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19 Jul, 4 tweets, 2 min read
I’ve confirmed this with a congressional aide who has seen the notification.

This is a big deal — the U.S. had also been considering third countries for Afghans awaiting SIV approval.
story here —

U.S. to begin housing Afghan refugees at Virginia military base

politico.com/news/2021/07/1…
.@StateDeptSpox confirms

“I am pleased to announce that the Department of Defense has agreed, at the request of the Department of State, to allow the use of Fort Lee, Virginia, as the initial relocation site for the pool of applicants who are closest to completing...processing.”
Via @laraseligman—Pentagon spox says initial round includes 2,500 applicants. That number includes 700 SIV applicants; the rest are their family members. These Afghans have already gone thru security vetting & are completing “final steps” at Fort Lee.

politico.com/news/2021/07/1…

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More from @AndrewDesiderio

Andrew Desiderio Profile picture
1 Jul
New: Trump Org indictments served to remind Dems of the glaring flaws in Congress’ oversight machinery & the legislative branch’s weak mechanisms for enforcing its subpoenas.

“When are we going to come to grips with that?” one top Oversight lawmaker says

politico.com/news/2021/07/0…
After the Michael Cohen hearing, House Oversight sought interviews with Weisselberg, Don Jr., Eric Trump, Alan Garten & others as the panel looked into the Trump Organization’s business practices. They never showed, and there weren’t any consequences.
Dems who poured years into oversight of Trump acknowledged that in many ways the criminal justice system picked up where they failed. Oversight Cmte tried to draft legislation on conflicts of interest for officeholders but never learned enough info bc their subpoenas were ignored
Read 4 tweets
Andrew Desiderio Profile picture
24 Jun
NEW: Biden stares down his own “Saigon moment” as he prepares to meet with Afghan President Ghani, whose country is rapidly being taken over by the Taliban amid the U.S. exit. GOP having a told-you-so moment & drawing comparisons to Iraq.

w/ @nahaltoosi

politico.com/news/2021/06/2…
Democrats are mostly standing by the decision to withdraw.

“It’s been proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that our military can’t solve the problem,” House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith said, adding that Biden made “the best decision among a bad series of options.”
.@ChrisMurphyCT: “There’s going to be bad news out of Afghanistan. But you know what? There’s been tons of bad news out of Afghanistan while we’ve been there. Every single year the Taliban has gained more territory. Every single year the gov’t remains completely inept & corrupt.”
Read 5 tweets
Andrew Desiderio Profile picture
24 Jun
New: Congress eagerly awaits the first-ever public UFO report, expected to be released tomorrow.

“How can we have stuff flying over restricted military airspace and not even be curious — not to mention concerned — about who it is and why they’re here?”

politico.com/news/2021/06/2…
Lawmakers don't want confirmation of wild theories about alien life. They’re looking to see those debunked and get more data on the earthbound national security threat posed by the mysterious sightings.

“There are so many uncredible people in that subject matter,” Inhofe told me
Some NEWS—for the first time ever, we can publicly identify the director of the Pentagon’s UAP task force.

His name is Brennan McKernan, a naval intelligence analyst.

He briefed congressional committees last week ahead of the report’s release, I’m told.
politico.com/news/2021/06/2…
Read 5 tweets
Andrew Desiderio Profile picture
22 Jun
Ilhan Omar started out in Congress as a somewhat lonely critic of decades of U.S. policy in the Middle East. Now, six months into her second term, the Minnesota Democrat has new and diverse allies as the party grows increasingly comfortable defending her.

politico.com/news/2021/06/2…
It’s a sign that the party’s shift on the U.S. role in the Middle East was more than just a short-term fixture of the recent conflict in Gaza. And the reactions to Omar’s comments highlighted the generational divide between the old guard & those more willing to criticize Israel.
Punishments for Omar never materialized. The dozen Jewish Dems who issued a statement condemning her didn’t push the issue further.

“There were more Jews who didn’t sign that letter than did,” said Rep. Yarmuth (D-Ky.), who is Jewish, describing it as an “overreaction.”
Read 6 tweets
Andrew Desiderio Profile picture
29 May
NEWS: U.S. officials are monitoring two Iranian warships believed to be headed toward Venezuela

w/ @woodruffbets @laraseligman @nahaltoosi

politico.com/news/2021/05/2…
An Iranian frigate and the Makran, a former oil tanker that was converted to a floating forward staging base, have been heading south along the east coast of Africa, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject.
The mere presence of Iranian warships in America’s backyard would represent a challenge to U.S. authority in the region — and would likely inflame the debate in Washington over President Joe Biden’s decision to re-open negotiations with Tehran.
Read 4 tweets
Andrew Desiderio Profile picture
27 May
Crapo and Schumer have reached a tentative deal, per Sen. Rounds, clearing the way for cloture on the China bill. Cautious optimism that this now gets done today as originally planned.
The vote has now been open for three hours; despite the breakthrough, we don’t expect it to close any time soon. Details of the Crapo-Schumer agreement are still being ironed out.
GOP Sens. Daines & Tillis just voted yes. Vote is now at 56-32. Needs four more.
Read 5 tweets

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