The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to hold a hearing to consider Ashton Carter's nomination to become defense secretary in the first week of February, which is traditionally the same time the Defense Department submits its budget request to Congress, according to a Capitol Hill aide. Diem Salmon, senior policy analyst for defense budgeting at the Heritage Foundation, however, told InsideDefense.com that she thought it was unlikely DOD would submit its budget around the same time Carter was scheduled...