fiscalcliff

Essay: Sequestration Almost Happened Once, When the Stakes Were Lower

By John T. Bennett in Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Policy Tags: , ,

Senate Democratic Majority Whip Dick Durbin talks with reporters during talks to reach a "fiscal cliff" deal outside the Senate Chamber on Dec. 30. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The reaction in Washington defense circles to the two-month delay to across-the-board defense cuts included in last week’s fiscal cliff legislation has been mixed. Some believe the so-called sequestration cuts are far less likely than just a few weeks ago; others are more sure than ever that $500 billion in cuts to planned defense spending will occur.

Only time will tell which group ultimately is proven correct. There are signs to support both hypotheses. But it is instructive to understand just how close sequestration came to being triggered last week, and to mull the largest obstacle in coming efforts to avoid the twin reductions to defense and domestic spending. More

Pro-Defense Sen. Ayotte Named ‘Counsel’ to Sen. McConnell

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Policy Tags: , ,

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., addresses the media in late November. On Thursday, the rising Senate star and pro-defense lawmaker was named a "counsel" to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

She quickly became the fourth member of the so-called “Three Amigos” in the U.S. Senate, joining GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Independent former Sen. Joseph Leiberman. When the latter announced his retirement, she became the third “Amigo.”

And now, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., has achieved rising star status within the Senate GOP caucus. The pro-military senator’s rise could be very good news for the defense sector, which has more reasons than ever to be worried about the much-feared possibility of deep cuts to planned via sequestration. More

The 113th Congress: By the Numbers

By John T. Bennett in Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, Policy Tags: ,

The 113th Congress gets started on Thursday, and a battle over the nation's borrowing limit and federal spending cuts looms large. (U.S. House photo)

The sun has set for the final time on the 112th Congress, one of the most unproductive and controversial ever. The 113th Congress takes over today, and Washington already is gearing up for the next big crisis: A partisan fight over the federal debt ceiling and pending across-the-board spending cuts that will again put President Obama against his congressional Republican foes.

As the new Congress goes through some pomp and circumstance on its first day, here’s a reminder of the key numbers.

The House will have 234 Republicans and 201 Democrats. That’s eight more Democrats and eight fewer GOP members than the 112th Congress. That means Democrats need to pick off 17 Republicans to vote down bills that some members of House Speaker John Boehner’s caucus. And several recent fiscal cliff votes shows there are GOP members to be had.

In the Senate, the Democrats unexpectedly picked up two seats in November. The upper chamber will have 55 Democrats and 45 Republicans. Experts are predicted little change in how the Senate does business because of that change, but it means the majority will need to attract two fewer GOP senators to get to the magic 61-vote mark needed to kill a filibuster threat.

Senate Easily Approves Cliff Deal, Delay to Sequestration In Early-Morning Vote

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, International, Policy Tags: ,

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., triumphantly strides into Senate chamber around 2 p.m. EST Monday to announce a fiscal cliff and sequestration deal that passed the chamber 12 hours later. (John T. Bennett/Defense News)

The U.S. Senate early Jan. 1 overwhelmingly approved a measure that partially averts the fiscal cliff and delays deep cuts to projected defense and domestic spending.

The upper chamber, shortly after 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, voted 89-8 in favor a measure that extends tax cuts for individuals who earn $400,000 annually or below and couples who make $450,000 and below, while delaying pending twin $500 billion cuts to projected Pentagon and domestic spending. More

Fiscal Cliff Blog (Day 3): Charting Defense-Related Developments as Lawmakers Seek Deal

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, International, Policy Tags: ,

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kent., speaks as (L-R) Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.C., Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., listen during a news briefing earlier this month. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Defense News has been charting efforts to avoid the dreaded fiscal cliff and, possibly, the $500 billion in Pentagon budget cuts set to kick in on Wednesday (Jan. 2).

The House and Senate have approved a bill negotiated by Vice President Joe Biden and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kent., that would extend most set-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans except for individuals who make more than $400,000 annually and couples who earn more than $450,000. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., became a secondary negotiator. It delays the sequestration cuts to planned Defense Department spending — and an equal amount of domestic cuts that also are set to take effect Jan. 2 — by two months.

Below is our live blog of defense-related developments. We hope you will share the link with others, and check DefenseNews.com for full coverage.

11:05 a.m. (Tuesday): BREAKING: The House on Jan. 1 approved the Biden-McConnell measure that partially averts the fiscal cliff and delays pending cuts to planned Pentagon spending until March. It now goes to the president for his signature. Full coverage soon at DefenseNews.com.

7:05 p.m. (Tuesday): House GOP leaders will whip votes on a spending cuts amendment to see if there are 218 votes in the Republican caucus. If not, it appears Biden-McConnell will be brought to an up-or-down vote. The deal is not dead yet. But sequestration remains the law of the land. For now.

3:35 p.m. (Tuesday): The Congressional Budget Office has scored the Biden-McConnell bill. CBO determined it would add to the deficit, and features over 40 times more revenues to cuts. GOP House members want to change that, putting the legislation in jeopardy.

3:30 p.m. (Tuesday): BREAKING: The deal could be in jeopardy as House Republicans express their disgust. GOP lawmakers want spending cuts, and a lot of them. Could the massive defense budget be a target for the hungry GOP wolves? House could amend the bill and send it back to the Senate. As crafted, the measure could have a tough time passing the House.

11:20 a.m. (Tuesday): The White House announces Biden will attend a 12:15 p.m. House Democratic caucus meeting about the fiscal cliff legislation. The search for and finalizing of support is well under way.

11:15 a.m. (Tuesday): The House GOP leadership has released its floor schedule for Tuesday. The Biden-McConnell bill is not included on the docket. Yet. House members say they want time to review the legislation.

11:03 a.m. (Tuesday): The Biden-McConnell bill sets March 1 as the new sequestration deadline, with an implementation date of March 27 if federal spending reduction targets are not met in January or February. More

Defense Spending is a Hostage in Partisan Standoff Over List of Fiscal Cliff Issues

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, International, Policy Tags: ,

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., told Defense News on Sunday that every proposal to delay or void pending Pentagon cuts is

Senate Republican and Democratic leaders — at least publicly — agree turning off pending across-the-board cuts to planned Pentagon spending should be included in a final fiscal cliff package. But the two political parties seem miles apart on how to find the funds needed to cancel or delay them. More

Senate Republicans Reject Democrats’ Two-Year Sequestration Delay

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, International, Policy Tags: ,

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, told Defense News turning off the defense sequester cuts with new tax revenue is a "non-starter." (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

Senate Republicans on Sunday rejected Democrats’ proposal to delay massive cuts to planned defense and domestic spending, using new tax revenues to pay for the change, lawmakers said.

GOP senators emerged from a closed-door meeting on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff and told reporters Democratic Senate leaders put a two-year delay to pending twin $500 billion cuts to projected spending on Pentagon and domestic programs.

“My understanding is the other side put up a two-year delay that would have been paid for by $600 billion in new tax revenues,” Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, told Defense News as she departed the GOP caucus meeting. More

Sen. Reid Exits Fiscal Cliff, Sequestration Talks Only to Return Hours Later

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, Industry, International, Policy Tags: ,

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., makes his way to a meeting of the Senate Democratic Conference as Congress continues a weekend session in the hopes of agreeing on a deal to avert the 'fiscal cliff." (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

And then there were two. And then, suddenly, three again.

Talks on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff and massive cuts to projected federal spending briefly lost another participant Sunday when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., signaled he would take a backseat and allow Senate GOP leaders and the White House to seek an accord.

“I wish them luck,” Reid said on the Senate floor shortly after 2 p.m. of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kent., and the Obama White House. “There are still serious differences” between the two sides, Reid said.

Reid’s departure from negotiations followed that of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, just before Christmas when his own GOP caucus opted against supporting a plan he intended to bring to a vote to raise tax rates on individual earners who make more than $1 million annually. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has never been a major player.

“We are not where we could come forward and say, ‘We have this for you’,” Reid told a packed Senate chamber on a rare working Sunday. “I’m not overly optimistic that we can get something done. I’m cautiously optimistic that we can get something done.”

But by 5 p.m., as he emerged from a closed party caucus meeting, Reid appeared to be re-engaging. More

Sequestration Watch: $500 Billion, Across-the-Board Defense Cuts Increasingly Likely

By John T. Bennett in Acquisition, Budget, Capitol Hill, DoD, Industry, Intercepts, International, Policy Tags: ,

House Speaker John Boehner (center) reportedly believes his GOP caucus would allow big defense cuts to occur without an equal amount of domestic cuts that Democrats are unlikely to support. And that makes the military cuts now increasingly likely. (Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sequestration is now very likely. Your Intercepts correspondent was away at a somewhat secure, somewhat undisclosed location for a few days  celebrating Christmas. Upon his return, the likelihood that massive defense cuts will be triggered this week seemed to grow exponentially.    More

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