Carter cagey on OCO

Defense Secretary Ash Carter was noncommittal Thursday when asked if the department's overseas contingency operations spending in fiscal year 2017 could rise above the $59 billion figure outlined in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2015.

Addressing reporters at the Pentagon, Carter said the department will “submit a budget based on our anticipated needs over the next year.”

“The theory of OCO is variable costs that cannot be built in and predicted,” he said. “And this year won't be any different from any other year.”

Noting that OCO funding is “supposed to be responsive to what really happens,” he said the department will “just have to see how it goes” with respect to increased spending.

Congressional Republicans are concerned that the Obama administration may seek to hold OCO spending to a maximum of $59 billion, while lawmakers had envisioned the figure as a minimum.

The secretary will discuss the defense share of the FY-17 budget during an appearance at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington on Feb. 2. The administration will release its full budget request on Feb. 9.