Economic sanctions “clearly were not convincing to Russia in advance,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said. “It’s not clear anything would have been convincing to Russia in advance; I’m not going to try to get into the head of Vladimir Putin."
The release of the report comes as the Defense Department continues to struggle with efforts to curtail sexual assault and harassment across the force.
Republican Rep. Ken Calvert is willing to meet Democratic lawmakers partway in their reported plans to trim the defense budget: cut back on civilian employees, not equipment and modernization.
The House defied a veto threat from President Donald Trump on Tuesday and approved a $740.5 billion defense policy bill that Trump opposes because it doesn’t repeal a prized liability shield for social media firms.