What's Next For The Pentagon Budget?

Uncertainty Grows Over Pentagon Budget -- Army Times

Fiscal cliff deal puts DoD budget front and center.

Permanently avoiding massive Pentagon budget cuts could prove difficult as Washington enters a fight over the nation’s borrowing limit, a coming political battle that will bring big federal spending cuts to the forefront.

The two-month delay to pending Pentagon spending cuts included in the last-minute fiscal cliff deal passed last week shows both U.S. political parties oppose the across-the-board cut to planned military spending through sequestration.

But it’s not that simple, as the two parties remain far apart on the details.

In fact, finding a mix of deficit-reduction components deemed politically appetizing to both could derail anti-sequestration efforts and trigger on March 1 the $500 billion, decade-long cut to projected Pentagon budgets.

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My Comment: Here is an easy prediction .... for the next few weeks the Hagel nomination and the Pentagon's defense budget are going to be the two top stories covered by U.S. military-defense reporters/pundits/and (yours truly) bloggers.

President Obama Signs Defense Bill But With Objections

Obama Signs $633 Billion Defense Authorization Act -- US Department of Defense

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2013 – President Barack Obama signed the $633 billion fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act into law yesterday.

The legislation, which cleared Congress last month, authorizes the department to act in any number of instances. “There are certain things that cannot be done without [the authorization act],” said a senior defense official speaking on background.

The act allows the department to institute pay raises, bonuses and incentive pay for personnel. “All military construction has to be authorized under this act,” the official said.

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More News On President Obama Signing The U.S. Defense Bill

President Signs Sequestration Delay, Pentagon Policy Bill -- Defense News
After veto threat, Obama signs $633 billion defense bill -- CBS/AP
Obama signs defense measure he once vowed to veto -- Washington Times
Signing Defense Bill, Obama Challenges Detainee Provisions -- New York Times
Obama signs defense bill, notes regrets -- Politico
Obama irks rights groups on Guantanamo with defense bill -- AFP
Obama signs 2013 National Defense Authorization Act -- al.com
Obama objects to whistleblower protections in defense bill -- FCW
Obama signs laws delaying sequestration, establishing defense policy -- Defense Systems

Proposed 2014 U.S. Defense Budget Will Be Delayed

Proposed 2014 U.S. Defense Budget Could Face Delay -- Defense News

The fiscal uncertainty that continues to engulf Washington could delay the submission of the U.S. Defense Department’s 2014 budget proposal, according to a senior Pentagon official.

With funding levels for 2013 still up in the air despite being more than three months into the fiscal year, DoD might not be able to submit a 2014 budget next month.

Typically, DoD and the rest of the federal government submit a budget proposal to Congress in early February. Will that happen this year?

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More News On The 2014 U.S. Defense Budget Facing Delays And Sequestration

Congressional chaos could delay DOD budget -- Stars and Stripes
Fiscal cliff deal leaves Pentagon sour, still eyeing sequestration -- E-Ring/Foreign Policy
Inside the Ring: No fix for defense cuts -- Washington Times
Fiscal cliff legislation doesn't solve defense problem -- North County Times
Spending deal leaves future unclear -- FCW
Panetta Urges Congressional Action on U.S. Deficit -- Defense News
Legislators Avoid Fiscal Cliff, Delay Sequester Process -- US Department of Defense
Analysis: Sequestration postponed? What's does that mean? -- Michael O'Connell, Federal News Radio

WNU Editor: Why I Am 100% Sure That Massive Cuts In The U.S. Defense Budget Are Going To Occur

US Budget For Dummies

From my inbox, submitted without comment.

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s now remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:

* Annual family income: $21,700
* Money the family spent: $38,200
* New debt on the credit card: $16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Total budget cuts so far: $38.50

Make sense now?

WNU Editor: From Hot Air

My Comment: The sad part is that even if the US defense budget is cut 100% .... the U.S. debt is still climbing at an unsustainable rate.

Here Comes The U.S. Defense Budget Cuts

Sequestration Watch: $500 Billion, Across-the-Board Defense Cuts Increasingly Likely -- Defense News

Sequestration is now very likely. Your Intercepts correspondent was away at a somewhat secure, somewhat undisclosed location for a few days celebrating Christmas. Upon his return, the likelihood that massive defense cuts will be triggered this week seemed to grow exponentially.

President Obama met with House and Senate leaders in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon, seeming to read them the riot act about getting enough of a deal done to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. But, as we noted in a piece posted Friday evening, none of the players involved in crafting the eleventh-hour plan uttered the word sequestration nor the phrase defense cuts.

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More News On The Looming U.S. Defense Budget Cuts

White House Says No Defense Programs Are Immune to Cuts -- Bloomberg
Fiscal cliff leaves contractors guessing -- DoD Buzz
Defense contractors mum as nation nears 'fiscal cliff' -- Star Telegram
Pentagon, defense industry brace for looming spending cuts -- FOX News
Defense Industry Seeks Relief as Fiscal Cliff Draws Near -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Defense sector braces for ‘self-amputation’ -- Politico
Senate Leaders Aim for Cliff Deal by Sunday; Still Unclear if DoD Cuts Will be Avoided -- Defense News
Big Defense Cuts Are Coming, Regardless of the Fiscal Cliff -- US News and World Report
Time running out on defense industry efforts to avoid sequestration cuts -- The Hill
Saving The Defense Industrial Base -- Marion Blakey, Aol Defense
Defense Contractors Wait to Hear About Budget Cuts -- Reason.com
America's Superpower Status Goes Over The Fiscal Cliff -- Mackenzie Eaglen, Aol Defense

My Comment: At least some people are not going to be affected.

The Pentagon Is (Now) Getting Ready For Sequestration

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Time Running Out On Defense Industry Efforts To Avoid Sequester -- The Hill

The clock has all but run out on the defense industry's efforts to stave off billions in looming budget cuts under sequestration.

At the Pentagon, administration officials have given Defense Department number crunchers the green light to begin planning for the $500 billion in budget cuts set to go into effect in January.

Weeks of intense, last-minute negotiations between Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and President Barack Obama on a potential deal to avoid January’s “fiscal cliff” of looming tax hikes and automatic spending cuts appeared to come to an unceremonious end last Thursday.

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My Comment: The Heritage Foundation has done a comprehensive report on the impact of sequestration on the U.S. military. If you have the time (and interest) to read it, the link is here.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Tries To Reassure Defense Employees

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta delivers remarks during a National Press Club luncheon in Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2012. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

Panetta Reassures Defense Employees -- Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON—After months of warning that the looming across-the-board cuts would devastate the military, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta advised his three million employees on Thursday not to panic.

Mr. Panetta, in a memo on his plans to deal with fiscal-cliff cuts if they take effect in January, assured Defense Department employees that there were no imminent layoffs or dramatic changes in the works.

"These cuts, while significant and harmful to our collective mission as an agency, would not necessarily require immediate reductions in spending," he wrote in the memo. "I do not expect our day-to-day operations to change dramatically on or immediately after Jan. 2, 2013."

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More News On Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Advising Pentagon Employees Not To Worry About Looming Budget Cuts

Panetta reassures Pentagon civilians on looming budget cuts -- Reuters
Leon Panetta: Fiscal Cliff Not Likely To Result In Pentagon Layoffs -- Huffington Post/AP
Panetta Issues Fiscal Cliff Guidance to Workforce, Predicts Little Change to Start 2013 -- Defense News
Panetta issues fiscal cliff memo to workforce -- Marine Times
DOD furloughs won't be immediate but a possibility for later, Panetta says in memo -- al.com
Panetta: Going over fiscal cliff won’t result in layoffs — immediately -- Washington Examiner

WNU Editor: Panetta's memo is here.

The U.S. House of Representatives Approves $633 Billion Defense Bill

House Approves Part of Boehner’s ‘Plan B’ Legislation That Would Cancel Defense Sequester -- Defense News

The U.S. House on Dec. 20 approved part of House Speaker John Boehner’s so-called fiscal “Plan B” measure that would cancel pending deep defense cuts and protect the Pentagon budget from cuts this year.

The defense sequestration-canceling portion of the controversial bill passed 215-209 in a mostly party-line vote. The House was expected to vote later on Dec. 20 on the second part, which would raise tax rates on Americans who earn more than $1 million annually, but Boehner said in a statement he had pulled that measure due to insufficient GOP votes.

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Update #1: House approves bill authorizing $633 billion in defense spending -- Reuters
Update #2: House approves sweeping defense spending bill -- AFP
Update #3: House approves $633 billion defense bill that penalizes Iran’s energy, shipping sectors -- AP

My Comment: This bill passed by only 215-209 in a mostly party-line vote. My prediction .... this bill is going to die in the U.S. Senate.

The U.S. Defense Industry Is Alreay Feeling The Impact Of The 'Fiscal Cliff'

How 'Fiscal Cliff' Is Already Hitting Defense Industry -- Christian Science Monitor

Although lawmakers have been moderating dire predictions, some small businesses are talking about layoffs if no deal on the fiscal cliff is reached. And some have already lost contracts.

Rodney Hudson’s 13-person business, QuickSilver Analytics, builds sampling kits for weapons of mass destruction, used by Air Force bases, the Coast Guard, and Special Operations Forces.

Even though the test kits are widely popular and his Abingdon, Md., company’s sales average $2 million to $3 million annually, Mr. Hudson is predicting a 15 percent slowdown in orders next year.

That’s due almost entirely, he says, to the threat of looming cuts known as sequestration, which would contract the US defense budget by $500 billion over the next decade if Congress doesn’t come to a “fiscal cliff” deal.

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My Comment: And what is distressing about this fiscal/debt crisis is that the fiscal cliff is only addressing a small part of the U.S. budget deficit. In short .... trillion dollar deficits are not sustainable .... and in this White House if given the choice of cutting entitlements or the Pentagon's budget, it is the Pentagon's budget that is going to be slashed. As for a business owner whose client is the Pentagon .... now is probably the time to get into something else.

Pentagon Is Getting Ready For Sequestration

Pentagon Prepares for Deep Budget Cuts -- Voice of America

PENTAGON — The part of the U.S. government set to be hurt the most if U.S. lawmakers and the White House don't reach a budget deal is the Defense Department, which is set to take about half the budget cuts. Discussions have been going on at the Pentagon on where the U.S. military will have to make nearly 10 percent reductions totaling $500 billion in the next decade.

The cuts are set to be massive, $50 billion a year for 10 years, and so are the consequences.

That's the warning from officials including the nation's top military officer, General Martin Dempsey.

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My Comment: If sequestration hits .... it would make the 2013 defense bill moot. And the consequences .... hard to imagine. But at this moment the only thing that is going through my mind is that while I do understand the political reasons on why the Democrats agreed to sequestration last year .... what I do not understand is why did the Republicans agreed to it also .... why did they believe that the Democrats would not put them in the position that they find themselves in today. In short .... what the hell were they thinking?

U.S. Senate And House Agree To A $631B Defense Bill For 2013

Image: Tea Party Tribune

Congress Agrees to $631B Defense Bill for 2013 -- Defense News

House and Senate lawmakers have agreed on a final bill authorizing the Pentagon to spend $631 billion in 2013, while also limiting DoD’s ability to deploy military spies and enter the biofuels industry. The bill stops short of mandating a new U.S.-based missile shield, and green-lights new multiyear contracts

The legislation, which could be sent to the president this week, also stops short of allowing DoD to spend funds to construct a GOP-proposed East Coast missile shield. The compromise bill authorizes the Pentagon to enter into multiyear procurement deals on several programs, including for Army CH-47 helicopters, Navy DDG-51 destroyers and V-22 tiltrotor aircraft.

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More News On The U.S. Senate And House Agreeing To A $631B Defense Bill For 2013

House, Senate negotiators reach deal on $633 billion defense bill, includes military pay raise -- FOX News/AP
Bill authorizing 2013 U.S. defense spending edges toward completion -- Reuters
House-Senate Defense Conference Agrees on $640.7 Billion -- Bloomberg Businessweek
2013 defense bill has good news for troops -- Air Force Times
Flouting veto threat, conferees finish defense bill -- Politico
House, Senate Reach Agreement on Defense Bill -- ABC News
How Conferees Resolved Differences on Defense Authorization Bill -- National Journal
Defense bill bans funding for joint missile program -- Reuters
Defense bill spares 3,300 airmen, Global Hawks -- Air Force Times
Defense bill preserves military biofuels program -- The Hill
Military Abortion Amendment Is Included In Final Defense Bill -- Huffington Post

WNU Editor: This story will be updated at the end of the day.

Pentagon Unprepared For Sequestration

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, brief the Pentagon press, Oct. 25, 2012. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

Military Unprepared For Major Budget Cuts -- Examiner

And so it begins.

This week, the White House budget office directed the Pentagon to begin initial plans for billions of dollars in automatic cuts that may (operative word is “may”) start taking effect on Jan. 2.

According to Defense Department spokesman George Little, “We don’t have all the specifics yet. This really just has begun. We don’t have specifics on programs or personnel actions.”

If the cuts become mandatory, the results could be catastrophic for the nation’s military defense.

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My Comment: From an outsider's point of view (i.e. my point of view) ..... it looks like everyone is in complete denial of what is coming down.

Pentagon Told To Get Ready For The Fiscal Cliff

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, right center, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, left center, and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, back center, meet with combatant commanders during a working breakfast at the Pentagon, Dec. 5, 2012. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

Pentagon Told To Start Planning For Fiscal Cliff Cuts -- CNN

The White House has ordered the military to start planning for the possibility of cutting $500 billion from its budget over the next 10 years as part of the fiscal cliff, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday.

Agency spokesman George Little told reporters that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) instructed the Defense Department to start internal planning for possible spending reductions on top of other cuts already in the pipeline.

The military had been ordered for months not to get ready for the automatic budget cuts - also known as sequestration - related to the fiscal cliff that would hit January 2.

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More News On The Pentagon Getting Ready For The 'Fiscal Cliff'

Defense Department Prepares Plans for Sequestration -- US Department of Defense
After months of delay, Pentagon told to plan for 'fiscal cliff' -- Reuters
Pentagon now preparing for massive cuts as fiscal negotiations appear stalled -- FOX News
White House Tells Pentagon to Begin Planning for Cuts -- Bloomberg
Pentagon begins planning for sequestration -- Army Times
Pentagon Begins Planning for Massive Budget Cuts -- US News & World Report
Pentagon starts sequester planning, slowly -- The E-Ring/Foreign Policy
Pentagon finally planning for sequestration cuts amid political standoff -- Stars and Stripes
Pentagon braces for cuts as fiscal cliff looms -- AFP
Breaking: Defense Department now planning for sequestration -- Human Events
House GOP Fiscal Cliff Counteroffer Hints At Additional Defense Cuts -- AP
Defense forum: Steep cuts likely, regardless of fiscal cliff -- Washington Post

U.S. Senate Approves $631 Billion Defense Budget

Senate Passes $631 Billion U.S. Defense Legislation -- Bloomberg

The Senate passed unanimously a measure authorizing $631.4 billion for U.S. defense programs this fiscal year that sticks to President Barack Obama’s proposed spending total while drawing a veto threat with its policy provisions.

The 98-0 vote today in the Democratic-controlled Senate advances legislation allowing about $543 billion for the basic defense budget in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, and an additional $88 billion to fund wars in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The legislation next must be reconciled with a House- passed version that would spend $4 billion more than Obama wants.

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More News On The U.S. Senate Passing The U.S. Defense Budget Unanimously

Senate approves $650B defense bill -- Army Times
Senate approves $631 bn defense budget -- AFP
Senate passes $631 billion defense bill -- AP
U.S. Senate Approves $650B Defense Bill -- Defense News

My Comment: The U.S. Senate voted 98-0 for this defense bill. I cannot even remember when such a vote margin has ever happened in the U.S. Senate.

The Pentagon Is Looking At The 'Fiscal Cliff'

The Pentagon Will Survive The Fiscal Cliff -- Justin Logan, US News and World Report

A common trope of hawkish foreign policy writers is that America took a "holiday from history" by starting too few wars and trimming military spending in the 1990s. The unsubtle suggestion is that this holiday caused 9/11. But a better analogy would be that America, for decades, has taken a holiday from arithmetic, spending money like Jill Kelley at a JSOC mixer.

America is so comparatively wealthy that it has spent roughly what the entire rest of the world spent on defense for 20 years. Even this figure is somewhat misleading, since if you include the spending of our allies and partners across the world—whom one presumes we're not preparing to fight wars against—we currently spend between two-thirds and three-fourths of world military spending.

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My Comment: Of course the Pentagon will survive the "fiscal cliff" .... and yes the fiscal cliff is coming .... but when it is over the Pentagon will not be the institution that we have gotten use to in the past decade.

One U.S. Republican's Proposal For Defense Cuts

Photo: US Senator Tom Coburn

Senator Slams Pentagon For Spending On Beef Jerky, Twitter Slang -- And More -- Aol Defense

WASHINGTON: Why in the world is the Pentagon trying to develop a better beef jerky, run grocery stores, microbreweries, study flying dinosaurs and build (not tilt at) windmills?

That is the question a conservative Republican senator from Oklahoma, Tom Coburn, asks in a new report -- "Department of Everything" -- issued today. The subtitle of Coburn's highly readable effort is: "Department of Defense Spending That Has Little to Do With National Security." And that's his real point. In an era of coming austerity, the Southern Baptist preacher and medical doctor argues that the Pentagon should be focused on executing its core mission, namely defending the nation.

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More News On U.S. Senator's Proposals For Defense Cuts

Department of Defense could save more than $67 billion, Coburn says -- Examiner
Tom Coburn outlines $68 billion in defense cuts -- Politico/AP
Coburn on DOD Budget: Cut Beef Jerky, Microbrews, Star Trek Programs -- National Journal
Watchdog: Coburn report IDs $68 billion in DOD spending cuts -- Washington Examiner
Alleging Republican 'blind eye' on defense spending, GOP senator proposes cuts -- NBC
Coburn: Cut Wasteful Spending at the "Department of Everything" -- POGO

No Word From The Pentagon On How It Would Cut $55 Billion On January 1

An F-15E Strike Eagle receives fuel from a 100th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker during an aerial refuelling mission over the Atlantic Ocean in this Sept. 10 photograph.

Courtesy of Ethan Morgan/U.S. Air Force/Reuters

Why Pentagon Won't Say How It Would Cut $55 Billion Starting Jan. 1 -- Christian Science Monitor

The Pentagon may finally be planning for dreaded spending cuts set to take effect in the new year, though it is mum on any specifics. It wants Congress to come up with a different solution to US deficit spending.

The Pentagon is staring at some $55 billion in spending cuts – 10.5 percent of its annual budget – that it will have to make immediately come January, if Congress does not act before then to avert the "fiscal cliff." Officials there, no fan of these automatic cuts or of the process on Capitol Hill that spawned them, have alternately called this approach to financial discipline a "blind meat ax," a "goofy meat ax," and "fiscal castration."

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My Comment: What a stupid way to run the government and to handle a budget .... but hey .... it's been 3 1/2 years since the US Senate passed a budget.

Here Comes Sequestration For The U.S. Military

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the Defense Strategic Review at the Pentagon in Washington on Jan. 5, 2012. Reuters

Sequestration Hangs Over Election Results -- DoD Buzz

Despite the $6 billion spent on this year’s election, not much changed. President Obama stayed in office. The House remained in Republican control and the Democrats retained the Senate.

And one deadline remained in place. Congress has until Jan. 2 to reach a deficit reduction agreement to avoid massive sequestration cuts that spread across the entire federal government to include a 10 percent cut of the Pentagon’s budget.

With 55 days left before the deadline, very few defense or budget analysts expect Congress and the president to reach the wide ranging deal needed to lift sequestration. Most expect Congress to either delay sequestration cuts, or allow sequestration to occur and then negotiate an agreement to lessen the cuts laid out in the Budget Control Act.

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Update: Defense Cuts Complicate Obama's Second Term -- Military.com

My Comment: The only time that President Obama was successful in passing serious legislation through Congress was when he had a Democrat super-majority in the US Senate, and a significant Democrat majority in the House (i.e. the first two years of his Presidency). But now .... with the House in firm Republican hands .... his weakness as a negotiator is starting to show. My prediction .... sequestration should have been solved months ago .... but we are now in the situation where the Democrats will not compromise hoping that the Republicans will cave-in on tax increases .... a possibility that I am giving a 50-50 chance of happening. If the Republicans do not cave-in, sequestration will happen and in January there will be a scramble to delay the impact of these budget cuts .... it is at this time that I expect the Republican leadership to cave-in, giving the Democrats and President Obama another legislative victory. As for the U.S. economy and the U.S. taxpayer .... as I have been saying for the past few months .... get ready to be hit hard.

Here Comes The U.S. Defense Budget Battles (Maybe?)

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, brief the Pentagon press, Oct. 25, 2012. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

Fiscal Cliff Notes -- Gordon Adams, Foreign Policy

The only things you need to know about the coming budget fight.

With the November 6 election, the shadow play over the defense budget and the fiscal cliff has come to an end. For the past 15 months, we have been entertained by a drama scripted in the Budget Control Act that appears to threaten a fiscal cliff for discretionary spending in January 2013. Defense has played one of the lead roles.

President Obama has argued that if Congress wants to eliminate the threat of automatic spending cuts, Republicans need only put revenues on the table. In an election year? Unlikely. And, soon after agreeing to the fiscal cliff, the stalwart "defenders of defense" in the GOP came down with a sudden case of buyer's remorse, arguing that national security would be threatened unless defense were somehow exempted from the planned cuts.

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My Comment: There are going to be no fights over the defense budget. The Republicans have been shellacked in this election cycle, and the Pentagon will accommodate what the White House wants .... which will be drastic cuts in the defense budget. My prediction .... expect even more cuts after sequestration has kicked in.

The Pentagon And The Defense Industry Are Getting Ready For Sequestration

Heritage Foundation

DoD: Pentagon Planning For Sequestration -- Defense News

The Pentagon has begun planning for billions of dollars in spending cuts slated to take effect Jan. 2, according to a senior official.

For months, U.S. Defense Department officials have insisted they were not planning for these cuts known as sequestration. However, senior officials have said they would be ready should Congress not pass legislation to avert the cuts, which were agreed upon through the Budget Control Act last year.

With less than two months remaining before the implementation date, planning has begun.

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More News On Sequestration

Official Describes Sequestration’s ‘Devastating’ Impact -- US Department of Defense
President Doubts Sequestration Edition -- Defense News Intercepts
White House holds back on sequester details -- Government Executive
Washington area contractors plan for sequestration delay -- Washington Post
Clapper: Sequestration disastrous for intelligence programs -- CNN
How Sequestration Might Impact the Navy -- Govwin
Panetta warns Congress to avert sequestration and deal with cyber security -- Examiner
Experts say sequestration would target civilian jobs -- Stars and Stripes
Dem think tank: Cut $1T from defense — but not through sequestration -- The Hill
How the White House could soften the blow of the sequester -- Suzy Khimm, Washington Post
It's Not Just Defense Cuts: Sequester Would Cripple Our Economy -- Mackenzie Eaglen, Aol Defense
Inside the Ring: Former CNO on Sequester -- Washington Times
Countdown to Sequestration: Two Months to Go -- Mark Thompson, Time