Here are five noteworthy stories and events to start your week.
US Troop Killed in Yemen in First Raid Authorized by Trump
A U.S. service member was killed and three were wounded on Saturday in a rare raid on the Al-Qaida branch in Yemen, and a fourth was injured in the "hard landing" of a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft afterward, US. Central Command said in a statement on Sunday. President Donald Trump in a statement mourned the loss of the service member, an event that marked the first combat action he personally authorized as the new commander-in-chief. Trump said the "successful raid" against a headquarters in Yemen of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula resulted in U.S. forces "killing an estimated 14 AQAP members and capturing important intelligence that will assist the U.S. in preventing terrorism against its citizens and people around the world."
Trump Shuffles National Security Council
The president on Saturday announced a reorganization of the National Security Council. The move gives Trump's chief political strategist, Stephen Bannon, the former head of the website Breitbart News, and other advisers seats on the principals committee. The order also changes the status of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of National Intelligence, who are invited to attend such panel meetings when "issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed," the order states. Robert Gates, the former defense secretary and CIA director, called excluding such officials "a big mistake." "They both bring a perspective and judgment and experience … that every president -- whether they like it or not -- finds useful," Gates told ABC News.
Republicans Criticize Trump's Immigration Order
Some Republicans criticized Trump's immigration order that came late Friday and quickly impacted refugees and citizens from Muslim countries traveling to the United States. The directive, which has spurred protests and legal action, suspends for 120 days all refugee admissions; indefinitely bars Syrian refugees from entering the country; and blocks for 90 days citizens of certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the country, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, according to The New York Times. Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in a statement said, "It is clear from the confusion at our airports across the nation that President Trump's executive order was not properly vetted." Iraq quickly approved a similar measure applying to Americans.
VA Secretary Nominee to Testify at Confirmation Hearing
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, headed by Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican from Georgia, is set to hold a hearing on Wednesday as part of the confirmation process for Dr. David Shulkin, the undersecretary for health at the Veterans Affairs Department, to become VA secretary. If Shulkin is confirmed, he would be the first VA secretary without prior military service and Trump's first cabinet member who served in the Obama administration. Many vet groups, including the Disabled American Veterans, had pushed for Trump to keep Robert McDonald on the job, but the president-elect signaled he wanted someone else to reform the agency in part by giving vets more access to private care. Trump raised the issue frequently during his campaign.
Navy to Decommission World's First Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier
The U.S. Navy on Friday will hold a ceremony to officially mark the decommissioning of the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, known as the "Big E" and inactivated in 2012 after joining the fleet in 1961, according to The Virginian Pilot. Some 12,000 people turned out for the inactivation five years ago. The ceremony in Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries in Virginia, is expected to draw about 100 people; it will be closed to the public but video of the event will be posted on the Navy's Facebook page, according to the newspaper. The process of decommissioning the massive ship included defueling its eight reactors and preparing the full for dismantlement, according to Naval Today.
-- Richard Sisk contributed to this report.
-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
