Friday, April 19, 2024
Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.
The ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee plans to propose a different fiscal year 2016 budget than what the GOP has crafted, including a new spending blueprint for the Defense Department that rejects a nearly $90 billion overseas contingency operations fund being supported by House appropriators.
As Pentagon budget-watchers eye Capitol Hill's work on fiscal year 2016 defense bills, the military services have until the end of the month to submit reprogramming proposals for the Pentagon's FY-15 omnibus request that is expected to be sent to Congress some time after mid-June.
Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, said Tuesday he does not plan to seek changes to the law governing the defense industry's use of reimbursed independent research and development funding, though he still plans to pursue a controversial new policy requiring companies to find a government sponsor for IRAD projects prior to approval.
Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, waded into a controversial issue Tuesday when he addressed a Senate proposal that would strengthen the role of the military service chiefs in the Defense Department's acquisition system.
Sticking to the GOP budget resolution, the House Appropriations defense subcommittee will vote Wednesday on a fiscal year 2016 spending bill that provides $578.6 billion in national security funding, including an $88.4 billion overseas contingency operations account for the Defense Department.
The Senate Armed Services Committee seeks to save $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2016 by reorganizing the Pentagon's headquarters and administrative staffs, according to the committee's version of the FY-16 defense authorization bill.
The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday voted to approve a fiscal year 2016 defense authorization bill, though Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) will oppose it on the grounds that it sidesteps the 2011 Budget Control Act by increasing a Pentagon war funding account that is exempt from BCA spending caps.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) appeared Thursday at an event billed as a bipartisan discussion on defense reform, but the continued budget conflict between Republicans and Democrats hovered over the conversation, as did the lawmakers' disagreement on their committee’s key policy bill.
Top defense industry executives recently met with Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's acquisition chief, to voice objections to new Defense Department policies poised to increase the government's oversight of the money it spends reimbursing companies for independent research and development (IRAD), according to officials close to the matter.
While the Obama administration "appreciates" many of the acquisition reform measures in the House version of the fiscal year 2016 defense authorization bill, the White House is threatening to veto the measure for a variety of reasons, including the fact it seeks to protect the Defense Department from sequestration cuts by adding money to the Pentagon's supplemental warfighting account.
The Defense Department intends to shift $360 million toward the training and equipping of vetted Syrian rebels to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, according to a prior approval reprogramming request sent to Congress.
China spent $165 billion on its military in fiscal year 2014, sticking to a two-decade trend of growth that continues to worry the Defense Department, according to the Pentagon's latest report on China's military power.
General Dynamics Land Systems, seizing on a recent Army request for up-gunned Strykers in Europe, is pitching a plan on Capitol Hill that would have lawmakers provide the service with an additional $412 million in fiscal year 2016 to outfit 81 Strykers with 30mm guns, according to officials and documents.
The House Appropriations Committee will stick to a GOP-crafted budget resolution that features a $90 billion overseas contingency operations account for the Pentagon when lawmakers mark up the fiscal year 2016 defense spending bill, despite Defense Secretary Ash Carter's recent declaration that the spending framework is a "road to nowhere."
Defense Secretary Ash Carter told lawmakers Wednesday on Capitol Hill that the new GOP-crafted budget resolution featuring a $38 billion increase to the Defense Department's overseas contingency operations account is a “road to nowhere,” noting the likelihood of a presidential veto and stressing that what the Pentagon really needs is a bipartisan, multiyear spending deal.
The Republican-controlled Senate passed a budget resolution Tuesday -- without a single Democrat's vote -- that would skirt sequestration spending caps by injecting an additional $38 billion into the Pentagon's overseas contingency operations fund.
President Obama has nominated Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford to serve as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has also tapped Air Force Gen. Paul Selva to be Dunford's vice chief.
House Republicans drew criticism from the White House after a GOP-crafted budget resolution was passed on Thursday that also bypassed concerns of deficit hawks who oppose a provision that would inject additional funds into the Pentagon's overseas contingency operations account.
Internal budget discussions are underway at the Pentagon on increasing the U.S. military presence in Europe, according to the supreme allied commander of NATO.
Defense budget watchers acknowledged the House's upcoming fiscal year 2016 defense policy bill authorizing a $90 billion overseas contingency operations fund was far from the final word on the matter as a host of variables remain in flux over the future of sequestration.