Lawmakers this week announced an ambitious pre-Christmas push that, if successful, would provide the kind of direction for fiscal year 2014 spending and policymaking that Pentagon leaders have been desperately awaiting. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the leaders of the House and Senate Budget committees, respectively, announced a two-year budget deal on Tuesday evening that would spare the Defense Department from almost $23 billion in additional FY-14 sequestration cuts set to take effect in mid-January. Relief...
