Posts Tagged ‘deficit reduction’

The White House has said it “strongly objects” to language in the House version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill limiting the Army to reducing its end strength by 15,000 per year and the Marine Corps to 5,000 per year in FYs 2014 to 2017. The Pentagon proposed cutting the Army by 72,000 and the Marine Corps by 20,000 over that time period. “The timing and pace of the planned reductions to the Army and Marine Corps are tied to anticipated changes in operational demand based on the nation’s current commitments as well as the new defense strategy, which emphasizes a smaller and leaner force …

Defense advocates in Congress are becoming resigned to the prospect that the two parties will be unable to reach a deal to reverse government-wide automatic spending cuts before they begin to take effect in January. As a result, DOD may suffer cuts up to $55 billion in fiscal 2013 beyond the spending reductions already being imposed on the defense budget. Even if lawmakers fail to overturn the sequester in a lame-duck session at the end of the calendar year, the additional cuts could be somewhat limited if Congress strikes a deficit-reduction deal in the first several months of 2013 …

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week assured Alaska Sen. Mark Begich that the Pentagon would provide its rationale for its proposal to relocate a squadron of F-16s from Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Begich had asked the Air Force for the justification it relied on since officials included the realignment in the force structure changes they announced in February …

House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon forcefully defended the changes his panel made to the administration’s budget request in completing the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta criticized the House for flouting the spending caps imposed by last August’s Budget Control Act. “In your criticism of my proposal for the department’s FY13 authorization bill, you are clearly operating under some misconceptions …

Defense spending would grow by $2.1 trillion over the next 10 years under the budget proposed by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney when compared to the Pentagon’s latest long-term spending plan. Romney has proposed spending 4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product on the military, reported the Hill newspaper. That level of investment would allow DOD spending to rise by $100 billion in fiscal 2013, according to Travis Sharp, an analyst with the Center for a New American Security. Under either the administration’s request or the House Republican plan, defense spending would remain flat or drop slightly. Romney has called for adding 100,000 personnel and building more ships, according to the story.

The Air Force is moving closer to carrying out its reorganization of Air Force Materiel Command by Oct. 1, the Warner Robins Patriot reported. The command plans to scale down from 12 centers to 5, including converting the depots at Robins AFB, Ga., Tinker AFB, Okla., and Hill AFB, Utah, to air logistics complexes. The command is aiming to achieve “initial operational capability” by Oct. 1. Several congressionally mandated reports have been completed and Air Force headquarters is expected to approve the changeover in May …

In Columbus, Ga., 55 to 65 percent of hotel guests are traveling on business related to the military, a fact that worries hoteliers that serve travelers visiting or working at Fort Benning. Due to planned reductions in spending, the post expects to train only 96,000 soldiers in the current fiscal year, down from 131,000 soldiers in FY 2011. The bulk of installation-related demand for hotels comes from training, graduation ceremonies and contract jobs, events that likely would shrink as the number of trainees declines, reports Hotel News Now. Fort Benning Army Lodge, an 860-room hotel scheduled to open on post later this year, also may hurt local hotels. Demand for lodging in Columbus fell 13 percent for the first three months of the year, while in other defense communities demand has been flat.

Communities slated to lose aircraft and personnel from local Air National Guard bases under the Air Force’s fiscal 2013 budget request would see at least some relief in two measures advancing in the House this week. The FY 2013 defense authorization bill, scheduled to be marked up today by the Armed Services Committee, would restore 2,373 of the 5,100 Guardsmen slots the Air Force proposed eliminating …

The House Budget Committee approved legislation Monday to reverse the discretionary portion of the $109 billion in across-the-board spending cuts slated to take effect next January. Earlier in the day, the panel passed a bill outlining more than $300 billion in savings over 10 years to take the place of the budget sequester …

The House Budget Committee today will mark up two bills intended to undo the government-wide automatic spending cuts slated to go into effect in January. One bill would nullify the discretionary portion of the $109 billion in across-the-board spending cuts set to be imposed under last August’s Budget Control Act, while a second would carry out more than $300 billion in savings over 10 years to take the place of the sequester …