Happy Frida
y and welcome to Overnight Defense. I m Ellen Mitchell, and here s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.
The Pentagon had said it was rescheduling meetings with the transition team originally planned for Friday until after the new year, but insisted the change was part of a “mutually agreed” pause for the holiday season.
“Our agency review teams continue making progress on a shortened timeline, and we’ve benefited from constructive cooperation within many departments and agencies, but we have met isolated resistance in some corners, including from political appointees within the Department of Defense,” Biden transition executive director Yohannes Abraham said in a briefing Friday.
Thurs
day and welcome to Overnight Defense. I m Ellen Mitchell, and here s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and State Department representatives met with Taliban representatives in Doha “as part of the military channel established in the U.S.-Taliban agreement,” his spokesperson, Cmdr. Sarah Flaherty, said in a statement.
“The chairman discussed the need for an immediate reduction of violence and accelerate progress towards a negotiated political solution which contributes to regional stability and safeguards U.S. national interests,” Flaherty added.
SUPREME COURT RULES MILITARY RAPE CASES HAVE NO STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS: The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the rape convictions of three male Air Force members, reversing a ruling from the military’s top court that dismissed their cases.
In an 8-0 decision regarding U.S. v Briggs, the country’s highest court ruled that a five-year statute of limitations does not apply to military rape prosecutions and convictions that occurred between 1986 and 2006.
About the case: The court in October heard the arguments in the case, which concerned how rape committed by U.S. service members is prosecuted and punished.
Tues
day and welcome to Overnight Defense. I m Ellen Mitchell, and here s your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. CLICK HERE to subscribe to the newsletter.
THE TOPLINE: An active-duty U.S. soldier died last week from COVID-19, the Army confirmed Tuesday, marking the military’s second active-duty death and 14th death overall during the pandemic.
Sgt. Setariki Korovakaturaga, a 43-year-old soldier assigned to the 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 2nd Theater Signal Brigade in Baumholder, Germany, died last Wednesday while en route to the hospital, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a news release.