Congress
Mark Milley disagrees with Trump pick on women in combat
Retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff, is defending the role of women in combat — clashing with the views of Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Pentagon.
Milley, who served as the top U.S. military officer under Trump and President Joe Biden until his retirement in 2023, said at an event Wednesday that women have served in battle throughout history.
And he pointedly recalled the service of an Army nurse who braved minefields to save fellow service members and was killed in action.
“Don’t lecture me about women in combat,” Milley said at a national security innovation event hosted by the Pallas Foundation. “Women have been in combat, and it doesn’t matter if that 7.62 [caliber round] hits you in the chest. No one gives a shit if it’s a woman or a guy to pull that trigger, you’re still dead.”
His remarks come after Pete Hegseth, an Army National Guard veteran and Fox TV host nominated by Trump to be defense secretary, faced public criticism for saying women should not serve in combat.
Milley was elevated to the U.S. military’s top job by Trump in 2019 but has since been sharply critical of him. He described the now president-elect as “fascist to the core” in a book by journalist Bob Woodward.
Trump and Hegseth have been sharply critical of the military and what they call “woke generals.” Milley, who did not specifically mention the nominee during the event, made it clear to the audience that he views the military as a meritocracy.
“If you meet the standards, our military must be, and always should be, a standards-based, merit-based military period, full stop,” he said.
Women have been allowed to serve in frontline combat roles since 2015, when then-U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter ordered the U.S. military to open all jobs to women. Hegseth, who said the inclusion of women in combat units has “made fighting more complicated,” has argued that women can still serve, just not in jobs such as armor, artillery, infantry or in the special operations community.
Milley’s remarks come after the U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters traveling with him in Laos earlier Wednesday that the military should not take women out of frontline combat roles.
“I think our women add significant value to the United States military and we should never change that,” Austin said, adding that his message to women in uniform was that “ we need you, we have faith in you, we are appreciative of your service, and you add value to the finest and most lethal fighting force on Earth.”
Milley was also pressed on whether the U.S. would continue to be a reliable international partner under Trump. Trump has often questioned the value of longstanding alliances such as NATO. Milley predicted a “retraction” in U.S. military engagement abroad over the long term, but stopped short of saying the U.S. is drifting to isolationism.
“I wouldn’t say we’re going to be isolationists,” Milley said. “I wouldn’t go that far, but there’s a probability that there’ll be some sort of retraction over time — this isn’t going to be instant — over time, of US military forces overseas.”
Milley sidestepped questions about whether reports the incoming administration could create a “warrior board” of retired military officers to review sitting generals and admirals or attempt to court martial officers would have a chilling effect on the force or recruitment.
“I would imagine right now that there’s probably some eyebrows being raised in the Pentagon or out in units. I don’t think they’re obsessed with it, to tell you the truth, because they don’t know what it means,” Milley said. “They don’t know what it consists of. No one has actually laid any of this stuff out.”
Adam Hamilton raised $10.6 million in the third quarter of 2026 across his Senate campaign and his joint fundraising committees, his campaign tells Blue Light News, a significant haul for the Kansas Democrat.
The fundraising total illustrates Democrats’ newfound bullishness about flipping a Senate seat in the deep-red state for the first time since 1932.
“This grassroots support sends a clear message: with three weeks until Election Day, Adam Hamilton is building the momentum to win,” said Hamilton campaign spokesperson Tyson Brody.
Hamilton’s third-quarter figure is nearly triple his $3.66 million second-quarter total. His campaign did not provide a current cash-on-hand total.
National Democrats began pumping money into Kansas in recent days, a sign of their growing hopes that Hamilton could win. Last week, Senate Majority PAC — Senate Democrats’ top super PAC — reserved $5 million in television ads backing Hamilton. American Bridge PAC and Lower Costs Now, a new group affiliated with former Vice President Kamala Harris’ super PAC, have spent in Kansas in recent weeks.
Republicans have also flocked to Kansas to prop up Marshall: Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP’s top PAC, has spent or reserved nearly $11 million backing Marshall in the past week, according to tracking firm AdImpact.
“It took us five months to raise $15 million. [Marshall] got it in a day,” Hamilton said at a campaign event in Lawrence, Kansas on Monday. “So please help us.”
Marshall’s campaign has yet to release his third-quarter fundraising totals. As of mid-July, Marshall had over $5 million in the bank to $1.73 million for Hamilton.
A bipartisan Senate duo is urging Trump national security officials to “bring its full capacities to bear” to stave off threats posed by artificial intelligence — sooner rather than later.
Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, who serves on the Senate Armed Services cybersecurity subcommittee, are calling for a full government response to a growing number of cybersecurity breaches.
“Recent AI security incidents should serve as a warning,” the senators wrote in a Tuesday letter to Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and White House Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios. “Advanced AI agents have escaped testing environments, bypassed safeguards, and gained unauthorized access to real-world systems owned by government agencies and private organizations.”
Spokespeople for Clayton and Kratsios did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Their letter comes as lawmakers struggle to hash out what legislation on AI safety, if any, might look like. Members are currently in recess ahead of the November elections and there’s little hope progress can be made by the year’s end.
But those lawmakers who have been engaged on the topic for years now have mapped out administrative actions the Trump administration could move on now, without waiting on Congress.
The Cantwell and Rounds priorities include: strengthening federal AI safety and security standards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST; expanding independent testing capabilities at the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence, Department of Energy and the national labs; and working with the tech industry to develop and deploy defensive AI tools.
Specifically, the senators wrote, new NIST standards should address the risks posed by advanced AI capabilities, including the “potential misuse by malicious actors” to conduct sophisticated cyberattacks, automate attacks at scale and agents that threaten external systems and critical infrastructure.
They also said the federal government capacity should be complemented by universities and other research organizations, as well as by private sector, third-party evaluators.
Finally, they point to ways the government could use existing programs at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to work with AI labs to help detect threats and reinforce vulnerable systems.
A bipartisan group of senators urged President Donald Trump to rescind his recent diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, amid bubbling anger on Capitol Hill about Trump’s announcement.
In a letter sent to the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the senators warned that the president’s deal with Russia will not “achieve just ends” or benefit Americans.
“Granting Moscow the ability to sell Russian diesel freely in global markets damages American security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine, who continue to defend themselves from Putin’s murderous, illegal war,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded.”
On Sunday, a smaller group of senators called on the president to “immediately reverse course” on the plan in a statement. Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — who signed on to both — said Sunday there may be “a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump announced in a social media post on Friday that Russia would “immediately supply” diesel fuel to global markets — including potentially the U.S. — to help relieve high prices driven, in part, by the ongoing war with Iran. Though Trump has repeatedly defended the U.S.’s actions against Iran, on Saturday he demanded an end to Ukrainian drone strikes that have crippled Russian oil refineries that he argues have caused the record-high oil prices.
The senators on Tuesday argued that the deal with Russia will have a “negligible impact” on fuel prices while providing Putin with “more fuel to finance his war machine” as Russia continues its “brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians.”
The deal with Russia is a sharp pivot from a sweeping sanctions package signed into law last month. That legislation — championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — was meant to deplete Moscow’s resources by targeting Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of oil tankers. It drew widespread bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress.
Senators on Tuesday referenced the package as they condemned Putin as a “tyrant.”
“For decades, America has stood as the bastion of freedom against tyranny, and American presidents have embodied our nation’s resistance to tyrants. Putin is a tyrant,” the letter reads. “Withdraw from this agreement, rescind General License No. 135, and execute the authorities provided under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. Maintain our legacy – and the duty America holds – as leader of the free world.”
In addition to Blumenthal and Tillis, Tuesday’s letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Jack Reed (R.I.), and Chris Coons (Del.) and Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), Alan Armstrong (Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and John Cornyn (Texas).
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