The State Department ordered the departure of nonemergency U.S. government employees and their family members from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the Iranian-backed Houthis have continued to attack the country.  “As the Department has repeatedly emphasized, the hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly, including beyond that immediate area,” a State Department spokesperson told The…

DAYTON, Ohio, and EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boosted a front-line House Republican on Tuesday during a day trip to Midwest battlegrounds two weeks before the midterm elections, in which Republicans are facing an uphill fight to keep control of Congress.  Hegseth, who completed his second visit to Wisconsin this year, talked…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that the U.S. government’s posture toward Ukraine is unchanged, but emphasized that “our guys” need Patriot missiles interceptors too.  “There’s a lot of things that have been said in the press that are not true about the Department of War,” Hegseth told reporters in Eau Claire, Wisc. when…

A growing chorus of House Republicans is warning President Trump that they’re ready to block additional Pentagon funding unless the administration gets tougher on Russia.  Behind Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the administration is pushing Republicans on Capitol Hill to approve at least $350 billion in new military spending as part of a partisan reconciliation package…

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security   The Big Story  Centcom commander says naval blockade cost Iran $25B in oil revenue The U.S. Central Command (Centcom) Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said on Friday that the U.S. naval blockade has cost Iran $25 billion in crude oil…

The Pentagon is sending more U.S. troops to Panama to participate in jungle warfare training as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth expands the U.S. military’s war against drug cartels in Latin America.  Nearly 200 Army soldiers from Fort Drum, a U.S. Army military reservation in northern New York state, are being sent to a jungle training…

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security   The Big Story  Pentagon’s school system director stepping down The director of the Pentagon’s school system, Paul Craft, is resigning at the end of this month — less than eight months after being selected to lead the agency, a…