SCMR Hearing

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. James Winnefeld are slated to testify Thursday before the House Armed Services Committee about the initial conclusions of the Pentagon's Strategic Choices and Management Review (SCMR).

The SCMR, through which the Pentagon is examining the potential impact of further sequestration on its ability to execute the priorities of the president's Defense Strategic Guidance, informed the Pentagon's internal fiscal guidance for the FY-15 budget process, and is intended to guide the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review. The SCMR involved DOD's uniformed and civilian leaders and was managed by Carter, working with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey.

Unlike the congressionally mandated QDR, the Pentagon considers the SCMR an internal assessment, without any statutory requirement to disclose the details to Congress. When Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel chartered the review, he described it as "confidential." Last month, Hagel threw cold water on the idea that the Pentagon might publicly detail the SCMR's findings. "There will be no roll-out of any grand plan on this," Hagel told reporters.