House lawmakers have rejected most of the Pentagon’s proposed cost-saving measures for next year, raising serious questions about how the military will stay under budget limits once sequestration returns in 2016.
The House Armed Services Committee this week passed a defense bill that rejected plans from the Pentagon to save billions of dollars by cutting an aircraft carrier, legacy aircraft, troop pay raises and benefits and excess bases.
“By handcuffing the Pentagon, the Congress is forcing the military to become hollow,” said Todd Harrison, director of Defense Budget Studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
The Pentagon had proposed retiring an aircraft carrier in 2016 that would cost billions of dollars to keep in service, and had set that plan in motion by not putting any money towards maintenance and repair in 2015.
The House panel rejected that decision, allocating $796.2 million towards refueling and overhauling the carrier in 2015.
Still, it is unclear but it is unclear how the Pentagon would foot the rest of the bill, since the repair of the carrier is expected to cost as much as $6 billion over the next several years, and billions more in operations throughout its lifespan.
The effort to save the carrier was led by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), in whose state the carrier would be repaired.
The House panel also rejected a proposal to retire the Air Force’s A-10 fleet that would have saved more than $4 billion over the next five years, instead putting $635 million towards maintaining, operating and upgrading the planes in 2015.
The amendment to save the A-10 was led by Rep. Ron Barbour (D-Ariz.), who state is home to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and an A-10 fighter wing.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/205751-lawmakers-leave-budget-axe-hovering-over-the-military
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