The White House Office of Management and Budget has directed the Defense Department, along with other federal agencies, to prepare first drafts of their fiscal year 2008 budget proposals by Sept. 11. In an April 25 memo to the executive branch departments and agencies, Clay Johnson, acting director of OMB, delivered general funding and management guidance for preparing the FY-08 budget. While OMB officials, according to military sources, had previously advised the Defense Department to prepare for smaller budgets in...