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Week ahead: House returns as sequestration looms
As the House returns to Washington this week ready to start work in the 113th Congress, its biggest obstacle in the defense world will be the mountain of uncertainty left over from the 112th session.
Across-the-board spending cuts under sequestration were temporarily dodged in a deal at the start of the year, but that only delayed the cuts for two months.
Averting sequestration will be a top priority of defense-minded lawmakers as negotiations on the cuts and a debt-limit increase get under way, and there could be some tension between GOP defense hawks and the Republican House leadership.
Two Republican hawks told The Hill last week that they disagreed with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) when he suggested that sequestration was the best leverage in the upcoming talks for Republicans. The hawks pushed back against Boehner’s claim that he has significant Republican support to allow the cuts to happen, if necessary.
Last week the Pentagon took steps to prepare for the potential cuts, which would reduce defense spending roughly $45 billion over the rest of fiscal 2013. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced a hiring freeze and some contract announcement delays at a Thursday press conference as he instructed the military to take steps to lessen the impact of the cuts if they do occur.
The Pentagon’s budget is also uncertain because the continuing resolution funding the government expires in March. The Pentagon wants to get a full appropriations bill passed, but that could be difficult. Defense officials have already said they are delaying the release of the 2014 budget request as a result of all the uncertainty.
Still, the first week back for House members will be relatively light on defense issues, and the Senate isn’t back until after President Obama’s inauguration.
Both the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees are holding organizational meetings on Tuesday. The Republican and Democratic heads of the Armed Services Committee are remaining the same as last year, while Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) is the new chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) the new ranking member.
The Veterans' Affairs Committee is holding its organizational meeting the next week, on Jan. 22.
Panetta, who is winding down his tenure as Defense secretary after former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) was nominated to succeed him, will be traveling to Europe this week.
Panetta is making stops in Portugal, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom in what could be his final trip abroad as Defense secretary.
