Thursday, April 18, 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 Defense Department has suspended delivery of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Turkey in response to Turkey's continued acquisition of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, according to a statement from the Pentagon.
The Defense Department is considering several changes to acquisition regulations that establish a preference for fixed-price contracts, according to a Federal Register notice.
The week ahead is packed with congressional hearings as senior Pentagon officials head to Capitol Hill to make the case for the fiscal year 2020 budget.
The Pentagon-funded construction of 57 miles of fencing on the southern border can begin immediately, according to acting Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist, who confirmed the Army Corps of Engineers has received a controversial $1 billion transfer to begin issuing contracts.
U.S. Special Operations Command has sent Congress a nearly $200 million list of unfunded priorities, highlighting the need to counter unmanned aerial systems, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.
Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan said today the Pentagon fully understands the "downsides" to overturning decades of precedent to reprogram $1 billion in Army personnel funding to construct 57 miles of fencing on the southern border without the approval of Congress, especially since lawmakers have warned that could lead them to eliminating the Pentagon's funding flexibility altogether.
The Pentagon has sent Congress a $600 million reprogramming request for near-term hurricane recovery, but will need supplemental funding to cover $9 billion in damage across multiple fiscal years, according to an internal memo from acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan.
The Air Force has sent Congress a $2.7 billion unfunded priorities list for fiscal year 2020, the bulk of which would be used to procure additional KC-46 tankers and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, according to a document obtained by Inside Defense.
The Pentagon has sent Congress a $4 billion list of unfunded military lab construction priorities that were not approved for the fiscal year 2020 budget submission, but that Pentagon technology chief Mike Griffin would like to see completed anyway, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.
The Army has sent Congress a $2.3 billion list of unfunded priorities, including more than $1 billion for readiness requirements, $403 million in weapon system "lethality" upgrades, $247 million for modernization and $564.5 million for infrastructure requirements, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.
The week ahead is packed with defense events as acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan and other senior defense officials testify on Capitol Hill.
The Pentagon today released acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan's ethics agreement, which details the “screening arrangement” he implemented to ensure he is not improperly involved in matters related to Boeing, his former employer for more than 30 years.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said today the Trump administration and Congress are "going to have a hard time reconciling" the presence of the Russian-made S-400 anti-aircraft missile and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in Turkey, but stopped short of saying he would recommend pausing deliveries of the aircraft.
The Defense Department's inspector general says it will investigate allegations brought by a Washington watchdog group that acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan violated ethics rules and improperly favored Boeing, his former employer, in the awarding of defense contracts.
Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan said today he is ready to persuade lawmakers who remain skeptical of the Pentagon's Space Force proposal, pointing out there is bipartisan agreement on a variety of space-based initiatives.
The Pentagon has produced new data breaking down state-by-state impacts of defense spending at the county-level so local officials can build "resiliency" into their workforces and supply chains, according to Patrick O'Brien, director of the Office of Economic Adjustment.
The Pentagon has submitted to Congress a list of military construction projects from around the globe that could be delayed to finance the construction of a wall on the southern border.
The Defense Department is requesting $22.95 billion for its military intelligence program in fiscal year 2020, which includes base budget funding as well as the Overseas Contingency Operations accounts, according to a Pentagon statement.
Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and other senior Pentagon officials are scheduled to speak at conferences in the Washington area this week. Congress is out.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) is threatening to restrict Defense Department budgetary transfer authority as the Pentagon contemplates overturning decades of precedent to reprogram up to $2.5 billion to fund a wall on the southern border.