Share and Follow

96
<!–

*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img+div{display:none}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0}#converted-body .list_block ol,#converted-body .list_block ul,.body [class~=x_list_block] ol,.body [class~=x_list_block] ul,u+.body .list_block ol,u+.body .list_block ul{padding-left:20px} @media (max-width:620px){.desktop_hide table.icons-outer{display:inline-table!important}.image_block div.fullWidth{max-width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.row-content{width:100%!important}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}.reverse{display:table;width:100%}.reverse .column.first{display:table-footer-group!important}.reverse .column.last{display:table-header-group!important}.row-10 td.column.first .border,.row-12 td.column.first .border,.row-8 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px}.row-10 td.column.last .border,.row-12 td.column.last .border,.row-14 td.column.last .border,.row-8 td.column.last .border{padding:5px 20px 25px 5px}.row-14 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px;border-bottom:15px solid transparent}}

sup, sub { font-size: 100% !important; } sup { mso-text-raise:10% } sub { mso-text-raise:-10% }

{beacon}

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter

{beacon}

Defense &
National Security

<!–

The Big Story

House Democrats not convinced Iran nuclear capabilities wiped

A House briefing from Trump administration officials on last weekend’s strikes against Iranian nuclear sites has done little to mollify the concerns of Democrats, who say they were presented little evidence that the attacks will prevent Tehran from producing nuclear weapons.

Skeptical Democrats had gone into the briefing with two pressing questions: Did Iran pose an imminent threat to Americans, thereby justifying President Trump’s move to launch the strikes without congressional approval? And did the attacks “obliterate” Iran’s capacity to make nuclear weapons, as Trump has claimed?

Leaving the closed-door gathering, Democrats said they got satisfactory answers to neither question.

“I would say that that particular briefing left me with more concerns and a true lack of clarity on how we are defining the mission and the success of it,” said Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), the Democratic whip.

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), a former nuclear physicist, said the U.S. strikes likely knocked out Iran’s centrifuges and other infrastructure required to enrich uranium in the future. But there’s no evidence, he said, that the attacks destroyed Iran’s existing stockpiles of enriched uranium. If those are intact, he warned, Iran could still produce weapons with the strength of a Hiroshima bomb in “a very small breakout time.”

“The goal of this mission, from the start, was to secure or destroy that material,” he said. “That’s where they’re hiding the ball. And that’s what we have to keep our eyes on.”

Friday’s House briefing came six days after Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in an effort to dismantle Tehran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons. The briefing was conducted by top administration officials — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who had also briefed Senate lawmakers a day earlier.

Trump has repeatedly said the mission was an unqualified success, “obliterating” Iran’s nuclear capacity and setting the program back by years. And the president’s GOP allies in the Capitol echoed that message after the briefing.

“It is clear, everyone can see by the videos, that these massive ordinance penetrating bombs did the job,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said. “I think their key facilities have been disabled, and I think Iran is now a long time away from doing what they might have done before this very successful operation.”

A preliminary report from the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reached different conclusions, finding that the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program by months, rather than years. More recent statements from the CIA and Trump’s head of national intelligence have disputed the DIA report, creating mixed messages from the administration about the success of the mission.

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Essential Reads

How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
the future:

Iran’s foreign minister: Israel had to run to ‘daddy’

Iran “showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO Choice but to RUN to ‘Daddy’ to avoid being flattened out by our missiles,” wrote Seyeb Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister, on X. This comes amid a back and forth between Iran and the U.S. after the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei spoke for the first time since the U.S. strikes. “My congratulations on our dear Iran’s victory over the US regime,” …

Full Story

Senate blocks Iran war powers resolution

The Senate blocked an effort Friday to prevent President Trump from taking future military action against Iran without authorization from Congress, less than a week after he directed strikes aimed at the country’s nuclear capabilities. Senators voted 47-53 largely along party lines against the war powers resolution. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the lone GOP lawmaker to vote with Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), …

Full Story

Schiff: ‘Too many unknowns’ to claim ‘victory’ in stopping Iran nuclear weapons

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Friday it’s “premature” for anyone to be claiming that Iran will not try to continue its nuclear program. “The Iranian regime had not made a decision to build a bomb, was not pursuing the mechanism of a bomb, even though it was enriching uranium,” he said in Friday comments on ABC News Live. Over the past week, there has been heavy debate over whether the U.S. strikes in Iran on June 21 …

Full Story

McConnell: Trump has ‘some pretty rabid isolationists over at’ DOD

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took a swipe at President Trump’s national security team in a rare interview as part of a recent pattern of public comments urging the president to consider military intervention in Iran and elsewhere more favorably. “He’s got some pretty rabid isolationists over at [the Department of Defense] — you could argue the vice president is in that group,” the former Senate Republican leader told Politico. …

Full Story

On Our Radar

Upcoming things we’re watching on our beat:

The Center for Strategic and International Studies will hold a conversation on “What Do Strikes on Iran Mean for China, Russia, and North Korea?” at 3 p.m.

In Other News

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

Senators diverge sharply on damage done by Iran strikes after classified briefing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators emerged from a classified briefing Thursday with sharply diverging assessments of President Donald Trump’s bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites, with Republicans calling the mission a clear success and Democrats expressing deep skepticism. CIA Director John Ratcliffe, …

Full Story

On Tap Monday

Events in and around the defense world:

Atlantic Council will discuss “Bolstering the transatlantic partnership at a global inflection point,” at 7:45 a.m.

What We’re Reading

News we’ve flagged from other outlets:

Pentagon plans $5 billion for border, bets on Trump bill to fill funding gaps (Military.com)
Washington war games: How the U.S. prepared for an Iran strike (The Free Press)
DOD’s budget request finally drops, combining a real decrease with a one-time boost (Defense One)

Trending Today

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

GOP leader sets Saturday vote on Trump ‘big, beautiful bill’ despite Republican pushback

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Senate Republicans to expect to see the legislative text of the budget reconciliation package on Friday … Read more

Trump approval underwater, voters say US is on wrong track: Poll

President Trump’s approval rating is underwater and a majority of voters believe the country is on the wrong track, according to a poll released Friday. … Read more