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HASC Subcommittees to Kick Off 2014 NDAA Sausage-Making

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DIA, DoD, Drones, F-35, Industry, Intelligence, Intercepts, Navy, New Tech, Policy, Sequestration, Shipbuilding, Space No Comments

Military officers wait for members to arrive for a House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee hearing on Feb. 28. The same room will host multiple HASC subpanels as they build their parts of 2014 Pentagon policy legislation. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

It’s that time again: National defense authorization act season. (Just loosen your tie and take a deep breath, nervous defense wonk, Intercepts is mildly confident your program is going to survive. Probably.)

Following long-held custom, the House Armed Services Committee kicks things off this week with a series of subcommittee mark ups as the panel begins building its 2014 Pentagon policy bill.

The subcommittees should give defense wonks a look at their initial bills as soon as today (Tuesday), before each issue-specific subpanel makes changes on Wednesday or Thursday. As we reported May 6 in our defense authorization preview, armed drones, base closures and what to do about sequestration will be top-shelf issues.

Though not specifically the purview of Defense News readers, add to the top-issue list the sexual assault epidemic that’s plaguing the military. Full subcommittee-by-subcommittee schedule, after the jump. More

‘Sequestration-palooza’ Week Kicks Off. There Will be Live Tweeting.

By John T. Bennett in Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, Marine Corps, Navy, New Tech, Operations, Policy, Space Tags: ,

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will have a busy week of testimony on Capitol Hill about sequestration. (Defense Department photo)

One might call this week on Capitol Hill “Sequestration-palooza.” That’s because there are three hearings featuring senior Pentagon officials focused on the pending decade-long reduction in planned national defense spending. And other hearings will focus on the nation’s overall budget and economic situation, including sequestration.

First up is a Tuesday Senate Armed Services Committee hearing featuring Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey and all four service chiefs. Expect gloomy predictions of canceled weapon programs, massive layoffs, unmet combatant commander requirements, and more. Your Defense News/Intercepts correspondents will be live-blogging the deliberations. Follow Congressional Reporter John T. Bennnett, Land Warfare Reporter Paul McLeary and Air Warfare Reporter Aaron Mehta for live updates.

How Big Would DoD Budget be Under Sequestration? Historically Big, It Turns Out.

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, F-35, Industry, Intercepts, International, Marine Corps, Navy, New Tech, Operations, Policy, Shipbuilding, Space Tags: ,

How big would the U.S. defense budget be if sequestration happens? Turns out, despite the sometimes-apocalyptic rhetoric, big. And how would the post-Afghanistan defense budget draw down compare to slowdowns in Pentagon spending that occurred after the Korean, Vietnam and Cold wars? Turns out, it would be smaller.

All of that is according to the work of a study group commissioned by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), released earlier today.

As the above CSIS graph shows, under sequestration, annual Pentagon spending would drop 31 percent from its 2010 peak to its sequester-era low. That compares to a 33 percent decline after Vietnam, and a 36 percent post-Cold War drop. And after the Korean war, yearly Defense Department budgets fell off by 43 percent.

That means after America’s longest war (Afghanistan) ever, Pentagon spending would undergo the smallest post-1952 draw down, according to CSIS. More

Live Blog: Senate Committee Will Grill Chuck Hagel Over Israel, Iran, Defense Cuts

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Afghanistan, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, F-35, Industry, Intercepts, International, Israel, Marine Corps, Navy, Operations, Policy, Shipbuilding, Space Tags: , , , ,

Former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., leaves the office of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., after the two Vietnam War veterans met Jan. 22. McCain and other senators will grill Hagel today about his defense secretary nomination. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Today is the day so many have been waiting for. No, it’s not Super Bowl Sunday. Yet. Rather, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee about his nomination to replace Leon Panetta as defense secretary.

Since Hagel’s name was floated for the post in early December, Hagel has been sharply criticized by his former fellow-GOP senators and pro-Israel groups for his past comments on the U.S.-Israel alliance, whether the Pentagon budget can and should be trimmed, how to confront Iran over its nuclear arms program, gay rights and the proper size of the U.S. nuclear arms fleet. Expect questions on all those topics. Another likely line of questioning could come from Republicans about allegations that Hagel is hard on staffers.

In answers to written policy questions provided to the panel this week, Hagel largely tried to align himself with the views of President Barack Obama. For instance, he took the same tone as Panetta, saying pending defense sequestration cuts would undermine U.S. military power. Defense News senior reporters John T. Bennett and Marcus Weisgerber will be here throughout the hearing — yes, including on a possible second day — live blogging the action. Please check back early and often for updates.

5:49 p.m. — Sen. Levin gavels this epic hearing to a close. Thanks for stopping by. ANALYSIS: Not a dominating performance by Hagel. He labored a bit, and seemed to contradict himself at times. Doubt he lost any Democratic support, however. — John T. Bennett

5:42 p.m. — Sen. Cruz calls Hagel “the most antagonistic” member in Senate (ever?) against Israel, and most unwilling (ever?) to confront Iran. Levin asks Cruz to submit any remaining questions for the record, but never looked directly at Cruz, instead icily gazing straight ahead. There’s tension there.  – John T. Bennett

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Another Top House Republican Says Sequestration Cuts Are a Done Deal

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, F-35, Industry, Intercepts, Marine Corps, Navy, New Tech, Policy, Shipbuilding, Space Tags: ,

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sequestration is going to happen. At least that’s what yet another Republican U.S. House leader says.

“I think the sequester is going to happen,” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.,  said Sunday on “Meet the Press.” More

Panel: Sunny Outlook for Defense Sector Beyond 2013

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, Marine Corps, Navy, New Tech, Policy, Space Tags: ,

The sun rises behind the U.S. Capitol recently. A panel of journalists this morning offered a sunny long-term outlook for the defense sector, though 2013 likely will seem rocky. (Getty Images)

Trying to find four journalists in Washington who agree is a lot like trying to find four lawmakers in Washington who agree. It’s typically very difficult. But the Northern Virginia Technology Council pulled it off this morning.

A panel of journalists from four very different kinds of media companies, including yours truly, agreed on a range of issues, including a collective opinion that President Obama and congressional leaders will strike a deal that averts the fiscal cliff and $500 billion in cuts to planned defense spending. More

NDAA Watch: Cloture Vote Could Set Up Passage on Tuesday (Updated)

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Afghanistan, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, Marine Corps, Navy, New Tech, Policy, Space

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chairman and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, speak before a March hearing. The duo will try on Tuesday to bring the chamber's version of a 2013 Pentagon policy bill to a final vote. (Photo By Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

The Senate on Monday unanimously approved a cloture motion on its version of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, limiting additional debate and setting up a vote possibly as early as today.

Senate leaders had intended to pass the bill in about three days. But due to a larger-than-expected number of amendments, that plan had to be scrapped while the number of amendments was shrunk.

The 93-0 cloture vote came shortly after one of the legislation’s floor managers, GOP Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McCain of Arizona, noted the upper chamber has spent 27 hours debating and voting on a long list of amendments.

McCain and the Armed Services Committee’s chairman, Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan, indicated on Monday they likely would bring up two or three more packages of amendments, cast aside others, and hopefully bring the legislation to a final vote today. More

White House’s Opening Offer Excludes New Defense Cuts

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Air Force, Army, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Marine Corps, Navy, New Tech, Policy, Space Tags: , , ,

President Obama (center) with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio (left), and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. (right), during a Nov. 16 White House meeting about the fiscal cliff. (Olivier Douliery/White House Pool via Bloomberg via Getty Images)

One side in the fiscal cliff talks appears to have found a path to the necessary $1.6 trillion deficit-reduction target that avoids additional tax cuts: the White House.

The Obama administration on Thursday sent a two-step fiscal cliff-avoidance plan to lawmakers that, according to reports, calls for the “deferral” of twin $500 billion cuts to domestic and defense spending that are slated to kick in Jan. 2 if no broader deficit-cutting package is approved.

That delay – the length of time appears to be unspecified – would come in phase one, during which the White House proposes a number of tax-rate hikes for the wealthiest Americans, other new taxes, a number of tax cuts and reforms, unspecified entitlement program reforms, and several other ideas.

In the proposed second phase, Congress and the White House would tackle major federal tax reform, while implementing entitlement program proposals included in the president’s 2013 budget plan.

The plan appears a mere opening offer. As NBC’s Chuck Todd has been saying all week, the fiscal cliff talks are still in the posturing phase. More

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