CAPITOL HILL: House and Senate Republicans will team up on pending legislation to spare the Defense Department from a potential $1 trillion budget cut, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon said today. McKeon has been in contact with Senate counterparts who are pitching similar plan to clear the looming $600 billion budget cut off… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: A day after Senate Republicans announced their own plan to cut $1.2 trillion from the national deficit, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon unveiled a plan of his own. The “Down Payment To Protect National Security Act” calls for a ten percent total cut to the federal workforce spread over 10 years,… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A Republican plan to spare the Pentagon roughly $500 billion in spending cuts faces rough passage with no guarantee the department could avoid the spending reduction, two defense analysts say. Sens. Kelly Ayotte, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Joe Lieberman and John Kyl will roll out a “substitute” sequestration plan this week. Formal legislation will… Keep reading →

UPDATED CAPITOL HILL: The $669 billion set aside by defense lawmakers for fiscal 2012 is $24 billion short of the White House’s initial request but will be enough to finance several of the Pentagon’s high-profile programs. The Pentagon will get $554 billion in its baseline budget and $115.5 billion to continue fighting the wars in… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The unfolding economic crisis threatening the European Union could ripple through the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s crucial international program, the Pentagon’s top military officer said today. Partner nation participation in the JSF program “will clearly [be] put at risk if all the predictions about an [European] economic collapse would occur,” Chairman of the Joint… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: For the second time in as many years, the White House is asking the Pentagon to put a price tag on the Obama administration’s European missile shield program. The Office of Management and Budget first asked the Pentagon wrap up a comprehensive cost estimate for the missile shield program back in December 2009. The… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Despite reports of its possible demise, the Navy’s new aircraft carrier has been spared the budget ax. Now Pentagon and service officials have to figure out how they will pay for it. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget approved the Navy’s request to include the carrier program in its six-year spending plan,… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The House named its conferees to handle negotiations over H.R. 1540, as this year’s defense authorization act is fondly known, and lawmakers from the opposite sides of the Capitol met this afternoon to hammer out a final bill. One Hill source said the discussions were, “moving quickly. We hope to have the language… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Navy’s decision to cut its future amphibious fleet from 38 ships to 33 has left the Marines clamoring for any and all options on how to close that gap, Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford said today. The typically stoic and reserved Dunford got a little gung-ho when I asked him what… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: In the military, you can’t always get what you want but you can usually get what you need. And looming budget cuts are forcing the Marine Corps to do just that with its future amphibious fleet, according to a top service general. Neither the Marines nor the Navy have backed off the Corps’ requirement… Keep reading →