Deputy 
Defense Secretary Ash Carter this week urged Congress to prevent the Budget Control Act’s sequestration mechanism from kicking in, which will occur on January 1 and impose additional significant spending cuts on the Pentagon unless something is done beforehand. “Sequester was supposed to be the trigger, a trigger so irrational that the prospect of it would drive and force the leadership to do what was needed”—put together a federal budget package which could win wide support, Carter told attendees of his American Enterprise Institute-hosted talk in Washington, D.C., on May 30. He called sequester an “awful prospect.” He also reiterated that the Defense Department is taking a “strategy-driven” approach to transition from an era dominated by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a far more complicated environment. “Every dollar [DOD] spends on old and unnecessary programs is a dollar we lose from new, necessary strategic investments,” stressed Carter. (Carter transcript)
Earlier this week, the People’s Republic of China confirmed it is halting its nuclear arms control talks with the U.S., in retaliation for the U.S. continuing to sell arms to Taiwan. The move reinforces a “pattern of behavior” from Beijing, experts say.