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White House Orders to Cut $90 Billion Defence Spending Over 5 Years
White House budget officials have ordered the Pentagon to shed $90 billion from its annual budgets over the next five years, starting with a $12 billion cut in 2012, sources told Defense News.
Pentagon budget officials late last week already were busy determining how to respond to the 2012 budget reduction, which was first reported by Defense News.
Now, one budget source said Pentagon officials "are scrambling" to determine how they will trim Defense Department plans to meet a new Office of Management and Budget (OMB) direction to trim an additional $78 billion over the future years defense plan, which will span 2013-2016.
It remains unclear how that $78 billion will break down over those four years.
The Pentagon next year likely will send Congress a fiscal 2012 budget blueprint seeking $12 billion less than the $678 billion sought for 2011 - and some Obama administration officials want even deeper cuts, defense and industry sources say. The cuts come as lawmakers and Obama administration officials continue searching for ways to repair Washington's troubled fiscal situation.
OMB and Pentagon officials late last week were using a defense top-line figure for 2011 that was included in a since-nixed Senate omnibus appropriations bill to plan a 2012 spending level.
That massive spending measure would have provided the Pentagon with $667.7 billion for 2011, including war funding - some $10 billion below the Pentagon's request.
The now-nixed omnibus bill's defense section called included $157.8 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving $509.9 billion for most other U.S. military expenditures, but excluding things like nuclear weapons, military construction and other military initiatives funded by other budget bills.
Some OMB officials would like to slash the omnibus level by another $10 billion, defense and industry sources said. But senior Pentagon officials resisted, and the 2012 Pentagon spending request will reflect a net $12 billion reduction from the requested 2011 level, defense and industry sources say.
OMB's deadline for federal departments and agencies to appeal their funding directions is noon Dec. 23, one budget source said.
"I do not anticipate the Pentagon appealing this," the source said. "The building would prefer to cut from within, rather than having others do it for them."
Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary, declined comment.
Meantime, a hot piece of speculation around Washington is the Defense Department will not submit a 2012 funding request until April or May.
That's because Congress, which just passed a continuing resolution that funds all federal government agencies and programs at 2010 levels through March, likely will not approve a defense funding bill until the spring months, sources said.
"It will be hard to know how much money programs need in 2012 without first knowing how much they actually received for 2011," said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute. "So the administration could wait until after the continuing resolution expires and it gets a real 2011 budget before it sends its request for next year to Congress. Some think the 2012 request might not make it to the hill until May."
Sources: White House Orders DoD to Cut $90B Over 5 Years - Defense News
White House budget officials have ordered the Pentagon to shed $90 billion from its annual budgets over the next five years, starting with a $12 billion cut in 2012, sources told Defense News.
Pentagon budget officials late last week already were busy determining how to respond to the 2012 budget reduction, which was first reported by Defense News.
Now, one budget source said Pentagon officials "are scrambling" to determine how they will trim Defense Department plans to meet a new Office of Management and Budget (OMB) direction to trim an additional $78 billion over the future years defense plan, which will span 2013-2016.
It remains unclear how that $78 billion will break down over those four years.
The Pentagon next year likely will send Congress a fiscal 2012 budget blueprint seeking $12 billion less than the $678 billion sought for 2011 - and some Obama administration officials want even deeper cuts, defense and industry sources say. The cuts come as lawmakers and Obama administration officials continue searching for ways to repair Washington's troubled fiscal situation.
OMB and Pentagon officials late last week were using a defense top-line figure for 2011 that was included in a since-nixed Senate omnibus appropriations bill to plan a 2012 spending level.
That massive spending measure would have provided the Pentagon with $667.7 billion for 2011, including war funding - some $10 billion below the Pentagon's request.
The now-nixed omnibus bill's defense section called included $157.8 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving $509.9 billion for most other U.S. military expenditures, but excluding things like nuclear weapons, military construction and other military initiatives funded by other budget bills.
Some OMB officials would like to slash the omnibus level by another $10 billion, defense and industry sources said. But senior Pentagon officials resisted, and the 2012 Pentagon spending request will reflect a net $12 billion reduction from the requested 2011 level, defense and industry sources say.
OMB's deadline for federal departments and agencies to appeal their funding directions is noon Dec. 23, one budget source said.
"I do not anticipate the Pentagon appealing this," the source said. "The building would prefer to cut from within, rather than having others do it for them."
Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary, declined comment.
Meantime, a hot piece of speculation around Washington is the Defense Department will not submit a 2012 funding request until April or May.
That's because Congress, which just passed a continuing resolution that funds all federal government agencies and programs at 2010 levels through March, likely will not approve a defense funding bill until the spring months, sources said.
"It will be hard to know how much money programs need in 2012 without first knowing how much they actually received for 2011," said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute. "So the administration could wait until after the continuing resolution expires and it gets a real 2011 budget before it sends its request for next year to Congress. Some think the 2012 request might not make it to the hill until May."
Sources: White House Orders DoD to Cut $90B Over 5 Years - Defense News
