Overnight Defense: Obama commutes Manning’s sentence | Boeing sees ‘progress’ on Air Force One costs | McCain’s $640B defense budget

THE TOPLINE: President Obama on Tuesday commuted the prison sentence of former Army soldier Chelsea Manning. 

Manning was convicted in 2013 of leaking classified information about U.S. national security activities that were later disclosed by WikiLeaks.

The 35-year sentence Manning received was the longest ever imposed for a leak conviction. Manning has already served seven years of her sentence and will now be released on May 17, 2017. 

{mosads}

She was originally set to be released be released in 2045. 

Manning’s grant came in a batch of 209 commutations and 64 pardons, announced with four days left in Obama’s presidency. 

The former Army private, who is transgender, has reportedly struggled with mental health issues. She has tried to commit suicide twice and has spent time in solitary confinement as punishment. 

Obama’s move could also have consequences for the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, whose organization published material leaked by both Manning and Snowden. 

“If Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case,” WikiLeaks tweeted last week. 

The president’s decision is sure to roil an ongoing debate about weighty issues such as intelligence leaks and criminal justice reform. 

The Hill’s Jordan Fabian has the full story on Manning’s commutation here. 

The president also pardoned retired Gen. James Cartwright, who was convicted in 2012 for lying to FBI investigators while being questioned about leaks involving a top secret U.S. program to derail Iran’s nuclear program. 

Our Katie Bo Williams has more on the Cartwright pardon here.

The Manning commutation is already sparking controversy, with one Republican senator saying that Obama had commuted the sentence of a traitor. The Hill’s Mark Hensch has that story:

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) says President Obama treated “a traitor like a martyr” in commuting former soldier Chelsea Manning’s prison sentence.

“When I was leading soldiers in Afghanistan, Private Manning was undermining us by leaking hundreds of thousands classified documents to WikiLeaks,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

“I don’t understand why the president would feel special compassion for someone who endangered the lives of our troops, diplomats, intelligence officers, and allies. We ought not treat a traitor like a martyr.”

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, though, is praising the decision, reports The Hill’s Paulina Firozi.

“In five more months, you will be free. Thank you for what you did for everyone, Chelsea. Stay strong a while longer,” Snowden tweeted.

 

BOEING CEO MEETS WITH TRUMP: The head of Boeing said Tuesday he and President-elect Donald Trump made progress on reducing the cost of the next generation of Air Force One planes in their second meeting since Trump slammed the program on Twitter.

“We made some great progress on simplifying requirements for Air Force One, streamlining the process, streamlining certification by using commercial practices,” Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told reporters after meeting with Trump.

“All of that is going to provide a better airplane at a lower cost, so I’m pleased with the progress there.”

In December, Trump tweeted that costs for the new Air Force One are “out of control” and threatened to cancel the program.

The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has more here.

 

PENTAGON IDENTIFIES GITMO DETAINEES SENT TO OMAN: The Pentagon on Tuesday identified the 10 Guantanamo Bay detainees sent to Oman.

The Pentagon’s confirmation came a day after the Arabian Peninsula country announced that it had accepted the detainees.

Among those transferred include two men who the Pentagon acknowledged were cases of mistaken identity.

“The United States is grateful to the government of Oman for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday. “The United States coordinated with the government of Oman to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.”

The transfer is part of President Obama’s push to clear the facility as much as possible before he leaves office Friday. Forty-five detainees now remain at Guantanamo.

Oman has a rehabilitation program for extremists and previously took in 20 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo.

The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel tells us more about who the 10 detainees are here.

 

McCAIN PROPOSES $640B DEFENSE BUDGET: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is proposing a $640 billion base defense budget for the next fiscal year, $54 billion above what had been projected by the Obama administration.

“President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to ‘fully eliminate the defense sequester’ and ‘submit a new budget to rebuild our military.’ This cannot happen soon enough,” McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, wrote in a 33-page white paper released over the holiday weekend.

“The damage that has been done to our military over the past eight years will not be reversed in one year. Just stemming the bleeding caused by recent budget cuts will take most of the next five years, to say nothing of the sustained increases in funding required thereafter.”

The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has more here. 

 

TRUMP’S NAVY BUILDUP: President-elect Donald Trump wants to expand the Navy’s fleet to 350 ships, the largest build-up since the end of the Cold War. 

But where that money will come from is unclear and defense contractors aren’t counting their ships yet, writes The Hill’s Kristina Wong. 

Experts say that going from the current fleet of 274 ships to Trump’s 350 goal will cost about $165 billion over 30 years. And it will be impossible to achieve unless there’s a dramatic increase in the defense budget, currently at $619 billion.

There are expectations on Capitol Hill and within the Pentagon that Trump will substantially increase the defense budget. However, there are key obstacles to raising defense spending.

Read the story here.

  

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW: 

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein speaks about the future of American air power at the American Enterprise Institute at 9 a.m. For more information, go here. 

Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at 10 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 419. 

 

ICYMI: 

— US increasing military support for Turkey in Syria

— Obama pardons James Cartwright in leak case

— McCain: Leak of Trump dossier ‘totally wrong’

— Orlando shooter’s wife charged with aiding ISIS

— Dems want Sessions to recuse himself from Trump-Russia probe