Today’s Headlines and Commentary

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday urged Congress to quickly pass legislation to raise the debt limit before the nation defaults, reports NBC News. Austin warned that defaulting would "undermine the economic strength on which our national security rests" and that "it would also seriously harm our service members and their families." Benefits owed to 2.4 million military retirees and 400,000 survivors would be put at risk and federal contractors may receive delayed payments, he added. Six former defense secretaries wrote to congressional leaders with similar concerns.

CIA Director William Burns announced Thursday that the agency will reorganize to address key national security threats, according to the New York Times. The agency is launching two new centers, one focused on China and another focused on new technology and global problems like climate change and pandemics. These new priorities reflect a shift away from the last two decades, where terrorism was the main focus among intelligence agencies.

A new study from the journal Pediatrics was published in the Washington Post which found that roughly 140,000 children under 18 may have lost caregivers in the course of the pandemic, with the toll being far greater among Black and Hispanic communities. 

Turkey became the last G20 country to ratify the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday, says Reuters. Although Turkey has been a signatory to the agreement since 2016, the country held off for years for what it saw as unfair responsibilities on its part. The Turkish government argued previously that it should not be considered a developed country as part of the agreement, which means that country is required to do more on climate change than developing countries.

President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping plan to meet virtually for their first summit by the end of the year, says the New York Times. The announcement followed a six-hour meeting in Zurich Wednesday between Jake Sullivan, national security adviser, and Yang Jiechi, Beijing’s top diplomat.

Russia broke its daily coronavirus deaths toll Wednesday, surpassing 900 for the first time in the pandemic, according to AP News. Despite the surge, government officials rejected a nationwide lockdown and instead encouraged regional authorities to impose whatever feels right to them. Only 29 percent of the country has been fully vaccinated.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Jacob Schulz sat down with Jessica Davis to discuss her new book on terrorism financing.

Aram Gavoor and Steven Platt discussed the history of the presumption of regularity and the importance of codifying the principle into law.

Howell also shared an episode of Rational Security in which the hosts sit down with Bryce Klehm to discuss Chinese encroachment into Taiwan’s airspace, a possible legitimacy crisis for the Supreme Court and the findings of the Pandora Papers.

Robert Chesney and Steve Vladek shared a new episode of the National Security Law Podcast in which they debate whether the Due Process Clause applies at Guantanamo Bay, upcoming Supreme Court cases relating to the State Secrets Privilege, the CIA’s plan against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, the Huawei CFO case and a Canadian Islamic State fighter.

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