Home » Policy » GOP, Gates Join Budget Battle

GOP, Gates Join Budget Battle

By Colin Clark Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 12:20 pm
Posted in Policy

You could almost see the captions above the heads of the budget battlers at the House Armed Services Committee’s 2010 budget hearing today. Bam! Pow! Whack!

“While it’s undeniable that you’re taking the department in a ‘different direction,’ the problem, Mr. Secretary, is that the Congress has not had the benefit of reviewing the analysis and data to determine how your decisions will take the Department in the right direction,” a ruffled Rep. John McHugh, the top Republican on the HASC, told Gates.

Bam! “In the view of many, this budget process has been anything but ‘holistic.’ The delayed release of this budget request, the infamous prohibition on providing briefs to Congress ahead of the release, and the absence of a future years defense program has left an undeniable vacuum of analysis and justification.

“Sadly, those circumstances help breed the very conclusion you wanted to avoid: that this proposal is a series of decisions whose only unifying theme is that the aggregate fits within the top line. I hope today we can help to dispose of these serious questions.” McHugh went on in his opening statement.

Pow! Gates slammed back. “The only reason Congress was informed about the executive agency’s [budget] deliberations in the past was because the building leaks like a sieve. Congress had a hotline to every office,” said a clearly agitated defense secretary. That was why Gates imposed the Nondisclosure Agreements that several hundred senior OSD and service officials signed, he made clear. Those are now moot, the secretary said. Department officials will answer all questions that Congress might have for them now that the budget is out.

But McHugh was unsatisfied, taking the tack that Gates had undermined the QDR process, effectively making most of the decisions that should have been duly considered by the QDR. Gates’ decision to make major program and policy changes “undermines” the QDR, the GOP lawmakers said.

Bam! Gates came right back. “You are saying I’m going to shape this QDR. You’re darn right,” said a tough looking defense secretary. And Gates, an old Washington hand, threw in the specter of resignation. “If I’m on the wrong path, I would be glad to yield to somebody else,” he told McHugh. Given how well Gates has preformed in the eyes of many lawmakers, that is a potent, if veiled, threat.

Note that this hearing has adjourned for 45 minutes. We will update it later today if the hearing reconvenes.

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	John the civi May 13th, 2009 at 12:55 pm Good stuff…I’m going to get some pop corn and tune in for the rest on the pentagonchannel.
	John the civi May 13th, 2009 at 2:16 pm Currently watching on the pentagonchannel. This stuff is a riot…I have to find the trnscript!
	Aurora May 13th, 2009 at 2:18 pm Agree with John the civil. This is very good stuff. Rather early in the process for Dr. Gates to be playing the “I’ll resign” card, though.
	DensityDuck May 13th, 2009 at 3:59 pm “The only reason Congress was informed about the executive agency’s [budget] deliberations in the past was because the building leaks like a sieve. Congress had a hotline to every office…” Ahem. The military is subject to civilian oversight. Of course the building “leaks like a sieve”. That’s the whole damn POINT.
	Do the right thing May 13th, 2009 at 9:39 pm Ah, jeese, I can’t decide now if I want Gates to run the Pentagon or this congressman who seems to think he should be in charge. He is popular with the Dairy Farmers of America so that is something to consider in his favor.
	Jintaitai May 13th, 2009 at 9:51 pm Did the congressman question Gates during the previous admin? Gates is an intelligent man and he is working hard to get things right. There is nothing wrong with questioning, there is something wrong with questioning with preconceptions.
	1fredt May 14th, 2009 at 12:07 am I firmly believe Congressman John McHugh is correct and justified in his request for ‘analysis and data’; Gates is not willing to provide it — have to have it, can’t make decision without it. So why not provide it? I worked in DOD many years and have seen programs falter and some fail where a decision was allowed on the statement, “You have my word on it.” This decision is not for a few programs but the whole of DOD.
	bobbymike May 14th, 2009 at 12:11 am I am not talking about any of the current posters to this story but everyone should take the time to understand the role of the legislative branch in overseeing the decisions of the executive. Congressmen and Senators are obligated to question and be concerned with the direction of the DOD. There is no more important role than providing for the common defense. Readers of DOD Buzz should not assume that either the Sec Def or any politician knows what the future holds. Gates could be right or could be 100% wrong putting the nation at grave risk by his decisions.
	Tony Conner May 14th, 2009 at 7:37 am The SecDef has a new set of marching orders from the new president, cut the DOD budget. The SecDef has done just that, to the ire of many in Congress. The bottom line is that Congress has the power to approve or ammend the budget. The Congress can and has in the past funded weapon systems the DOD wanted to cancel. Now it is up to the House and Senate to iron out what they want to do.
	Bill May 16th, 2009 at 11:30 pm It!a too bad Mr. Gates was’t a german back in the 1940s , he would have been a great Nazi bully!
	ChuckL May 18th, 2009 at 1:59 pm Jintaitai, I agree that preconceptions are a bad thing to rely upon when determining the defense needs of the country. This does bring up the question of countering the 220 Sukhoi SU-30 MKI aircraft that India is buying from or comanufacturering with Russia. This doesn’t include the Russian SU-30s or those sold to other countries, including countries in South America.
	ChuckL May 18th, 2009 at 2:01 pm bobbymike, You are so correct. The ONLY duty given to the congress by the Constitution is the defense of the country. Everything else that congress does is “allowed” or in violation of the Tenth Amendment.