  

“If you take entitlements like Medicare and Social Security off the table, you take defense off the table — obviously interest [payments] are off the table — what you’re left with is the safety-net programs [like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] and non-defense discretionary,” he said. “They’re making their climb up this hill even more difficult.”  

Hoagland said that non-defense discretionary spending accounts for less than 15 percent of all federal spending.  

He said that means there’s little chance Biden and Republican leaders will agree to a deficit reduction package of any significant size.  

Other policy experts share that view.  

“Whatever gets done will be a trim at best,” said Jim Kessler, the executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank.  

“One out of every ten federal employees is a law enforcement official,” he noted. “Who are we cutting from the border or from the FBI or TSA? I think this gets hard.  

“Governing is a lot harder than being in the opposition. Kevin McCarthy is going to learn that,” he said.  

Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), a leading Senate Republican budget hawk, said his GOP colleagues need to broaden the parameters of the negotiations if they’re going to have any meaningful impact on the deficit.  

He said lawmakers who want to take defense cuts off the table “are just not serious about trying to do anything about the debt.”  

 “All spending would have to be on the table in order to have any kind of real hope of assessing the debt,” he said.

“This came up with the omnibus at the end of the year and the question was: ‘Which is more important for our national security, adding $45 billion in military spending or having a $31 trillion debt?’ From the perspective of fiscal hawks like myself, the $31 trillion in debt is more of a danger to our national security,” Paul said.   

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden's plea at dinner with governors: 'We can get big things done if we do it together’

President Biden told governors from across the country on Saturday that “we can get big things done if we work together” in a bipartisan way across the political aisle. 

Biden gave remarks during a dinner at the National Governors Association winter meeting at the White House, emphasizing that members of the two parties are not going to always agree but can still work together to help their constituents. 

“We’re the United States of America. We can get big things done if we do it together,” Biden said, according to the White House press pool. 

He said governors need to be able to “get things done” quickly — like fixing potholes and addressing crime, and can’t say “we’re going to debate it for six months.” Biden added that he wanted to ensure he had many former governors and mayors serving in his administration, because they need to take decisive action. 

Members of Biden’s current Cabinet, such as Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, all formerly served as governors. 

Biden pointed to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that he signed into law in 2021 as an example of what bipartisan efforts can accomplish. 

He said he will try to get “a little bit less partisan” and hopes others will too. 

“I said I wanted to be president for everybody. Not just blue states or red states,” Biden said. 

“And again, we’re not going to agree, we’re not going to always agree, but I think when we work together, it works,” he added later, according to the pool. 

The president thanked the governors for their work, saying that he does not think “it’s been a tougher two years being a governor.” He noted that the past two to six years have required them to be “on [their] toes” and ready to answer any question they are asked. 

Biden said during remarks at the meeting on Friday that governors should work to implement what his administration has already done amid a divided Congress for the next two years but added that “we have to finish the job.” 

Governors from more than 30 states and territories attended the dinner on Saturday.

Source: TEST FEED1

What we know about the 'unidentified' objects shot down over North America

Two unidentified objects have been shot down over North America in the past two days in the aftermath of the Chinese surveillance balloon that was taken down over the Atlantic Ocean after crossing the United States last week. 

The U.S. military shot down the first object through Alaskan airspace on Friday, causing it to land in U.S. waters, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered the North American Aerospace Defense Command to shoot down an unidentified object over the territory of Yukon on Saturday. 

Officials are working to recover the wreckage of both objects, which they hope will give more information about their origins and purposes. 

John Kirby, the White House’s national security spokesperson, said the object that was flying over Alaska was traveling at 40,000 feet, which is about the maximum height that commercial airliners fly at. He said the height the object was traveling at caused it to pose a “reasonable threat” to civilian flight safety. 

President Biden ordered it shot down, and U.S. Northern Command took it down at 1:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. 

A U.S. official told CNN that F-35 fighter jets started investigating the object on Thursday. Kirby said the jets could gain only “limited” information about the object, as they travel at fast speeds. 

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the press secretary for the Pentagon, told reporters in a briefing that the object was about the size of a “small car” and was not similar in size or shape to the Chinese balloon seen last week. 

Kirby said the object did not appear to be self-maneuvering and was at the “mercy of prevailing winds,” causing it to be less predictable than the Chinese balloon. Officials said they believed the balloon shot down last weekend had some amount of self-maneuverability. 

Officials added that the object was taken down by an F-22 fighter using an AIM-9X, which are the same type of aircraft and missile that took down the Chinese balloon, according to CNN. An official told the outlet that the object did not appear to have any surveillance equipment. 

Northern Command said in a press release on Saturday that arctic conditions, including wind chill, snow and limited daylight, are a “factor” in the recovery operation. It said personnel are adjusting their operations to ensure safety. 

Trudeau announced the second object was shot down on Twitter. He said the North American Aerospace Defense Command took it down over Yukon, a Canadian territory that is sparsely populated. 

The White House said in a statement that it was aware of the object for the 24 hours leading up to it being shot down, and President Biden continuously received briefings on it. 

Biden and Trudeau spoke by phone and agreed that the object should be recovered for U.S. and Canadian officials to learn more about its origin and purpose.

Source: TEST FEED1

Clyburn reiterates support for Biden 2024: 'I see no reason for him not to run’

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) reiterated his support for President Biden to run for reelection in 2024, saying “I see no reason for him not to run.” 

Clyburn told The Financial Times in an interview earlier this week that Biden is “as decent a person as you can have” and deserves a second term in office. 

“I see no reason for him not to run,” he said. “And I am very hopeful that he should run. I think he is deserving of a second term. I do not believe that anybody can do a better job of trying to get us back on track.” 

Clyburn’s remarks come after Biden gave his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. The former House Democratic whip said in an interview with CNN following the speech that he believed it was the beginning of Biden’s reelection campaign. 

Biden highlighted his accomplishments in office and goals for a divided Congress to address during the speech. 

While he has not formally announced a reelection bid in 2024, Biden has said he intends to run. He is expected to declare his decision soon, now that the State of the Union has passed. 

Clyburn’s endorsement of Biden ahead of the South Carolina primary in the 2020 presidential election has been viewed by political analysts as crucial to Biden turning his campaign around and going on to win the Democratic nomination. He had disappointing results in Iowa and New Hampshire before South Carolina voted. 

The Democratic lawmaker said he does not expect Biden to face any competition for the nomination within his party, but no one expected a challenge in past times throughout history, like when Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn.) challenged President Lyndon Johnson for the nomination in 1968, leading Johnson to end his reelection bid. 

But Clyburn has argued that challenging a sitting president for a nomination often does not end well for the party. He warned any potential challengers against opposing Biden for the nomination in an interview with CBS News last month. 

“The history is very clear on what happens when you challenge a sitting president like this,” Clyburn said at the time, noting that a primary challenge has often weakened a sitting president and made them achieving victory in a general election more difficult.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trudeau says he ordered take down of 'unidentified' object over northern Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he ordered the take down of an “unidentified” object that had crossed into Canada’s airspace on Saturday.

It is the second object in two days to be shot down over North America. 

Trudeau said in a tweet that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which protects the airspace above the United States and Canada, downed the object after U.S. and Canadian aircraft were scrambled.

He confirmed that a U.S. F-22 fighter aircraft shot the object down over Yukon, a relatively sparsely populated territory in northwestern Canada. He said Canadian forces will recover and analyze the wreckage of the object and thanked NORAD for keeping watch over the continent.

Trudeau added that he also spoke to President Biden about the object.

The incident comes one day after U.S. officials said they shot down an object flying over Alaskan airspace Friday. The object was traveling at 40,000 feet above the ground, which officials said posed a “reasonable” threat to commercial aircrafts, and landed in U.S. waters.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. was still collecting information about whether another country operated it or if a private individual or company owned it. He said officials did not know what the object’s purpose was and did not have a more specific description of it than calling it an “object.”

Yukon borders Alaska on the state’s eastern side.

Both of these incidents happened in the aftermath of the Chinese surveillance balloon that traveled across the United States last week. It was first seen over the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and eventually traveled from the airspace over Montana and across the country until it was shot down over the coast of South Carolina.

The U.S. military downed the balloon down when it was over the Atlantic Ocean. Officials decided against shooting it down earlier based on concerns about debris from the balloon harming people on the ground.

The Chinese government has denied that the balloon was meant for surveillance, instead saying that it was a weather balloon that was blown off course by wind. U.S. officials have rejected that assertion.

The incident has heightened tensions between the U.S. and China as Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a planned visit to the country after discovering the balloon. A top Chinese defense official also refused a phone call from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the balloon last week.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump lawyers to appeal DOJ subpoena of Pence, claiming executive privilege: reports

Attorneys for former President Trump plan to appeal the subpoena that Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith issued to former Vice President Mike Pence as part of his investigation into the former president’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, according to multiple reports. 

CBS first reported Friday that a source close to Trump’s legal team said his lawyers would contest the subpoena for Pence to turn over documents and provide testimony about his interactions with Trump in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election and the insurrection. The challenge would be based on an argument of executive privilege. 

A source familiar with the discussions members of Trump’s legal team are having also told NBC News of the plans. 

Trump has on multiple occasions argued that executive privilege should shield him or former administration officials from having to provide documents or testimony for investigations involving him or an aspect of his administration. 

He asserted executive privilege to try to prevent former administration officials from testifying before the House select committee that investigated the insurrection and to try to stop the National Archives from providing records about the attack to the committee. His arguments of executive privilege have been dismissed in many cases in the past following court battles. 

The Hill has reached out to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign for comment. 

The former Indiana governor has not publicly said since the subpoena was issued whether he plans to cooperate with it. But Pence did not appear before the House committee during its investigation during the past congressional session. 

Trump and Pence notably had a falling-out after Pence refused to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The former president has harshly criticized Pence since the end of his administration over the incident.

Still, Trump complimented Pence as an “honorable man” on Friday in an interview with Fox News Digital after the news of the subpoena was publicized. 

Smith’s investigation is also looking into the classified and sensitive documents that were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida in August.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden leans into attacks on GOP over Social Security, Medicare 

When it comes to Social Security and Medicare, President Biden has found a way to put Republicans right where he wants them.  

In seizing upon the set of entitlements during his State of the Union address this week, Biden found “the sweet spot,” as one strategist called it, when it comes to battling Republicans on key policy issues. 

“The speech was written with these rhetorical traps that pushed Republicans into supporting a Democratic agenda because it pushed them to publicly acknowledge they’re not going to touch Social Security,” said Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist who is the director of the public policy program at Hunter College. “It’s a brilliant trap that was set and Republicans took the bait.” 

It also serves as a preview of what’s to come, at least from the White House perspective.  

Over the coming months as Biden launches his reelection bid, the president will continue to try to label Republicans as extreme by pointing to GOP proposals that he says would lead to changes to Social Security and Medicare. 

“The strategy is a classic one,” said Nayyera Haq, the SiriusXM host who is a former senior aide in the Obama White House. “Show the hypocrisy that goes on behind closed doors in government.” 

“Most Americans don’t pay attention to the back and forth of finance structures, so Republicans were using that to advance their views on cutting entitlement spending, forgetting that Social Security and Medicare are deeply popular programs with voters,” Haq added. “Biden put that all out in the open…[Republicans] overplayed their hand and are paying for it now.”   

During his address before the nation on Tuesday night, Biden accused “some Republicans” of wanting to make changes to Social Security, the program that nearly 65 million Americans depend upon in their retirement years.  

It was a veiled swipe at Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who in 2022 proposed “sunsetting” federal programs every five years unless a renewal of the programs was passed by Congress. The plan did not specify Social Security or Medicare, but it also did not exempt them.  

“Anybody who doubts it, contact my office,” Biden replied after he was met with jeers and heckling from Republicans for his State of the Union remarks. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called him a “liar.” 

“I’ll give you a copy,” Biden retorted. “I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.”  

When Republicans continued to groan, Biden added: “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right? They’re not to be touched?” Biden continued, going off script to respond. “All right. All right. We got unanimity.”  

Democrats stood to applaud — with some Republicans.  

“I’ve never seen Joe Biden stay on message so well,” said Susan Del Percio, the longtime Republican strategist. “He’s hammering the right points home to the point that this has forced a rift within the Republican Party…and it resonates. 

“He flipped it to make it the conversation for the rest of the week,” Del Percio added. “It’s all we’ve been talking about since Tuesday night.”

Scott has repeatedly pushed back on Biden’s criticisms. He specifically struck back at remarks Biden made during an appearance at an event in Florida on Thursday.  

“Since you can’t stop talking about me and lying to Floridians about Social Security and Medicare, I’m sure you’ll accept my invitation to debate the issue,” Scott wrote on Twitter, before Biden took the stage at the University of Tampa. “I’ll be back in Florida tonight. You pick the time and place.” 

Scott maintains that he was not trying to eliminate Social Security or Medicare and in an ad this week accused Biden of proposing his own cuts to Medicare.  

But as Del Percio said, “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.”

Scott’s position has also been undercut by other Republicans — who have distanced themselves from his plan. Those Republicans include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who in March of 2022 indicated that Scott’s plan would not be part of a GOP agenda if Republicans took back the Senate. 

Some observers say the best strategy for Republicans is to paint the picture that those calling for changes to Social Security and Medicare represent a minority in the party.  

“At this point, Republicans can limit the fallout by making it about the one or two members specifically and not about the caucus as a whole,” Haq said. “Democrats will make this about a broader GOP agenda.” 

White House aides certainly agree. Everything the White House has done this week shows they want to have a discussion on the popular federal entitlement programs that are focused on past GOP proposals to reform them.  

By taking the fight to the Sunshine State, which has the most senior citizens of any state, Biden is taking the fight to not only Scott but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also expected to launch a presidential bid later this year and could be a potential rival.  

At the event in Florida on Thursday, Biden sought to double down on the issue with Republicans with White House aides distributing pamphlets with Republican plans to attendees.  

And speaking at the event, Biden continued to hammer Scott and the GOP plans.  

“I know that a lot of Republicans — their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare,” Biden said during his remarks. “If that’s your dream, I’m your nightmare.” 

Referring to Scott’s recent denials, he quipped: “Maybe he’s changed his mind. Maybe he’s seen the lord.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

The Memo: Pence hits new bumps in 2024 road

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s potential quest for the White House hit two bumps in the road within 24 hours Thursday and Friday.

First, news broke that Pence had been subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith for information about the period around the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6. 2021.

On Friday, an FBI search of Pence’s Indiana home reportedly found another document bearing classified markings. 

Last month, a small number of such documents had been discovered at the Pence home and were disclosed by his lawyer in a letter to the National Archives.

Friday’s additional search was done with the consent of Pence’s team and lasted five hours.

The documents may ultimately be less consequential to Pence’s political chances than the Jan.6- related subpoena, however.

A subpoena puts Pence in a tricky political spot as he looks toward 2024. 

So far, Pence has sought to position himself as simultaneously proud of Trump’s record in office and critical of the former president’s behavior around Jan. 6.

Pence often refers to the achievements of the “Trump-Pence administration” — a record that he knows appeals to GOP primary voters on immigration, taxation and judicial appointments, among other topics.

But he also makes plain his disagreement with Trump around Jan. 6. Trump had aggressively but wrongly insisted that Pence could have prevented the election results from being certified. When the then-vice president refused to comply, protestors at the Capitol called for him to be hanged.

In an interview with David Muir of ABC News in November, Pence said that Trump’s fiery speech at a rally immediately preceding the riot “endangered me and my family and everyone at the Capitol building.” 

He also described the former president’s rhetoric and actions as “reckless.”

Now Pence is confronted with the question of whether to deepen the potential chasm between him and Trump by complying with the subpoena; or to besmirch his own reputation by declining to do so.

After news of the subpoena broke, Trump called Pence “a very honorable man” in an interview with Fox News Digital — praise that raised eyebrows because of Trump’s previous criticisms of Pence, and the perception that the former president could be in real legal peril as the special counsel bores down.

For Pence, “there is a balancing act there, because on the one hand everyone understands what his view is of J6,” said Matt Mackowiak, the chairman of the Travis County, Texas, Republican Party. “On the other, a chunk of the Republican base sees a lot of this stuff as going overboard and being overly harsh.”

Mackowiak added: “If [Pence] is seen as being a willing witness to a process that millions of Americans think is phony, that puts him in an awkward place. And he already is in an awkward place because of the way TrumpWorld looks at him.”

Pence has little room for error if he chooses to plunge into the 2024 race. 

Early polls show him in third place at best in a hypothetical field, trailing far behind Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). DeSantis has said little publicly about 2024 but is widely expected to make a run.

In an Economist-YouGov poll this week, Pence was the preferred nominee of just eight percent of Republicans, against 42 percent for Trump and 32 percent for DeSantis.

The same poll also indicated Pence is seen unfavorably by 35 percent of Republicans — a notably higher figure than was recorded for Trump or for the other potential 2024 contenders the pollsters tested: DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) or Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.)

The impact of the discovery of classified documents has been diluted by the long-running saga involving Trump keeping such information at his Florida resort of Mar-a-Lago. There have also been the more recent discoveries of classified documents in a Washington, D.C., office once use by President Biden and, later, at the president’s Wilmington, Del., home.

The alacrity with which Biden and Pence both surrendered the relevant documents when they were discovered is very different from Trump, who battled for over a year to keep at least some such documentation in his possession.

Late Friday afternoon, ABC News reported that Trump’s legal team “turned over a folder with classification markings found last month at his Mar-a-Lago resort to federal agents,” a development that had previously been unknown.

Tobe Berkovitz, a Boston University professor emeritus specializing in political communication, said that the classified documents issue “has almost become a yawn for the average voter — and for Pence it’s almost irrelevant.”

But Berkovitz noted Pence faces big challenges at a possible candidate, not least a perceived lack of newness and magnetism.

“He isn’t the name du jour, which is what DeSantis is, and you have other names floating around in the background like [Georgia Gov.] Brian Kemp and certainly Nikki Haley. Pence is known, and often people want the shiny new thing.”

Pence seems to be clearly leaning toward a run, however. 

He will be in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday — the same day Haley is expected to formally announce her campaign in South Carolina.

The former vice president, however, is getting hit with new complications at just the wrong moment.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.

Source: TEST FEED1

Nevada governor declares state of emergency over fuel pipeline leak

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) declared a state of emergency on Friday night after a leak forced the shutdown of a fuel pipeline that supplies Las Vegas and southern Nevada.

The leak, which was detected at a pumping station in Long Beach, Calif., on Thursday, resulted in the closure of the Kinder Morgan pipeline that runs between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

“Tonight, I am declaring a state of emergency for the fuel pipeline leak impacting Southern Nevada,” Lombardo said in a statement posted to Twitter. “This emergency declaration will allow us to receive federal waivers and resources as we navigate the evolving repair timeline, and it will allow us to increase transportation of fuel by other means during this time.”

“To avoid any unnecessary shortages, I strongly urge all Las Vegas residents to avoid panic buying while awaiting repair timeline updates,” he added.

Despite the warning, several videos and images on social media showed long lines at gas stations in Las Vegas.

Clark County officials also issued an emergency declaration early Saturday morning in coordination with the governor, in an effort to lift restrictions on trucking and other delivery methods to bring fuel into the county.

“This leak has not impacted the supply of fuel, but rather the method in which this fuel normally comes into Southern Nevada,” the county said in a statement on Twitter.

“This declaration allows for our region to leave no stone unturned as we seek to continue to provide unleaded and diesel fuel to our residents as well as our emergency response providers,” it added.

Kinder Morgan spokesperson Katherine Hill said the company expects the impacted pipelines to resume operations and begin delivering fuel to their respective markets by Saturday afternoon.

Source: TEST FEED1

Why Trump officials were unaware of Chinese spy balloons

Former Trump administration officials have expressed frustration and confusion in recent days over revelations that Chinese surveillance balloons hovered over U.S. airspace during their time in office. 

As more information has emerged about the extent of China’s use of balloons to surveil the U.S. and other countries — another object was shot down over waters near Alaska on Friday afternoon, though it is unclear where it came from — it has fueled questions about why officials from the Trump administration were unaware of previous incursions and spurred frustration among some of those officials. 

“I was in the administration for every single day that Trump was in office on the national security team,” said Keith Kellogg, who served on the Trump White House National Security Council before taking over as national security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence in 2018. 

“During that time this never ever came up,” he added. “So for them to say it happened during the Trump administration, we weren’t aware of it and we would’ve taken immediate action. If it did happen under President Trump and he was not told, that’s more than just egregious, that’s a dereliction of duty.” 

A senior Pentagon official told reporters last week that Chinese government surveillance balloons hovered over the continental U.S. “at least three times” during the Trump administration, and one additional time at the beginning of the Biden administration. 

Those three incursions were for shorter periods of time than the balloon that caused a major international incident last week after it was spotted over Montana before floating across parts of the country and ultimately being shot down near the South Carolina coast. 

Since that disclosure, a slew of former Trump administration officials who worked in the intelligence community have uniformly said they were unaware of Chinese spy balloons hovering over the U.S. at any point during the last administration. 

“I don’t ever recall somebody coming into my office or reading anything that the Chinese had a surveillance balloon above the United States,” Mark Esper, who served as Defense secretary from July 2019 through November 2020, said on CNN last week. 

Kellogg, who briefly served as acting national security adviser to Trump, said he was unaware of the sightings, as did John Bolton, who spent roughly a year in the role.  

Kellogg even suggested there should be congressional hearings on how the sightings could have happened without national security officials in the Trump White House being notified.

John Ratcliffe, who spent the final seven months of the administration as director of national intelligence, said he was not aware of any Chinese balloons hovering over U.S. territory during that time. 

“It never happened with us under the Trump administration, and if it did, we would have shot it down immediately,” Trump told Fox News. “It’s disinformation.” 

Republicans have lambasted the Biden administration for not being more quick to shoot down the balloon that was first seen over Montana. On Friday, the White House announced a “flying object” had been shot down near Alaska as reporters asked about rumors that another balloon had been spotted. 

There appear to be a few possible reasons for why senior Trump administration officials would have been unaware of Chinese balloons over the U.S. 

Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the commander of the Pentagon’s Northern Command, told reporters on a conference call on Monday that the balloons went undetected, calling it a “domain awareness gap that we have to figure out.”  

VanHerck declined to comment further about how the balloons went undetected. 

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to President Biden, on Monday said the Biden administration had improved the government’s capacity to “be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect.” 

The balloons from the Trump administration also were not over U.S. airspace for a very long time, officials said in recent days, shortening the window to identify them and take action. 

Esper was asked Thursday on Fox News why the U.S. was unable to detect the Chinese surveillance balloons in the past. 

“I think that’s a very important question,” Esper said. “Is it a technical question? Is it a reporting question or a decision-making question?  

In the case of the balloon shot down last week, Esper questioned if there was a reporting issue between military and civilian leaders that allowed it to float over much of the U.S. before it could be taken down, or if the Biden administration waited to avoid upsetting relations with China before a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

Blinken’s visit was ultimately canceled because of the balloon, and Biden and his aides have said the military waited to shoot down the balloon until it was over water. The size of the balloon, which has been likened to the equivalent of roughly three school buses, could have damaged property or injured people upon impact, officials said. 

Concerns over China’s use of surveillance balloons have only intensified in recent days as information has circulated that the object shot down last week had antennas to help collect information and was part of a much larger operation run by the Chinese military to spy on more than 40 countries across five continents.  

James Andrew Lewis, director of the strategic technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, argued balloons are fairly low on the totem pole of potential spying techniques that could be deployed by China or other adversaries. 

He said China is unlikely to use a similar tactic in the near future given the focus on the latest balloon. 

“The real problem is if we don’t confront Chinese espionage, we will continue to face consequences,” Lewis said. 

Source: TEST FEED1