Budget/Appropriations

House Republicans are working on a spending plan to finance weapons systems that could be used in a potential conflict with Iran.

A variety of interests lobbied on the dreaded budget sequestration last quarter, according to lobbying disclosure records.

If the Obama administration wants Congress to finance a new missile shield in Eastern Europe, it will have to first get NATO to agree to foot part of the bill. 

A lobbying campaign in Congress and from state governors led the Pentagon to restore $400 million in planned cuts to the Air National Guard and 24 C-130 planes.

Lawmakers and the Council of Governors, which has been negotiating with the Pentagon, hailed the decision on Tuesday, which comes as the congressional committees are starting to mark-up the 2013 Pentagon budget.

The Pentagon did not indicate where it intended to make up the savings, something that the heads of the Senate Armed Services Committee said they’d be taking up in hearings.

Republicans have questioned whether the service chiefs are withholding their true views on President Obama’s proposed defense cuts.

The Veterans Administration is exempt from the automatic cuts that could hit the discretionary budget in January 2013, the Office of Management and Budget said Monday.

Members of Congress on the Veterans' Affairs committees and veterans advocacy groups had lobbied for exempting the VA from the automatic cuts through sequestration, expressing concern that veterans’ care would be harmed.

President Obama's top campaign adviser defended Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

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The Senate Appropriations Committee allocated nearly the same amount for the 2013 Pentagon budget that President Obama has requested, but there’s one caveat: the panel put nearly $5 billion more in the war budget.

The committee said Thursday its Defense Department spending will include $93.3 billion in overseas contingency operations (OCO), which funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an increase of $4.9 billion from the Pentagon’s $88.4 billion request.

With the shift, the committee’s overall $604 billion allocation for the base Pentagon budget and OCO is essentially in line with the Pentagon’s budget request.

The Defense secretary said the military is "unified" behind President Obama's plan despite the skepticism of some Republicans.

Republicans oppose Obama’s planned $487 billion in cuts, but service chiefs say they support the president’s budget and strategy revamp.