In a bid to retain the longstanding tradition of a unified, bipartisan staff, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO), the next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has pledged to provide Republicans significantly more billets for professional staff than were allotted to Democrats while they were the minority party for the last 12 years. This deal, struck last week, followed threats from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) -- who is preparing to become the ranking member after chairing the committee since 2003...
