appropriations

White House Budget Plan Doesn’t Add Up 0
- Congress/DoD
- February 28, 2017
With defense hawks and Democrats alike blasting President Trump’s proposal to offset a $54 billion increase in military spending above the statutory budget cap with a corresponding cut in domestic programs, the consensus of budget watchers is that the administration’s fiscal 2018 budget request will be merely the opening salvo in what is likely to
READ MORE
Compromise Defense Policy Bill Would Boost Force Levels 0
- Congress/DoD, Mission Support/Community Partnerships
- November 29, 2016
The House and Senate Armed Services committees have settled on a compromise fiscal 2017 defense authorization bill that would halt planned cuts in the end strength of the Army, Air Force and Marines in the coming year, while jettisoning several provisions that were likely to draw a presidential veto. The conference report likely will be filed today. The House is expected to vote on the agreement Friday, and the Senate is expected to take it up next week, reported Military Times. Perhaps the most far-reaching impact of the legislation for defense communities is its rejection of the Pentagon’s plans to reduce the size of the Army and Marine Corps …
READ MORE
Expanding Goals of BRAC Could Improve Its Political Prospects, O’Hanlon Says 0
- Congress/DoD
- October 20, 2016
BRAC has always been a hard sell, a point borne out by the Obama administration’s failure to persuade lawmakers to authorize one or more base closure rounds over the past five years. Maybe if the Pentagon were to broaden the aims of the BRAC process from simply winnowing unneeded infrastructure to an effort that simultaneously reinvests in the neglected facilities at enduring installations. Reconceptualizing BRAC possibly could improve its prospects in Congress, Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, told On Base. A more comprehensive BRAC effort could both rightsize the military’s portfolio of installations as well as reverse the deterioration of facilities that have been underfunded in recent years as DOD has been forced to operate under a budget cap …
READ MORE

Topline Spending Still Remains a Hurdle in Reaching a Deal on Authorization Bill 0
- Congress/DoD
- October 2, 2016
While leaders of the Armed Services committees have pointed to a dispute of whether the greater sage grouse should be barred from being placed on the endangered species list as the primary holdup in House-Senate negotiations over a conference agreement for the fiscal 2017 defense authorization bill, discussions over the measure’s topline spending level and what programs will suffer cuts have yet to be settled. Lawmakers reportedly have reached a compromise over the House version’s reliance on $18 billion in overseas contingency operations (OCO) account funds to augment the department’s base budget. While negotiators apparently agreed to use only $9 billion from the OCO account for base budget items, they still need to hammer out a deal on how those funds would be allocated and what programs won’t benefit from war funds …
READ MORE
Stopgap Spending Bill to Avert Shutdown Passes House, Senate 0
- Congress/DoD
- September 29, 2016
After a month of negotiations on a stopgap measure to keep the government running at the start of fiscal 2017, the House and Senate on Wednesday approved a short-term spending package that will now go to President Obama for his signature. The continuing resolution (CR) will provide lawmakers 10 weeks to complete work on FY 2017 appropriations and hash out a handful of unresolved policy issues …
READ MORE
More Marines Would Be Optimal, Review Finds 0
- Mission Support/Community Partnerships
- September 29, 2016
A new force structure assessment has concluded that the Marine Corps ideally could grow by 8,000 troops, but the service still plans on operating with an end strength of 182,000 Marines. “The path we’re on is to go to 182,000 Marines,” Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, commander of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, told Military.com. “That’s what we’re going to be funded for; that’s what we’re allowed to do by Congress. But in a perfect world … we came up with about 190,000; that is the optimized force,” Walsh said. The increase would help the service keep up with a high pace of operations, and the need to expand its cyber and technological capabilities …
READ MORE