By Emelie Rutherford
Some of the Pentagon budget cuts Defense Secretary Robert Gates proposed yesterday, related to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and an amphibious vehicle, have early support from a key lawmaker but are being criticized by others on Capitol Hill.
Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young (R-Fla.) joined other key lawmakers by saying he has a lot of work to do analyzing proposed fiscal year 2012 budget cuts that Gates unveiled yesterday, weeks before the Pentagon plans to send it annual spending plan to Congress.
Yet Young, who is likely to be approved today as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Defense subcommittee (HAC-D), signaled varying levels of support for two key weapon-system changes Gates pitched: killing the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) and placing the service’s short take-off and vertical landing variant (STOVL) of the F-35 on a two-year “probation.”
Young, who likely will have significant say in how the proposed cuts will be adjusted on Capitol Hill, joined other top defense-minded lawmakers in meeting with Gates yesterday morning.
In an interview, the Florida congressman said he thinks “we’re OK to see that (EFV) program terminated,” noting that the HAC-D came close to defunding the program last year (see related story).
Young also signaled some support for delaying the F-35 STOVL variant.
“I didn’t make any commitment to Secretary Gates on that issue, but I think it’s probably OK,” he said. “I think that’s an OK plan. We’ll have to see how that works out, because…the Joint Strike Fighter…is becoming more important part of our inventory.”
Young said he couldn’t predict how much Congress will modify Gates’ proposed cuts, some of which have received sharp rebukes from top House Armed Services Committee (HASC) members.
“I told him…’Mr. Secretary you’ve given us an awful lot to think about, and I can tell you that we are going to analyze all of these recommendations, obviously, to see where we can bring about some real substantial savings without affecting the warfighter,” Young said.
“We have made it very clear that we agree that there are areas in the defense budget where monies can be saved,” he added. “And I had already begun, weeks ago, trying to compile my own list of where I think that I’m going to be able to recommend savings. And it’s actually fairly substantial.”
Young declined to detail the list of defense cuts he is compiling, but said “nothing’s off the table except whatever might have an adverse affect on the warfighter.”
He noted, though, that items in the defense bill including military personnel, salaries, medical care, and base operations and maintenance are “much bigger than procurement” of weapon systems.
“So I’m committed to recommending an appropriations bill that will provide everything that the warfighter needs but…will reduce other spending as much as we possibly can,” he said.
Meanwhile, HASC Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) and Seapower and Expeditionary Forces subcommittee Chairman Todd Akin (R-Mo.) criticized Gates’ proposed cuts.
“I’m not happy,” McKeon said in a statement yesterday, after meeting with Gates.
“These cuts are being made without any commitment to restore modest future growth, which is the only way to prevent deep reductions in force structure that will leave our military less capable and less ready to fight,” he said. “This is a dramatic shift for a nation at war and a dangerous signal from the Commander in Chief.”
McKeon said at “first glance” he’s particularly concerned about the EFV and F-35 STOVL proposals.
“Members of the House Armed Services Committee remain committed to the Marine Corps as an expeditionary fighting force ‘in ready’, which includes the capability to conduct amphibious landings,” he said. “This mission could be jeopardized by the cancellation of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, a capability re-validated by the Secretary just last year, and delays in the Joint Strike Fighter and amphibious ship construction.”
In Congress’ upper chamber, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) was “generally in agreement with (Gates’) proposal recognizing that we need to find ways to increase efficiency in all areas of government spending,” his spokesman Rob Blumenthal said.
Still, Blumenthal said “the devil is in the details,” and Inouye will not comment on specific recommendations in Gates’ proposal until he studies the complete FY ’12 Pentagon budget request, which the White House is expected to send to Congress in the next few weeks.
Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) applauded Gates’ move to trim the defense budget. Yet McCain in a statement said he is “concerned” because the Pentagon is proposing less than one percent real growth in the base defense budget over the next five years.