If published reports prove true, the incident could be the biggest breach of Chinese intelligence operations to date.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he “cannot envision” the United States taking military action in Syria without support from the United Nations Security Council, something that appears unlikely with Russia’s opposition.

Panetta said the U.S. military would be prepared for any contingency in Syria, but that the international community had to support whatever action is taken.

“My hope would be that the international community becomes much more aggressive at deciding what additional steps are necessary here to achieve what all of us want to achieve, which is [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad] stepping down and Syria being given to the Syrian people to determine their future,” Panetta said at a media briefing Thursday evening on a flight during his trip to Asia.

President Obama accelerated cyberattacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities, The New York Times reported.

Nearly all House Democrats joined Republicans late Thursday to approve a spending bill for military construction and Veterans Affairs, despite an Obama administration threat to veto the bill.

Members approved the bill in an overwhelming 407-12 vote in which only four Democrats opposed it. The bill was approved after a quick debate and quick consideration of amendments, most of which were approved by voice vote, another strong sign of bipartisan support.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) joined with 179 other Democrats in supporting the bill.

Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon blamed Democrats for not stopping $500 billion in automatic cuts to Defense spending.

Mitt Romney said that he would give President Obama an F grade “across the board.”

Despite the growing rancor on Capitol Hill demanding an advanced missile defense shield on the East Coast, the Pentagon does not have the money or desire to build such a system in the eastern United States. 

A new Defense Department spy service was authorized in a Thursday House vote in favor of a bill authorizing U.S. intelligence operations for fiscal year 2013.

The House approved the Intelligence Authorization Act, H.R. 5743, in a 386-28 vote. The bill was broadly bipartisan, as it has been in the last few years, and reflects cooperation on the part of the Intelligence Committee on reaching funding priorities for the next year.

Rep. Conyers is pushing agencies to release information about the number of Americans who have their communications monitored under FISA.