Posts Tagged ‘appropriations’

During Monday night’s debate, President Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney attacked each other’s plans for funding the military, with the president breaking new ground when he claimed the automatic defense cuts would not be imposed. Obama was defending Romney’s charge that the nation’s national security will be jeopardized if the across-the-board reductions are triggered in January. “First to all, the sequester is not something that I proposed; it’s something that Congress has proposed,” the president said. “It will not happen …

Since anxiety over the prospect that the Pentagon would need to absorb up to $1 trillion in budget cuts through 2021 has climbed over the past year, a number of defense analysts have pointed out that, in percentage terms, the spending reductions would be somewhat smaller than budget drawdowns imposed on the department following previous wars, including the Cold War. Due to the aggregate impact of inflation for many defense accounts, however, the potential drop in spending slated over the coming decade will be significantly more serious than following past conflicts, concludes a paper published last week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies …

Both leadership slots on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee could change in the next Congress with panel Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) requiring a second term limits waiver to remain in his post and ranking member Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) retiring. Young may ask the Republican conference for another waiver, a request which could be granted. If the post opens up, however, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) appears to be the most likely replacement …

Mitt Romney’s national security advisors on Thursday defended the candidate’s pledge to devote 4 percent of the gross domestic product to the Pentagon’s base budget, pointing out that when spending on overseas conflicts is included, the nation currently is spending 4.2 percent of its GDP on defense. “These are not outrageous numbers and they’re not 2 trillion,” Dov Zakheim, who served as the department’s comptroller under the previous administration, said in reference to a figure cited by critics for a proposed military buildup by a Romney White House …

Pentagon officials are hopeful they are close to striking a deal with the Senate to resume funding construction projects on Guam needed to accommodate the relocation of thousands of Marines from Okinawa. Since the July release of a congressionally mandated assessment of the nation’s realignment plans for the Asia-Pacific region, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has reached out to several members of Congress to discuss lawmakers’ outstanding concerns regarding the realignment …

Becoming increasingly impatient as the imposition of automatic spending reductions draws closer, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters Thursday that he would accept any legislation that defers looming defense cuts. “I’ll take whatever the hell deal they can make right now to deal with sequestration,” Panetta said when asked if he would settle for a short-term measure that at least postpones sequestration in an attempt to give lawmakers more time to avert the potential for up to $500 billion in defense cuts through FY 2021 …

The Senate approved a six-month continuing resolution early Saturday morning, leaving one less task on Congress’ to-do list when lawmakers return in seven weeks following the November elections. Since the House had approved the fiscal 2013 stopgap spending bill the previous week, all that is needed to keep the federal government operating through March 27 is President Obama’s signature on the legislation, which is expected shortly …

The Senate moved one step closer to taking up a six-month continuing resolution after approving a motion on Thursday to proceed to the fiscal 2013 spending measure. A vote on the spending bill would take place over the weekend unless Senate leaders find a quicker way to bring the continuing resolution to the floor. An attempt by Sen. Rand Paul to debate a bill to cut off aid to Pakistan, Libya and Egypt so far has prevented the chamber from getting to the stopgap earlier …

The deal congressional leaders reached in July on a six-month stopgap funding measure may help pressure lawmakers to clear the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill during the lame-duck session. In an effort to keep the continuing resolution relatively “clean” — or free of language providing extra funding or policy changes — appropriators included only a handful of extensions of expiring defense authorizations …

The base defense budget would receive a $3.1 billion funding increase under the fiscal 2013 stopgap spending measure the House approved Thursday to keep the government running for the first six months of the new fiscal year. Of course, compared to the department’s $516.8 billion base budget in FY 2012, the increase is minuscule. And the gain could be short-lived given the looming threat of $55 billion in automatic cuts this January. Not to mention that the continuing resolution provides funding only through March 27, 2013, and does not represent a full year’s worth of funding …