Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday vowed to recommend a veto of both the House and Senate versions of the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bills if either form reaches the president’s desk.
In a 23-page letter to House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), Carter said his top concern is the House bill redirecting $18 billion of Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) spending toward base budget programs that the Defense Department did not request, cutting off funding for wartime operations after April 30, 2017. 
Carter secondly objects to “excessive micromanagement” found in both the House and Senate bills. He said DoD was required to provide Congress with restricted, sensitive and confidential planning documents. This, he said, raises concerns regarding the Pentagon’s ability to carry out confidential, candid and pre-decisional activities. He chastised the Senate bill for “overly-prescriptive organization and process requirements.”
Carter’s third big objection is that Congress’ actions appear “completely disconnected” from the budgetary environment. He cites lawmakers rejecting both another Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) round and a reduction in Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) procurement.
“If a bill is presented to the president in the current form of either version, I will join with the president’s other senior advisors in recommending he veto the legislation,” Carter warned.
House and Senate conferees met for the first time Wednesday in a ceremonial “pass the gavel” event before breaking until after Labor Day for the national conventions and a six-week summer recess. Barron Youngsmith, spokesman for HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), said Wednesday the meeting lasted about 1 hour, 45 minutes and was an opportunity for all of the House conferees to speak about the issues they wanted to emphasize in the bill.
Some Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) members were there as well, he said, including Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.). Youngsmith said Wednesday a time for the next meeting was not yet announced.
Other DoD concerns with the House and Senate bills include:
- Reforms of defense acquisition, especially the Senate bill proposing eliminating the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L);
- Reduction in general officer and flag officer grades and positions;
- Limitation on the number of senior executive service employees;
- Disbanding the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO);
- Penalizing the use of cost-type contracts or a preference for fixed-price contracts;
- Reduction for Silicon Valley outpost Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx);
- Requirement to use firm fixed-price contracts for foreign military sales (FMS);
- Establishing a critical cost threshold for the B-21 bomber below the acquisition program baseline;
- Restrictions placed on funds necessary to end reliance on the RD-180 engine; and
- Requirement of initiation of concept definition, design, research, development and engineering evaluation and test for a space-based intercept and defeat layer and space test bed.