U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has issued new instructions for how military personnel and contractors are allowed to handle classified information after sensitive military planning documents were recently leaked online. On Friday, Mr. Austin issued a memo (pdf) providing military components, supporting agencies, and contractors with new instructions for how to handle classified national…

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the ruling party of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), has demonstrated little interest in engaging in serious talks with the United States about the fraying relationship between the global superpowers and its potentially catastrophic consequences.  U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, however, in his address on June 2 at…

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the ruling party of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), has demonstrated little interest in engaging in serious talks with the United States about the fraying relationship between the global superpowers and its potentially catastrophic consequences.  U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, however, in his address on June 3 at…

The chairmen of the House Armed Services and House Intelligence committees are demanding answers from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin after a major leak of top secret military documents. “The world has watched as classified national security secrets leaked widely and precipitously across the internet. The unauthorized disclosures appear extensive,” House Armed Service Committee Chairman Mike…

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized as “unlawful” a new Department of Defense (DoD) policy that would pay for military service members to travel to get an abortion if they are stationed in a state where access to abortion is restricted. During a Tuesday House Armed Services Committee hearing, Johnson accused the DoD of exceeding its…

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told Congress on March 28 that President Joe Biden’s administration retaliated a total of four times to over 83 attacks by Iran and its proxies. Austin made the comments during testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee. “How many attacks has Iran or its proxies launched against American positions in…

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called Russia’s aggression toward a U.S. drone “reckless” in a March 15 meeting with the Tenth Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Austin told the group that two Russian aircraft engaged in “dangerous, reckless, and unprofessional practices” over the Black Sea on March 14 when they dumped fuel on an unmanned U.S….

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called Russia’s aggression toward a U.S. drone “reckless” in a March 15 meeting with the Tenth Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Austin told the group that two Russian aircraft engaged in “dangerous, reckless, and unprofessional practices” over the Black Sea on March 14 when they dumped fuel on an unmanned U.S….

Twenty years after the launch of the U.S.-led coalition invasion of Iraq, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on March 7 to meet with the nation’s prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. Austin is on a multi-day tour of the Middle East during which he will meet with the leaders of…

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he and his Chinese counterpart had not spoken for a “couple of months.” The secretary of defense said in a Feb. 23 interview that Wei Fenghe, China’s Minister of National Defense, declined to take a call after the United States shot down the Chinese surveillance balloon. Austin said it…