Lawmakers press Air Force on civilian cuts at China aerospace institute

Lawmakers on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party are pressing the Air Force for answers on its decision to cut all civilian positions at the service’s China Aerospace Studies Institute. In a Nov. 4 letter to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Ranking Member Ro Khanna, D-Calif., requested a briefing by Nov. 20 on the service’s resourcing and personnel decisions for the institute, known as CASI. CASI falls under Air University, which oversees the Air Force’s officer and enlisted schools. “Under-resourcing CASI’s mission could risk undermining the ability of military leaders and civilian policymakers to understand the PRC’s aerospace strategy and capabilities and, by extension, deter Beijing from using them in a military conflict,” the lawmakers wrote. “Any potential loss of such expertise is particularly worrisome given the PRC’s continued efforts to rapidly modernize its aerospace forces while expanding its aggressive activities in the Indo-Pacific region.” The letter, posted by the select committee, said that without CASI’s in-house experts, the Air Force and other agencies would presumably have to turn to costly outside contractors. It also said understanding the capabilities of China’s People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, is critical for deterring conflict and, citing CASI’s charter, for “improving [the U.S.] ability to be successful in strategic competition.” CASI Director Brendan Mulvaney told Defense News Friday that official comment on the institute now must come through public affairs at Air Education and Training Command, which runs Air University, or from Air University itself. Speaking as a private citizen, Mulvaney said he did not know about the committee’s plans but was “extremely pleased to see that Congressional Leadership acted in a fully bipartisan manner, showing strong support,” even during the midterm election season. “I am gratified that the accomplishments and contributions made by CASI are highly valued across the aisle and across the government,” he said. Two CASI civilians have already left, Mulvaney said, and their now-defunded positions cannot be refilled. An Air Force spokesperson told Defense News that the service “will respond directly to the committee.” The spokesperson did not answer questions about the Air Force’s plans for CASI or whether vacated positions would be refilled. It is unclear whether any additional military personnel have been assigned to the institute since Oct. 1. The lawmakers’ letter to Meink follows the Air Force’s decision, confirmed in September, that civilian positions would no longer be assigned to CASI as part of an ongoing civilian restructure within Air Education and Training Command. An Air Force spokesperson told Defense News at the time that “the CASI mission continues, with the organization leveraging assigned military service members to accomplish its objectives.” Mulvaney described the move differently in September, saying that eliminating all of the institute’s civilian positions was “effectively ending CASI.” No military positions are affected, he said, noting the institute has two master sergeant positions and a deputy position that has remained unfilled for over a year. Asked how the civilian cuts would affect CASI’s research, Mulvaney said, “All of the research has always been done by the civilian personnel.” The cut “had nothing to do with CASI’s mission,” Mulvaney said in September, but stemmed from the fact that the institute does not produce professional military education graduates, Air University’s primary mission. Asked whether another organization would take on CASI’s China aerospace research, Mulvaney said, “Nothing has been identified.” In a Sept. 22 statement, later removed from Air University’s website, Mulvaney said Air University had “decided to close” CASI and that all of its civilian positions would go into unfunded status Oct. 1. Employees would keep working and getting paid in “surplus” status while they looked for new jobs, he said, adding, “I will do my best to make sure they all land someplace that will truly appreciate their talents.” Mulvaney said, “CASI has commitments that it has made and will honor, to the best of our ability, through at least March of 2027.” Once the civilians leave, he said, “CASI will close.” CASI was established in 2017, formally chartered June 15, 2021, and tasked with studying “everything that flies” in China. CASI’s research is unclassified by design, drawing on publicly available Chinese-language sources. It also runs a free three-day PLA Fundamentals course, most recently in August, according to the lawmakers’ letter. The biennial CASI Conference, held in May at National Defense University, drew more than 250 attendees and featured the release of the fifth edition of CASI’s “PLA Aerospace Power” primer. In 2025, nearly 80,000 people visited CASI’s website and downloaded more than 50,000 reports, according to the institute. Mulvaney has said the CASI cuts do not affect the Navy’s China Maritime Studies Institute, the Army War College’s China Landpower Studies Center or the Marine Corps War College’s China Warfighting Initiative.