Week ahead: Budget hearings kick into gear

The Pentagon submitted a budget to Congress that was $52 billion above the spending
caps under sequestration, which has drawn criticisms from some lawmakers who want to
know what will get cut if sequestration is not averted.

{mosads}That fight, however, is not expected to play out in Congress immediately. The House and
Senate Defense authorization bills are also expected to be set at to pre-sequester levels for
2014, as the House and Senate budgets that passed last month did.

There’s still plenty that Congress and the Pentagon will argue about, from the
department’s request for new base closures to reductions in the missile defense budget
topline.

The hearings begin Tuesday morning with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno and
Army Secretary John McHugh, who will be testifying before the Senate Armed Services
Committee. The pair will return to appear before the House Armed Services panel on
Thursday.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert and
Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos will testify before the Senate Armed Services
panel on Thursday.

Many of the more contentious hearings will occur in subcommittees this week. The
Senate Armed Services Readiness subpanel will hold a hearing on base closures on
Wednesday, which has quickly run into stiff congressional opposition.

The Pentagon says that it’s become necessary to close some bases to reduce excess
infrastructure and cut costs, but lawmakers don’t want bases in their own districts to
close, and they dispute the Pentagon’s claims of savings.

There will be Senate subcommittee hearings Wednesday on military aircraft, on the F-35
program manager and on National Guard and Reserve personnel.

On the House side, there will be a trio of House Armed Services hearings Wednesday
covering Navy and Air Force acquisitions, Air Force readiness and veteran employment.

The committee will look at both space programs and Afghan women in two House
subcommittee hearings Thursday.

The House Appropriations Defense subcommittee has only one public hearing this week,
on Wednesday, to examine defense health programs. The panel is also holding a closed
hearing with Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of U.S. Africa Command.

While there will be plenty of activity on Capitol Hill, Hagel will be halfway around the
world. The Defense secretary is traveling this week to Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia,
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.