Posts Tagged ‘appropriations’

In a discussion intended to bring out the differences between the two candidates for president regarding defense policy, speakers emphasized the common challenges confronting either President Obama or Mitt Romney. No matter which candidate is elected, the next president faces essentially the same political environment and economic realities, Marvin Kalb, an award-winning correspondent for CBS and NBC news, told the audience gathered Monday at the Brookings Institution …

The Air Force would be barred from implementing its plan to trim the force structure of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, under the six-month continuing resolution unveiled Monday by House appropriators that would fund the federal government starting in October. The provision in the stopgap legislation blocking the Air Force from retiring or transferring aircraft assigned to active duty, the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve follows language in both the fiscal 2013 defense spending and authorization bills drafted by the House and Senate …

The House may vote this week on a six-month continuing resolution for fiscal 2013 that would fund the federal government from October to March. Prior to the August recess, congressional leaders reached agreement on a stopgap funding measure that will allow members to campaign without talk of a government shutdown lurking during the run-up to the election. Appropriators are expected to unveil the text of the measure shortly …

The looming prospect that sequestration — annual cuts to defense spending of $55 billion for the next nine years — will go into effect starting in January is hardly the elephant in the room. Everybody is talking about it. And, surprisingly, Washington insiders from across the political spectrum broadly agreed as to how the key fiscal challenges facing the Pentagon would unfold when they shared the stage Tuesday during a Defense Communities Town Hall at the ADC 2012 Annual Conference. The chief consensus was that however the current crisis over sequestration plays out, the defense budget will be under tremendous pressure every year for at least the coming decade …

Montgomery County, Md., and Lakewood, Wash., will receive construction grants to improve transportation access to military medical facilities, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Monday during his remarks at the ADC 2012 Annual Conference. Montgomery County’s $40 million grant is intended to provide an easier commute for patients, service members and civilian employees of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda. Lakewood is receiving $5.7 million for improvements to the Freedom Bridge overpass near the Madigan Army Medical Center gate at Joint Base Lewis-McChord …

Automatic cuts in defense spending would be rigidly applied to individual budget accounts and to military construction projects in fiscal 2013 if the budget sequester goes into effect in January, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told the House Armed Services Committee last week. To determine the size of the cut by account or project, a percentage will be calculated based on the prescribed $55 billion cut and the total amount of FY 2013 appropriations and unobligated balances from previous years, Carter states in his written testimony. That percentage cannot be calculated yet since the amount of FY 2013 spending and the level of prior-year unobligated funds still are unknown …

Acknowledging there will not be a BRAC round next year, Secretary Panetta told more than 600 attendees Monday at the ADC 2012 Annual Conference that the nation’s fiscal challenges will continue to drive the need for DOD to pare its infrastructure at the same time it reduces its end strength. “Our budget made tough decisions to cut the size of the force. It would be irresponsible for us not to cut excess infrastructure and overhead as well,” Panetta said. And while it wasn’t a surprise that Congress shot down the department’s request to hold a new BRAC round in 2013, the Monterey native said it was an important topic to broach, and a debate that must continue …

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday rejected an amendment requiring defense contractors to issue layoff notices ahead of sequestration. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham, was defeated along party lines. Earlier this week, the Labor Department issued guidance saying the federal law requiring employers to provide 60 days’ notice to workers of impending layoffs does not apply to the pending budget sequester until federal agencies announce which contracts would be affected …

The dispute over pending spending cuts mandated by last year’s debt ceiling law has become increasingly partisan as political campaigns approach full steam prior to the November election, and the rhetoric did not let up during Wednesday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing on the possible impacts of sequestration. The session was marked by testy exchanges between Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Republican lawmakers, with both sides accusing the other of not doing enough to come up with a solution to replace the cuts …

A $55 billion reduction in fiscal 2013 spending would cause ripples throughout the military, resulting in possible civilian furloughs or hiring freezes, and delays in military construction projects, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Wednesday as he outlined the effects of sequestration during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. If lawmakers fail to agree on deficit reduction plan to replace the automatic spending cuts, officials may be forced to impose a partial hiring freeze or unpaid furloughs, Carter said, according to his written testimony. Military families would have to cope with cuts in base support services, facility maintenance and maintenance of government-owned family housing …