Wednesday, April 24, 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 Pentagon is preparing to delay the Feb. 4 rollout of its fiscal year 2020 budget request because of the ongoing partial government shutdown, now in its 25th day, according to government officials with knowledge of the matter.
The federal government remains on a partial shutdown this week, while senior Pentagon officials are scheduled to speak around the Washington area.
President Trump has appointed former defense industry executive Charles Kupperman to serve as deputy to national security adviser John Bolton, according to a White House announcement.
The Pentagon is pushing back on allegations that acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan is somehow tipping the scales toward Boeing, his former employer of more than 30 years.
The Pentagon says allegations that acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, a 31-year executive at Boeing, has acted improperly to benefit his former employer or is biased in favor of the company are unfounded and untrue.
Acting Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist said today the Defense Department has a final budget topline for fiscal year 2020, but would not say what it is amid comments from Pentagon sources saying it will likely be $750 billion.
Eric Chewning is now the chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, according to a Pentagon announcement. Chewning previously served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy.
Rep. Mac Thornberry (TX), the top-ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said today he opposes any plan that would use Defense Department funds to construct a wall on the southern border, per an option that has been floated by President Trump.
Democrats have spent days pushing back against President Trump's claim that he can order the military to use emergency funds to build a wall along the southern border, the debate over which has driven the federal government into a partial 17-day shutdown.
A newly minted Congress comes to work this week needing to address a partial government shutdown, while the Pentagon hosts a public meeting on contractor payments and performance incentives.
The United States has begun withdrawing troops from Syria, but remains committed to the "next phase" of fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, according to a Pentagon statement.
President Trump has ordered the establishment of U.S. Space Command, according to a White House memo.
After more than a year of reorganization intended to give the military services greater authority over their procurement programs, Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord said yesterday she maintains oversight of only nine of 89 major defense programs.
Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord, after a controversial failure earlier this year, is again approaching defense contractors to get a range of perspectives on the potential for performance incentives, while simultaneously launching a massive "clean sheet" rewrite of government procurement policy.
Few defense events are scheduled for the week ahead, as Congress remains locked in a spending debate that could trigger a partial government shutdown.
Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan has confirmed the Pentagon is building a new version of its fiscal year 2020 budget that accounts for more than $733 billion, despite having been told by the White House in October to plan for $700 billion.
The Pentagon is seeking $331 million in refueling charges from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after U.S. Central Command found "errors in accounting."
The Congressional Budget Office has produced a range of cost-cutting scenarios that could be explored to trim the federal deficit over the next decade, including possible reductions to the nuclear triad and potential cancellation of the program intended to replace the intercontinental ballistic missile.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) has instructed his financial adviser to no longer purchase any defense stocks after news broke that he bought shares in Raytheon following a meeting with President Trump that led to a newly proposed boost in defense spending.
Rep. Adam Smith (WA), the Democrat poised to lead the House Armed Services Committee, says he is ready to take on Republicans pushing for an increase in defense spending and wants to reorient the conversation toward a more fiscally restrained national security strategy.