House lawmakers eye Coast Guard secretary, personnel increases

House lawmakers have unveiled a bipartisan Coast Guard authorization bill that seeks to address the service’s personnel shortages and aging equipment, while also creating stronger protections for service members from sexual assault and harassment. The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, introduced this week by leaders of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, would authorize funding for the service through 2029. The bill seeks to bolster many aspects of a reform plan called “Force Design 2028,” that was formally unveiled by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in May.  The bill…

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Lawmakers urge Defense Secretary not to erase troops’ historic accomplishments

In a letter to President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a group of lawmakers is urging the Defense Department to ‘immediately reverse policies’ that they say attempt to erase records of troops’ historic accomplishments. The four lawmakers that signed onto the letter are veterans who serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee. The lawmakers said content about record-breaking combat flight hours by female aviators, medal recipients within segregated combat units during the World Wars, and historical contributions of Native American servicemembers is being removed indiscriminately. Chief Pentagon Spokesman…

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Trump names his nominees for deputy defense secretary, other top DoD positions

President-elect Donald Trump has announced his picks for key Pentagon positions, including deputy secretary of defense and undersecretaries for the policy, acquisition and sustainment and research and engineering offices.  On Sunday, Trump’s team said in a press email that Stephen Feinberg, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Cerberus Capital Management, would serve as deputy defense secretary in Trump’s second term. Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm that has made investments across a wide range of industries, including financial services, real estate, and military and defense,  previously owned the…

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Chairman McCaul threatens to hold Secretary of State Blinken in contempt of Congress

The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is threatening to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for not turning over confidential messages from career diplomats. Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Blinken hasn’t complied with a subpoena demanding access to so-called dissent channel cables from State Department personnel during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The dissent channel serves as a forum for diplomats to critique department policy decisions. McCaul said a State Department briefing last month on the content of those cables fell short…

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