Budget/Appropriations

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.

McKeon would set defense spending levels higher than the president’s budget and last year’s debt-limit deal.

As the Pentagon presses on with the painful process of reining in defense costs, top Afghan officials are looking to ensure they do not get left out in the cold.  

Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) on Monday asked Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and ranking member John McCain (R-Ariz.) to consider a prohibition on using any funds from the 2013 defense authorization bill from being used for Air Force restructuring decisions until Congress and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review the decisions.

Begich's April 2 letter reflects his latest attempt to stop a plan to move his state's F-16 Squadron Eielson Air Force base to the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson — also in Alaska.

“We don’t think the generals are giving us their true advice," Ryan had said of the defense budget last week.

Both sides agree sequestration cannot stand, but remain unwilling to budge on the issue that stands in the way: taxes.