The piecemeal approach follows the House’s move Saturday to pass a
bill that would continue paying the military in the event of a shutdown, which
President Obama signed into law Monday after it was passed in the Senate by
unanimous consent.
Republicans argued that the bills for the VA, parks and D.C.
were the same idea, and a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner called the
White House’s veto threat “unsustainably hypocritical.”
{mosads}A White House spokesman said that if Republicans were
“legitimately concerned” about the impacts of a government shutdown, they
should pass a clean stopgap funding measure.
“These piecemeal efforts are not serious, and they are
no way to run a government,” White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said.
Amid the gridlock Monday, some hope emerged for furloughed
civilians eager to return to work.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that Pentagon lawyers
were looking at the law to determine whether civilians currently furloughed
could be allowed to return to work while the government remains shut down. The
Pentagon has furloughed roughly half of its civilian workforce.
To Boehner and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck Mckeon,
the law is clear: bring civilians back to work.
McKeon (R-Calif.) wrote
to Hagel on Monday, saying that the law allowed the Pentagon “broad latitude”
to let civilians to continue working in a shutdown.
“I believe the legislation provides you broad latitude and I
encourage you to use it,” McKeon wrote.
Boehner was more critical, as a spokesman issued statement
accusing the White House of “using DOD workers to play political games.”
“So far, the Defense Department has narrowly interpreted the
measure — against congressional intent — and decided to furlough DOD civilian employees
who support our troops,” the statement said.
Hagel said Tuesday while traveling in South Korea that the
Pentagon hoped it could bring more civilians back to work.
“Our lawyers believe that maybe we can expand the exempt
status. We don’t know if that’s the case, but we are exploring that, so that we
could cut back from the furloughs some of the civilians that had to leave,” he
said.
Delay of game:
The Pentagon has
suspended the Navy-Air Force football game scheduled for Saturday due to
the government shutdown.
“As a result of the government shutdown, the Department of
Defense has suspended all intercollegiate athletic competitions at the Service
Academies,” the Naval Academy said in a statement.
The Naval Academy said it would make a decision on the
football game before Thursday at noon. Whether or not there is a game will depend on whether members
of Congress and President Obama come to a resolution to fund the government
before then.
Another football game between Army and Boston College is
scheduled for Saturday in Massachusetts.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is a Naval Academy graduate, said that if the game was canceled, “the apocalypse is upon us.”
But he still held out hope that the game would proceed.
“I predict we will see a resolution of this before the
weekend,” McCain said.
Game on: The
government shutdown is not stopping congressional defense committees from
holding hearings — and one is now scheduled to examine how the government
shutdown is affecting the military.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said
Tuesday that his committee will tack
on the impact of a shutdown to a previously scheduled hearing next week on
sequestration.
“We had a hearing scheduled on the impact of sequester. It’s
going to include both the impact of sequester and shutdown, assuming it’s
shut down,” Levin said.
And while numerous committees have canceled their hearings
scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday amid the shutdown, the House Armed Services
Committee will still hold its hearing Wednesday on the impact of sequestration
on military readiness.
House Armed Services Committee chief Rep. Buck McKeon
(R-Calif.) intends “to move ahead with committee activities contingent
upon witness availability,” panel spokesman Claude Chafin said.
Marine Corps readiness chief Lt. Gen. William Faulkner and
Army logistics chief Lt. Gen. Raymond Mason are scheduled to appear before the
House panel.
The two general officers were initially scheduled to appear
before the House panel in late September, but the hearing was delayed due to
House votes.
Heinrich lifts Air
Force hold: One of at least two holds on the nominee to be the next Air
Force secretary was lifted on Tuesday.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said in a statement he dropped
his hold on Deborah Lee James’s confirmation to be Air Force secretary.
Heinrich said last week that the hold was due to a local
issue, though at the time he did not say what it was specifically.
In a statement Tuesday, he said that he was dropping his
hold after receiving assurances that the Air Force would fund the Operationally
Responsive Space program at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque
through 2014.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) has also placed a hold on James’s
nomination over potential Air Force cuts to the A-10 fleet.
Emails to Ayotte’s communications office about the status of
the hold were not returned on Tuesday because the spokesmen were furloughed.
In Case You Missed
It:
— McKeon tells Pentagon to
end civilian furloughs
— Feinstein: Shutdown ‘biggest gift’ to enemies
— North Korea threat
‘toned down,’ say commanders
— Hagel: Shutdown hurts
US credibility abroad
— McCain backs Camp Bastion firings
— Iraqi special visa program
expires
Please send tips and comments to Jeremy Herb, jherb@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Carlo Muñoz, cmunoz@digital-staging.thehill.com.
Follow us on Twitter:
@DEFCONHill, @JHerbTheHill, @CMunozTheHill
You can sign up to
receive this overnight update via email on The Hill’s homepage.