The end is in sight for the NDAA - W.H., GOP blast dueling deficit-reduction plans - Hill pressures DoD on audits - W.H. petition: Build a Death Star

With Hadas Gold, Philip Ewing, Stephanie Gaskell and Leigh Munsil

THE END IS IN SIGHT — The Senate invoked cloture on the defense authorization bill last night, 93-0, setting the stage for a final vote on the bill today. But there are still many amendments left to consider, including a measure by Republican Sen. Jon Kyl to ensure the Senate has veto power over any possible nuclear-weapons deals with Russia.

RAND PAUL’S DELAYED FLIGHT DELAYS THE BILL — The Kentucky senator held up work on the NDAA yesterday because his flight to Washington had been delayed — meaning he hadn’t had a chance to review new amendments. In response, an irritated Sen. John McCain said the episode gives ammunition to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who’s trying to reform the filibuster. “It lends some credence to the argument that maybe we ought not to do business the way that we are doing here,” McCain said. Leigh breaks it down, for Pros: http://politico.pro/SCbnvh

TOP TALKER: ‘U.S. pushes to restart peace talks with Taliban,’ by WaPo’s Karen DeYoung and Anne Gearan — “The Obama administration has launched a post-election push to restart moribund peace talks with the Taliban, despite resistance from the U.S. military, mixed signals from Pakistan and outright refusal by the militants themselves, according to U.S. officials. Senior White House and State Department officials reiterated the administration’s negotiating position — including its willingness to exchange prisoners with the Taliban — to a reluctant Defense Department at a meeting of national security deputies two weeks ago.” http://wapo.st/TEXRXC

HAPPY TUESDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, where it’s Day 5 in the Senate for the NDAA. Keep the tips, pitches and feedback coming to [email protected], and follow us on Twitter @ morningdefense, @ abwrig and @ POLITICOPro.

A SCENE FROM YESTERDAY INSIDE THE CAPITOL BUILDING — A POLITICO reporter asks SASC Chairman Carl Levin what he expects for the NDAA during conference negotiations, if the bill gets that far. “If it gets that far?” Levin responds, jokingly. “Holy shit. Are you kidding? That’s the worst news I’ve heard today. Do you guys know something that I don’t know?”

FISCAL CLIFF NOTES: W.H., GOP BLAST DUELING PROPOSALS — House Speaker John Boehner yesterday put a $2.2 trillion offer on the table, and the White House immediately shot it down as not meeting the “test of balance.” POLITICO’s Jake Sherman and Carrie Budoff Brown have the latest on the budget standoff: http://politi.co/XjRAE7

— Five states to watch: The military-heavy states of Maryland, Virginia, Washington, California and Arizona could play outsized roles in the debate over sequestration. Juana Summers has the story, for Pros: http://politico.pro/QDPewY

MARKEY: CUT NUKE BUDGET, AVOID FISCAL CLIFF — Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey is urging House and Senate leaders to cut spending for nuclear weapons by more than $100 billion over the next 10 years. Markey and 43 of his fellow House Democrats sent a letter, obtained by POLITICO, to Harry Reid and John Boehner arguing that much of the $640 billion that’s been allocated for nuclear programs “defies fiscal responsibility.”

McCAIN MULLS FOREIGN RELATIONS POST — The Arizona Republican is considering seeking a spot on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after he steps down at the end of this session as SASC’s ranking member, Roll Call reports. “It would be fun,” McCain said. “There’s some good people on there.” http://bit.ly/11td0im

WHAT PROS ARE READING:

— Hill pressures DoD on audits: Even if Congress staves off sequestration, the Pentagon is still facing another potential budgetary nightmare — an audit. Kate Brannen and Stephanie have the story: http://politico.pro/R3QwCS

— Defense CEOs could live with higher taxes: At the National Press Club yesterday, defense executives nudged lawmakers, particularly Republicans, to give a little on the issue of taxes. Tim Mak has the story: http://politico.pro/Vsk12h

— Panetta to Congress: Fund MEADS. The Defense secretary is urging lawmakers to retain the $3.4 billion missile-defense system, saying in a letter the military is planning to harvest the system’s technology. We’ve got the dirt: http://politico.pro/YK9MqS

— Behind the scenes of the NDAA fight: Below the surface, lawmakers and their staffers — and defense lobbyists — are haggling over the details of the Pentagon budget, seeking to ensure their pet projects emerge from the process unscathed. Here’s our story: http://politico.pro/TEUZrq

TRIVIA TIME — On this day in 1945, the Senate voted to approve U.S. participation in the United Nations. Name the five countries that had ratified the U.N. charter. For the answers, read on.

** A message from the Coalition for Fiscal and National Security: The former senior government officials in the new Coalition for Fiscal and National Security have served during eight different Administrations and in Congress, and they all agree: Addressing our national debt is a national security imperative. Learn more at FiscalAndNationalSecurity.org. **

SENATE CONFIRMS DUNFORD — The hard part’s over: As of last night, Gen. Joe Dunford has been confirmed by the Senate to become head of ISAF. Now he just has to run the Afghanistan war.

— Is Dunford Obama’s no-drama dream general? In a post on Foreign Policy, reporters Kevin Baron and Gordon Lubold ask that very question, wondering whether the Marine general can avoid the pitfalls that have brought down his immediate predecessors in Afghanistan. “These days, Dunford, who grew up in New England, is more likely to be seen getting his own lunch at a Pentagon cafeteria than jetting around Washington with a slew of black Suburbans,” Baron and Lubold write. More here: http://bit.ly/Ysqnk4

OBAMA TO ASSAD: DON’T TOUCH CHEMICAL WEAPONS — Speaking at National Defense University yesterday, the president reiterated his red line on Syria. “If you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences, and you will be held accountable,” Obama warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. POLITICO’s Reid J. Epstein has more: http://politi.co/TE3plb

— U.N. withdraws staff: The U.N. is pulling its staff from Damascus as rebels close in on the Syrian capital city, the AP reports. “The spike in violence recently is concentrated in the ring of mostly poor suburbs around Damascus,” according to the AP, “but often bleeds into the capital itself as rebels bring their fight closer to Assad’s seat of power.” http://bit.ly/RyvSuw

WHO’S WHERE WHEN —

9:20 a.m.: Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek, director of the Defense Logistics Agency, speaks at the Defense Logistics 2012 Conference in Arlington.

9:30 a.m.: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks to doctors, nurses and hospital staff at Walter Reed.

10 a.m.: The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence holds a hearing on refugee programs in Cannon 311.

10:10 a.m.: The National Governors Association Executive Committee meets with Obama in the White House to discuss the fiscal cliff.

2 p.m.: The House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance holds a hearing in Cannon 334 on modernizing veterans’ records.

3 p.m.: The Coalition for Fiscal and National Security holds a press event at the Newseum featuring retired Adm. Mike Mullen and former Sens. Sam Nunn and John Warner.

4:35 p.m.: Panetta meets with Obama and Biden in the Oval Office.

CSAF TO WING COMMANDERS: WE WILL CHANGE AF CULTURE — Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told his wing commanders that although he believes the Air Force is doing well operationally, it must do more to make good on its goal of reducing sexual assault. “The environment inside our Air Force is changing,” he said, per an official story yesterday. “It’s been changing for the last 25 to 30 years, but it hasn’t changed enough, and it hasn’t changed in all the right ways to ensure integration of all airmen. And so you and I are going to change it — immediately and definitively.”

QUICK HITS —

— Iranian state television says the country has captured another U.S. drone, the AP reports. http://huff.to/SCYrFm

— Navy Secretary Ray Mabus says Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s Navy Cross should be upgraded to a Medal of Honor, reports Dan Lamothe of Marine Corps Times. Will Panetta award the fallen Marine the nation’s highest honor for valor? http://bit.ly/R2wk4a

— The Army Procurement Fraud Branch is seeking to debar Robert Schroeder, a Republican in the New Jersey state legislature whose company is alleged to have “failed to deliver an aircraft maintenance shelter for U.S. forces in Afghanistan,” reports Bloomberg’s Tony Capaccio. http://buswk.co/R1Fii9

DESSERT: W.H. PETITION CALLS FOR A DEATH STAR — A petition posted on the White House website urges the construction of a “Star Wars” Death Star, reports WaPo’s Emily Heil. “By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star,” the petition says, “the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense.” The Death Star, it’s worth noting, was plagued by delays and staff shortages and was vulnerable to low-tech insurgent attacks. http://wapo.st/Vgrv2F

TRIVIA ANSWER — The U.N. charter had been ratified in 1945 by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. From the History Channel: “The United Nations provided a forum for some of the most dramatic episodes in Cold War history. In 1950, the Security Council, prodded by the United States and with the Russian delegation absent, approved a peacekeeping force for Korea. ... The U.N. also allowed world leaders to observe each other as never before, as in the 1961 incident when Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev presented an unforgettable spectacle by taking off one of his shoes and pounding his table with it for emphasis during a U.N. debate.” http://bit.ly/hUzykE

** A message from the Coalition for Fiscal and National Security: The new Coalition for Fiscal and National Security is made up of former senior government officials who served during eight different Administrations, Democratic and Republican, and former leaders in Congress. The coalition has an important message for Washington D.C.: Our country’s long-term debt is the single greatest threat to our national security, and we urge elected leaders to agree by the end of this year on a plan that both averts the fiscal cliff and puts the debt on a downward path. U.S. national security in the 21st Century rests on both economic and military strength. Our fiscal goal must be to stabilize the debt as a share of the economy, and put it on a downward path for the longer term. We must resolve our immediate crisis in a way that drives the completion of a comprehensive long-term fiscal plan which supports America’s continuing economic strength and global leadership role. Learn more at FiscalAndNationalSecurity.org. **