Budget/Appropriations

A pair of Senate defense hearings scheduled for this week will likely close out the congressional hearing season for the Pentagon's fiscal 2013 spending proposal. 

A bipartisan group of roughly 30 senators have been meeting, discussing possible funding alternatives.

Congress will spare critical funding for combat operations in Afghanistan from the federal budget axe, but the move will do little to ease to ease the blow of automatic defense cuts to the Pentagon. 

Veterans and retired members of the military are calling on Congress to provide abortion funding for servicewomen in the case of rape or incest in a new ad campaign announced Thursday.

A new study from the Bipartisan Policy Center offered the warning in a report on the cuts. 

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) highlighted legislation requiring President Obama to issue a detailed report on automatic budget cuts as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011.

On Wednesday, Thune touted legislation sponsored by him and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012 (S. 3228), which would require "the President to provide a report detailing the sequester required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 on January 2, 2013."

Under Thune and Sessions's legislation, part of a coordinated push by Republicans to reject the unpopular spending cuts, Obama's report would have to include estimates on the sequestration related to discretionary appropriations and direct spending.

"Job creators are concerned about the impending fiscal cliff, and if Congress does not act to deal with these issues, the economy will suffer from this uncertainty in the coming months," Thune said.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Republicans on the Armed Services Committee have decided their amendment that tells the Defense Department to provide details on the impact of $500 billion in automatic cuts to defense cannot wait for the Defense authorization bill to pass.

So now they plan to tack it onto every bill that comes to the Senate floor, starting with the farm bill.

Republicans are up in arms over plans to include Afghan war funding in automatic defense cuts to begin in 2013.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Congress is playing with fire by waiting until after the election to deal with sequestration.

Nearly all House Democrats joined Republicans late Thursday to approve a spending bill for military construction and Veterans Affairs, despite an Obama administration threat to veto the bill.

Members approved the bill in an overwhelming 407-12 vote in which only four Democrats opposed it. The bill was approved after a quick debate and quick consideration of amendments, most of which were approved by voice vote, another strong sign of bipartisan support.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) joined with 179 other Democrats in supporting the bill.