Trump Visits Arlington on Veterans Day
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President Donald Trump marked Veterans Day with a trip to Arlington National Cemetery, his first official appearance since losing the presidential race to Joe Biden and his only engagement for the day, reports The Hill. Trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier along with first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and second lady Karen Pence. The band played the National Anthem as the president and first lady arrived at Arlington, where it was raining.
Top policy and intelligence civilians resign after former DefSec Mark Esper was forced out by Trump, reports Defense News. The Pentagon confirmed the resignations of James Anderson, acting policy chief, and Jen Stewart, chief of staff to Acting DefSec Chris Miller. BRIG GEN Anthony Tata and Kash Patel, respectively, step into those positions.
In a Fox News column, Texas evangelical pastor and vocal backer of President Trump, Robert Jeffress acknowledges President-elect Joe Biden’s victory and calls it a “chance to show that Christians are not hypocrites,” reports The Hill. The Dallas-based pastor also said the former vice president’s victory is “a bitter pill to swallow” for “millions of Christians across our nation.”
Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber will become the first Black woman named student brigade commander at the US Naval Academy, reports Navy Times. Brigade commander is the highest leadership position within the student body. The semester-long position is selected through an application and interview process by senior leadership and the commandant’s staff. Barber, of Lake Forest, IL, is a mechanical engineering major and aspires to commission as a Marine Corps ground officer. She will serve as brigade commander spring semester.
NASA certifies SpaceX to carry humans and OKs a space station mission, reports UPI. SpaceX can now regularly carry astronauts to the International Space Station, the certification cleared the way for a four-person mission to ISS planned for Saturday. Elon Musk’s company plans to launch its Crew Dragon capsule aloft atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
One of DoD’s two Overlord large unmanned surface vessels conducted a first-ever Panama Canal transit, sailing thousands of miles from the Gulf Coast to California, with few reliability issues along the way, reports USNI News. The 59-meter USV was converted from a regular high-speed craft to an unmanned prototype last year. It departed Mobile, AL, on Sept. 18, operated in the Gulf of Mexico, made the Panama Canal transit and arrived in Port Hueneme, CA, on Nov. 5.
Senate appropriators have added F-35s to the defense budget, but there are strings attached, reports Defense News. Senate appropriators want quarterly reports on the status of Turkish suppliers in the F-35′s supply chain. The committee also directed the Pentagon’s F-35 program office to provide budgetary information about how Lockheed Martin is compensating the government for spare parts not ready on time for installation. Lockheed agreed in September to invest about $70.6 million to fix problems DoD said increased costs and lost time.
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Nov. 9, 2020.
USNI News reports a Marine F-35 squadron wrapped up nearly two months of training aboard the UK Royal Navy HMS Queen Elizabeth, paving the way for US and UK fighters to operate interchangeably.
With coronavirus cases spiking nationwide, all signs point to a harrowing autumn, says The Washington Post. In North Dakota, health care workers with asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus will be allowed to keep working as the number of infected patients outstrips the staff members needed to care for them. In multiple states, hospital leaders warn that the current spike is straining resources and local officials from Maryland to Iowa have pleaded for tighter restrictions that might help slow the virus’s accelerating spread.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says Pfizer coronavirus vaccine will likely be available for high-risk cases by December, reports Fox News. The government’s top infectious disease expert’s comments follow a Pfizer and BioNTech’s announcement that their vaccine proved more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a Phase 3 clinical trial.
Key Supreme Court justices signal support for the Affordable Care Act, reports The New York Times. Both Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said striking down the so-called individual mandate did not require the rest of the law to be struck down as well.
Walter Reed Master Chief Corpsman Gregory F. Fall is charged with sex crimes, reports Navy Times, and is facing court-martial on several charges involving sexual misconduct, according to legal records obtained by Navy Times.
Millions face a loss of jobless aid as two critical unemployment programs expire at the end of the year, reports The New York Times. As many as 13 million people are receiving payments under the programs. Republican and Democratic leaders say they support renewing the programs in some form, but Congress can’t reach a deal to get it done. It remains unclear how the results of Tuesday’s election will affect prospects for an agreement.
