HEGSETH’S BIG DAY: Speculation has run wild over the past week, ever since War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced an unprecedented, mandatory, and in-person meeting of almost all of the U.S. military’s “GOFOs” — Pentagon speak for general and flag officers — at the U.S. Marine base in Quantico, Virginia, just south of Washington D.C.
The highly unusual gathering, and the fact that the participants have been kept in the dark about what it’s all about, have sparked numerous rumors, from Hegseth announcing a radical restructuring of the combatant commands to fears that senior officers will have to sign a loyalty pledge.
Hegseth has revealed little, but appeared to scoff on social media when former U.S. Army in Europe commander retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges noted on X that in 1935, German generals were summoned to a meeting to pledge loyalty to Adolf Hitler. “Cool story, General,” Hegseth responded.
Hegseth is scheduled to speak at 8:15 a.m., followed by President Donald Trump at 9 a.m. The meeting is not classified. Reporters have been allowed to attend, and the remarks will be streamed live on the Pentagon’s website.
Trump has said the gathering is just about “esprit de corps,” a chance to “tell the generals that we love them, they’re cherished leaders, to be strong, be tough and be smart and be compassionate.”
“That’s all that is, esprit de corps. It’s about time somebody did that.”
“Another possibility is that Hegseth has decided that his schemes for reorganizing the U.S. military just aren’t being taken seriously enough,” wrote Tom Nichols in the Atlantic. “Hegseth has been getting resistance to his push to reshape several military commands, so he may be trying to announce new structures as a fait accompli and then order the officers — who would have to draw up the actual plans — to make them happen.”
“Hegseth surely knows that they can still slow-roll his ideas into oblivion, and he may have called this meeting because he somehow thinks he has enough force of personality to stare down some 800 men and women who were officers when he was still in high school,” writes Nichols, a retired professor at the U.S. Naval War College.
THE NEW DEFENSE STRATEGY: While Hegseth has hinted he’ll talk about his favorite subject, “warrior ethos” and “lethality of the force,” the meeting comes as there is growing concern among some in the upper ranks about Pentagon’s new defense strategy, which shifts the primary U.S. military focus from countering China to protecting the homeland, including missions formerly the purview of law enforcement.
The official National Defense Strategy document is now in draft form and undergoing final edits, according to the Washington Post. The draft has been shared widely with military leaders from the global combatant commands to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“People familiar with the editing process, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive deliberations, described a growing sense of frustration with a plan they consider myopic and potentially irrelevant, given the president’s highly personal and sometimes contradictory approach to foreign policy,” the Post reported.
“Secretary Hegseth has tasked the development of a National Defense Strategy that is laser focused on advancing President Trump’s commonsense America First, Peace Through Strength agenda,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the newspaper in a statement. “This process is still ongoing.”
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HAPPENING TODAY: COUNTDOWN TO SHUTDOWN: With neither side giving an inch, the country is on the brink of the first government shutdown in seven years, and Democrats and Republicans are adamant that the other side is to blame. The deadline is midnight tonight, and no one is blinking, yet.
“We have very large differences. Their bill has not one iota of democratic input. That is never how we’ve done this before. Significant and meaningful differences remain,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) after top House and Senate leaders met with President Donald Trump at the White House yesterday afternoon. “It’s now in the president’s hands,” Schumer said. “He can avoid the shutdown if he gets the Republican leaders to go along with what we want.”
“The problem is that Chuck Schumer and Leader Jeffries refused to acknowledge the simple facts,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) after the meeting. “By way of review, the House is getting back to the way the regular appropriations process is supposed to work, 12 separate appropriations bills passed through the House Appropriations Committee, three off the floor. The Senate is doing their work as well.”
“All this is happening in bipartisan fashion. The problem is we’ve run out of clock. September 30th is the end of the fiscal year, so we need a little more time. So, what we did in the Republican majority is the right, responsible, simple thing. A clean continuing resolution, a short-term nonpartisan continuing resolution,” Johnson said. “Now, there’s a reason that Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have come out here stomping their feet, saying that they can’t go along with this. They’re trying to bring in extraneous issues. They issued a counterproposal. You should go take a look at what they requested, $1.5 trillion in new spending that is unrelated to the ongoing appropriations process.”
“This is not simply a negotiating tactic. This relates to the well-being and the health of the American people. More than 20 million Americans are on the verge of experiencing increased healthcare costs because of the Republican refusal to address the Affordable Care Act Tax Credits that benefit working-class Americans,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on CNN. “We are ready to find a bipartisan agreement. But that bipartisan agreement needs to address the healthcare crisis.”
“If they want to talk about how to fix American healthcare policy, let’s do it. The speaker would love to do it. The Senate majority leader would love to do it. Let’s work on it together,” said Vice President JD Vance. “But let’s do it in the context of an open government that’s providing essential services to the American people. That’s all that we’re proposing to do.”
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate and would need at least eight Democratic votes to pass the bill with 60 votes, since Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has suggested he will vote against it. The only Democrat to say he’ll vote for the short-term funding extension is Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
The Pentagon’s contingency plan for a shutdown calls for “only the minimum number of civilian employees necessary to carry out excepted activities” to be exempted from being furloughed.
SENATE VOTES AGAINST PROPOSED LEGISLATION TO PREVENT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
PUTIN: ‘WE FIGHT AND PREVAIL’: In a video message translated on the Kremlin’s official website, Russian President Vladimir Putin struck a defiant tone as he celebrated the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts he does not fully control.
“I extend my heartfelt congratulations on this holiday, the Day of Reunification of the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions with our large, united country,” Putin said. “We did what had to be done, and we are proud of it.”
“We fight and prevail, safeguarding our vital national interests, our common memory and values, the Russian language, traditions, culture and faith,” Putin said. “We will overcome every trial and emerge even stronger.”
In a Truth Social post last week, President Trump said Russia has been “fighting aimlessly,” making it look like “a paper tiger.” In a meeting with the Turkish president, Trump said, “With all of the heavy bombardment over the last two weeks, they’ve gained almost no land. Think of that: They’ve gained almost no land. And I’m not going to ever call anybody a paper tiger, but Russia’s spent millions and millions of dollars in bombs, missiles, ammunition, and lives, their lives, and they’ve gained virtually no land.”
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THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Senate votes against proposed legislation to prevent government shutdown
Washington Examiner: Trump touts Gaza peace plan as Netanyahu warns Hamas it can be done the ‘easy’ or ‘hard’ way
Washington Examiner: Trump’s big plan to end Gaza war favors Israel, Hamas official says
Washington Examiner: Netanyahu expressed ‘regret’ to Qatari prime minister over strike
Washington Examiner: Jeffries digs in on Obamacare tax credit demands, says vote can’t wait
Washington Examiner: Starmer promises to fix immigration but says ‘racist’ Reform UK policies go too far
Washington Examiner: Trump UN pick Mike Waltz confirmed as General Assembly Representative
Washington Examiner: ICE shooting in Dallas is ‘very definition of terrorism’: US Attorney
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Israel deserves support, not demands for its surrender
AP: This is Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza
AP: Hamas says it will study Trump’s peace plan before responding
Washington Post: Military Leaders Voice Concern Over Hegseth’s New Pentagon Strategy
The Atlantic: Why Is the Pentagon Afraid of the Press?
Wall Street Journal: Pentagon Pushes to Double Missile Production for Potential China Conflict
Breaking Defense: NATO Needs Accelerated Counter-Drone Tech to Fend Off Russian Incursions: Official
Defense One: Shutdown Could Erode Cyber Defenses by Sidelining Critical Staff, Experts Warn
Defense News: Small Defense Firms Warn Shutdown Will Hurt Industrial Base
Air & Space Forces Magazine: F-35 Deal for Lots 18 and 19 Covers Nearly 300 Fighters at $24.3 Billion
DefenseScoop: AFCENT Moving to Compete in ‘the Numbers Game’ with Low-Cost Drones
Breaking Defense: Why Anduril, RTX Are Pushing New Ground-Launched Munition Variants
The War Zone: Angry Kitten Electronic Warfare Pod Spotted Flying on HC-130J Combat Rescue Plane
Task & Purpose: Air Force Revives WWII-Era Squadron in South Korea as Modern Drone Force
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Government Shutdown: Guidance for the Air Force and Space Force
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Industry Reps: US Can’t Go for One-for-One Kills in Drone Warfare with China
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Opens New Ops Floor to Streamline Intel Process
THE CALENDAR:
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 30
8 a.m. 2401 M St., NW — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security “Defense Writers Group breakfast discussion:” with Lt. Gen. Christopher Mohan, deputy commanding general, Army Materiel Command and senior commander, Redstone Arsenal RSVP: [email protected].
9:15 a.m. 11810 Sunrise Valley Dr., Reston, Virginia — Institute for Defense and Government Advancement 2025 Defense Logistics and Support Summit, with Katie Arrington, performing the duties of department of defense chief information officer https://www.idga.org/events-defense-logistics/agenda-mc
10 a.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council discussion: “Ukraine’s drone industry and the challenge of wartime supply chains,” with former Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Laura Cooper, instructor at the National War College; Catarina Buchatskiy, director, analytics at the Snake Island Institute; Daniel Soller, vice president of international operations at Mission Essential; and Mykola Holovatiuk, commander, Ukraine’s 412th Nemesis Regiment’s Drone Pilot Section https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/ukraines-drone-industry
1 p.m. — Jews United for Democracy and Justice virtual discussion: “30 Years Since Oslo: Why Did the Accords Fail and Can the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process be Salvaged?” with former Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert; and Nasser Al-Kidwa, member, Palestinian political party Fatah https://www.jewsunitedfordemocracy.org/blog/event/september-30-30-years-since
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 1
9 a.m. — International Institute for Strategic Studies virtual discussion: “Tracking the Components of Missiles and UAVs Used by Russia in Ukraine: What Lessons for Control Regimes?” with David Hayes, director, David Hayes Export Controls; and Rob Hunter-Perkins, head of research, Conflict Armament Research https://www.iiss.org/events/2025/09/report-launch-tracking-the-components-of-missiles
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 2
8 a.m. 7920 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, Virginia — Potomac Officers Club 2025 Intel Summit discussion, “Acceleration of Commercial Technology into National Intelligence Missions,” with Timothy Wood, program manager for the machine-assisted analytic rapid-repository system at the Defense Intelligence Agency, https://www.potomacofficersclub.com/events/2025-intel-summit
12 p.m. 1957 E St. NW — George Washington University discussion: “From Russia with Love: Transnational Corruption and Sanctions Bypass in the Ukraine War,” with Alyona Vandysheva, CEO, Transparency International Russia (in exile); Ilia Shumanov, compliance specialist, anti-corruption expert and former CEO of Transparency International Russia https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/from-russia-with-love
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4
9 a.m. 1957 E St. NW — Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia Annual Policy Conference discussion: “Russia’s War in Ukraine” https://www.ponarseurasia.org/ponars-eurasia-annual-policy-conference
10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar: “European Perspectives on China and its Nuclear Buildup,” with Max Hoell, postdoctoral research fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/european-perspectives-on-china
