Overnight Defense & National Security — Presented by Boeing — US ‘deeply alarmed’ by reports of military takeover in Sudan

by Laura Kelly - 10/25/21 6:28 PM ET

It’s Monday, welcome to Overnight Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. Subscribe here: digital-stage.thehill.com/newsletter-signup.

The Sudanese military launched a lightning takeover of the country in the early hours of Monday, catching the U.S. off guard only one day after the top American official for the Horn of Africa met with military and civilian leaders and urged continued commitment to following through on a full transition to a civilian and democratic government.

Reactions came in from the White House, State Department, Capitol Hill and around the world.

I’m Laura Kelly, covering foreign policy for The Hill and filling in for our Pentagon reporter, Ellen Mitchell. Write to Ellen with tips: emitchell@digital-stage.thehill.com, or me: lkelly@digital-stage.thehill.com.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for all the breaking news and latest updates: @EllenEMitchell & @HelloLauraKelly

Let’s get to it.

US caught off guard by military takeover in Sudan: ‘We were not given any heads up’

White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks with reporters

The Biden administration expressed alarm on Monday over the apparent coup in Sudan, with the White House rejecting the military takeover and the State Department announcing a pause in $700 million in assistance to Khartoum that was meant to promote democracy.

U.S. officials also called for the immediate release of Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, who was reportedly arrested hours before the announced military takeover, along with other senior government officials.

White House principal deputy spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday morning that the U.S. rejects “the actions by the military and call for the immediate release of the prime minister and others who have been placed under house arrest.”

Jean-Pierre said that President Biden was briefed on the situation.

Sudan was two-years into an effort to transition from decades of a military dictatorship to a total, civilian-led democratic government. A popular uprising in 2019 deposed the 30-year rule of strong-man Omar al-Bashir and a transitional government headed by military and civilian leaders was put in place.

The military’s takeover in the early hours of Monday occurred shortly after U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, left Sudan after meeting as late as Sunday with both military and civilian officials.

‘We were not given any heads up’: Price told reporters that Feltman had no indication the military was preparing to launch a takeover.

“To be clear we were not given any heads up about this,” he said.

Price said that the State Department is not in a position to make a legal determination of whether a “coup” took place, because the U.S. was already operating under “coup restrictions” since Bashir took power in 1989.

A “coup” designation brings specific limitations on the U.S. in providing assistance to a foreign country, although the designation has an explicit carveout for assistance that aids efforts to promote democracy.

General Abdal Fatah al-Burham, the head of the military side of the transitional government, announced Monday that he had dissolved the civilian-led transitional government, declared a state of emergency and announced elections for July 23.

The military takeover occurred weeks before a full handover to a civilian government was set to take place and the action drew international condemnation, from the U.S., United Nations and European Union.

Read more here.

A MESSAGE FROM BOEING

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PUSHBACK ON CAPITOL HILL

The U.S. had put enormous support behind Sudan’s transitional government and, during the Trump administration, brought Khartoum into its movement to open relations between Israel and majority Muslim- and Arab-countries, called the Abraham Accords.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had worked with the Trump administration to lift Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and support the country’s transition to democratic rule. They expressed outrage and disappointment on Monday with the military takeover.

The top lawmakers on the Senate and House committees on foreign relations issued an extraordinary joint statement on Monday condemning the coup and the arrest of the prime minister, Cabinet members and other civil society members.

The military takeover “represents the dissolution of the historic political agreement between Sudan’s military leaders and civilian groups that put Sudan on the path towards democratic transition, and threatens progress toward mending our relationship with Sudan in recent years,” the lawmakers wrote.

“The military junta must immediately end the state of emergency, release Prime Minister Hamdok and members of his cabinet unharmed, restore the civilian-led transitional government, and respect the rights of Sudanese citizens to peacefully protest. They must show restraint and safeguard the human rights of all protesters.”

It was signed by Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chair and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

NEW HACKING EFFORTS SHOW RUSSIA UNDETERRED

A year after Russian government hackers compromised almost a dozen U.S. federal agencies, renewed efforts by the same group to target the global IT supply chain are painting a picture of a defiant Russia undeterred by U.S. efforts to clamp down on malicious cyber activity.

The Biden administration has imposed sanctions and there has been an unprecedented amount of international pressure on Russia to take action against both government-linked hackers and cybercriminals within its borders.

But the efforts appear to have done little to police the activity given Microsoft’s announcement Monday that the same Russian hacking group behind last year’s SolarWinds hack is continuing to target organizations.

Read the full story here.

A MESSAGE FROM BOEING

Boeing is helping the U.S. and its allies get ready for the future fight with digitally advanced, flexible real-time mission support to win at the speed of now. Learn more. Advertisement

From the weekend: Biden’s Taiwan comments raise risks; All eyes on DOJ; Key figures emerge in Jan. 6 probe

Taiwan looms large in the relationship between the U.S. and China, and recent confusion over President Biden’s remarks about American commitments to Taipei’s defense have angered Chinese officials, raising tensions in an already strained relationship.

U.S. and Chinese officials have tentatively planned for Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping to hold a virtual bilateral engagement by the end of the year — their first one-on-one meeting since Biden took office.

Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund, told The Hill that the virtual summit is an important opportunity for the president to clarify his remarks toward Taiwan with the Chinese leader in an effort to offset tensions.

“This is really the only issue that our two countries could go to war over. It is really, truly dangerous,” she said.

Read more here.

All eyes on Garland after Bannon contempt vote

The focus on Capitol Hill is on Attorney General Merrick Garland after the House voted last week to hold former White House strategist Stephen Bannon in contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena to testify before the select House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Read the full story here.

Three key behind-the-scenes figures in Jan. 6 probe

Beyond Bannon, some lesser-known individuals could offer key testimony to the House’s investigation, helping to spell out events at the Justice Department, Department of Defense and among right-wing activists ahead of the violence on Jan. 6.

Read more here about how Jeffrey Clark, Kash Patel and Ali Alexander fit into what we know, and don’t know, about the attack on the Capitol.

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

The Atlantic Council will host a discussion on “Raising Climate Ambition on the Road to COP26: Perspectives From the United Arab Emirates”, beginning at 9 a.m. Register here.
The Heritage Foundation is hosting “How to Better Understand the Chinese Defense Budget, at 9 am. RSVP here.
The Middle East Institute hosts a panel on “Syria: Reflecting on the Past and What the Future Might Hold,” at 9:30 am. Register here.
The Institute for Gulf Affairs is sponsoring an experts panel on “Behind the Headlines: Iranian-Saudi Relations,” at 10 a.m. Register here.
THE HILL Presents: “A more perfect union,” beginning at 11:30 am. Register here.
The Atlantic Council presents: “China’s surveillance colony in Xinjiang: A conversation with Darren Byler,” at 12 p.m. Watch here.
Center for Strategic and International Studies presents: “Ensuring a More Competitive North America,” at 2 pm. Register here.
The Israel Policy Forum will discuss “Unpacking the Consulate Controversy” at 2 p.m., Register here.