Policy & Strategy

Republicans expressed concerns after a series of racy emails involving Brett McGurk and a reporter were posted online.

House Democrats are urging President Obama to veto the upcoming defense budget bill being worked on by Congress, if the legislation restricts planned reductions to the U.S. nuclear stockpile. 

McCain hopes Obama can “bring about some change” in Russia’s behavior as a result of his face-to-face meeting with Putin.

The Pentagon on Monday reacted sternly to the Egyptian military's apparent power grab in that country, saying it was “deeply concerned” with the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' seizure of legislative power and urging military leaders to respect civilian control.

Egypt's fledgling experience with democracy was thrown into question last week after a Mubarak-era court invalidated the Islamist-dominated parliament. 

As Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi appeared to take the lead in this weekend's presidential race — the first free elections in the nation's history — the ruling military council seized constitutional powers granting it broad control over the nation's laws and budget, greatly diminishing the roles of parliament and the new president.

“We support the Egyptian people in their expectation that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) will transfer full power to a democratically-elected civilian government, as the SCAF previously announced,” Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement. 

“We have and will continue to urge the SCAF to relinquish power to civilian elected authorities and to respect the universal rights of the Egyptian people and the rule of law. We are deeply concerned about the new amendments to the Constitutional Declaration, including the timing of their announcement as polls were closing for the presidential elections,” Little added.

The House Armed Services Committee has scheduled a hearing this week on potential military options in Iran, at the same time a third round of nuclear talks with Iran are concluding.

The hearing, titled “Addressing the Iranian Nuclear Challenge: Understanding the Military Options,” was announced Monday morning, though it does not yet have a list of witnesses.

Reports from Moscow were not optimistic that there would be progress in the third round of nuclear negotiations

A U.K. marine insurer has dropped coverage for a Russian vessel believed to be carrying attack helicopters and munitions to Syria, CNN is reporting.

The Standard Club has stopped coverage for Russian operator Femco's cargo ship, MV Alaed, following Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's allegations that Russia is providing helicopters to the government of Bashar al-Assad. Russia says the helicopters were part of an earlier order and were merely being refurbished in Russia.

President Obama will meet with Russian President Vladmir Putin on Monday for the first time since Putin was reelected as president, as the two countries continue to disagree about the way forward in the Syrian crisis. 

The bilateral meeting between Obama and Putin at the Group of 20 Summit in Mexico gives the leaders an opportunity to find common ground on Syria. Officials from the two sides have been engaged in a battle of words this past week.

The United States has pressed Russia to stop backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as Russia and China have blocked United Nations Security Council action against the Assad regime.

David Plouffe said Republicans were using the leaks to damage Obama and promised cooperation with a DOJ investigation.

As lawmakers craft new laws to crack down on leaks, they say they aren’t targeting journalists who published leaked information.