Posts Tagged ‘Congress/DOD’

Thousands of DOD civilians and contractors would be eliminated under a provision in the final version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill calling for a reduction of about 5 percent in those workforces. The provision, section 955, directs the department to reduce the civilian and service contractor workforces from fiscal 2012 through FY 2017 to achieve at least the same amount of savings from planned cuts in military personnel …

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday praised lawmakers’ last-minute effort to undo the first two months of automatic spending cuts slated to go into effect at the beginning of the year, but underscored the need to provide the Pentagon with a greater degree of certainty as to how much funding it will have over the next nine months. “Congress has prevented the worst possible outcome by delaying sequestration for two months. Unfortunately, the cloud of sequestration remains …

House and Senate conferees preserved language limiting the pace at which the Pentagon can reduce the active-duty end strength of the Army and Marine Corps in the conference report for the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill despite opposition to the provision from the Obama administration. The provision restricts the military from trimming the Army by more than 15,000 soldiers a year from FY 2014 through FY 2017, and the Marine Corps by more than 5,000 troops a year during that period …

House and Senate conferees to the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill want to learn about past examples of public infrastructure projects supported by federal agencies that were needed to accommodate growth at a military installation. Lawmakers inserted language in the joint explanatory statement to the measure’s conference report requesting the Defense Department to list all such projects carried out since FY 2001 that were supported by federal agencies other than DOD …

Pennsylvania lawmakers last week urged the Pentagon not to close Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, home of the 911th Airlift Wing and about 1,900 reservists. On Friday, Gov. Tom Corbett and other elected officials highlighted the installation’s role in national security, its low cost and the economic boost it provides Western Pennsylvania. Last February, the Air Force had proposed retiring the air wing’s seven C-130H aircraft and shuttering the air reserve station as part of its fiscal 2013 budget request …

Language in the final version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill would make it more difficult for the Pentagon to skirt statutory requirements to notify Congress when closing or realigning a mission outside of a BRAC round. The provision is intended to ensure DOD doesn’t sidestep the requirements of 10 U.S.C. Sec. 2687, a rarely used statute allowing base closures and realignments to be carried out when a BRAC round is not in force …

The House Tuesday night approved the New Year’s Eve deal passed by the Senate earlier in the day to extend Bush-era tax cuts for most Americans and postpone by two months automatic spending cuts slated to go into effect starting Wednesday …

DOD will be required to issue guidance for selecting the financing approach for renewable energy projects, under a provision in the conference report for the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill approved this week. The guidance, which is due six months after the measure is enacted, “should describe the requirements and restrictions applicable to the underlying authorities and any Department of Defense-specific guidelines for using appropriated funds and alternative-financing approaches for renewable energy projects …

The Pentagon’s year-old defense strategy is threatened by two principal dangers, stress on the force and a political system that forces the military to operate with little certainty about available resources, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said this week at a National Press Club luncheon. The department’s effort to ensure the health of the force by investing in its readiness, though, is hamstrung by political considerations that prevent officials from directing funding to the military’s highest priorities …

With the prospect of a bipartisan deal to avert the fiscal cliff — including $52 billion in fiscal 2013 defense cuts — in doubt, lawmakers are trying to figure out how much of a spending reduction the Pentagon’s budget can absorb before core strategy is jeopardized. President Obama’s most recent deficit reduction proposal, for instance, called for $200 billion in discretionary spending cuts over the coming decade, including $100 billion from defense …