Stevenson’s army, October 12

– Hill staffers becoming tech lobbyists.

– Assad is back.

–CFIUS extends its reach.

-DOD scientists sees more areas to research.

– Writer sees Belarus flashpoint.

And here’s how Punchbowl News explains the clever way the House is passing the debt limit change.

The House leadership doesn’t anticipate having any trouble passing a debt-limit increase. Members return this afternoon for a quick session to take up the debt-limit boost and do some other business, and then the chamber isn’t back for another vote until Oct. 19.

Here’s the kicker: The House won’t even vote directly on lifting the debt limit. The debt limit will be “deemed” lifted as part of a rule that governs debate for the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, the Protect Older Job Applicants Act and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act. 

In other words, one vote will sketch out the debate on three minor bills — and it will also lift the debt limit by $480 billion. It’s an attempt at being a bit cute by House Democrats, but it’s still a debt-limit vote.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).