OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: GOP defense hawks pressure budget writers

by Kristina Wong and Martin Matishak - 03/16/15 7:13 PM ET

THE TOPLINE: The chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are pressing budget writers to lift spending caps for the Defense Department with leaders preparing to unveil their new budget blueprints.

With the GOP now in control of Congress, budget leaders are expected to take an axe to federal spending, but face resistance from some Republicans who say military spending needs a boost.

{mosads}Under spending caps set by the 2011 Budget Control Act, defense spending would be $523 billion in 2016.

But Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) say $577 billion is needed, given the national security challenges the U.S. faces. They cite the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as well as the continued presence in Afghanistan, Russia’s moves in Ukraine, and from a potentially nuclear-armed Iran.

“At a time of growing worldwide threats, the sequestration-level caps on defense spending are putting our national security at unacceptable risk,” McCain said in a statement on Monday.

Thornberry told reporters at a roundtable Monday that many don’t realize that since 2010, defense spending has been cut 18 percent — 24 percent if inflation is counted — while shouldering 50 percent of federal spending cuts under the BCA.

“Defense is now 16 percent of the budget, and yet it has had to absorb 50 percent of the cuts under the Budget Control Act,” Thornberry said. “And the world is not 18 or 24 percent safer now than it was when the Budget Control Act passed.”

Thornberry said he did not believe defense spending in 2016 should be any lower than President Obama’s own request of $566 billion.

Thornberry said he was discussing lifting the defense budget caps with House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.), but he said that using war funding could be an option.

The White House has requested $51 billion for its 2016 war funding account, also known as Overseas Contingency Operations. OCO is not subject to the budget agreement caps.

Thornberry said “OCO is a potential source” of increased funding for 2016.

JINDALS WEIGHS IN ON BUDGET FIGHT: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), a possible 2016 presidential contender, is also turning up the heat on Congress to increase defense spending.

“I’m calling on all leaders in House and Senate and anybody thinking of running for president to insist and make it clear that we have to invest in defense,” said Jindal on Monday at the conservative nonprofit American Action Forum.

Jindal argued that this year’s GOP budget should lift caps on Defense Department spending created by the 2011 budget deal struck to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt.

“I think Republicans made a mistake when they accepted caps on defense spending,” he added, referring to the Budget Control Act.

“We have to invest in the Pentagon … at a time when threats are increasing,” Jindal said, adding that increased spending should be offset by cuts to the non-defense budget.

The budget fight could set up a showdown with Republicans such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), another possible presidential candidate, who has long said that military spending has become bloated and that the nation needs to limit its involvement abroad.

OBAMA TO SLOW AFGHAN DRAWDOWN? The Obama administration is reportedly weighing slowing down the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

The Associated Press reported that President Obama could toss out his plan to cut the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 5,500 by the end of the year, instead leaving around 10,000 troops to help Afghan forces carry out special operations and stop the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from gaining a foothold.

The internal debate comes as the White House preps to host Afghan President Ashraf Ghani next week. The bilateral meeting could give the president an opportunity to announce a slower troop withdrawal.

While the details of the new timetable remain unknown, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), and his close ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), welcomed the reports.

“If these reports are true, this would be a welcome step in the right direction, one supported by our nation’s top military commanders given the conditions on the ground,” they said in a joint statement.

However, the pair remains “concerned that the administration appears intent on maintaining President Obama’s calendar-driven deadline to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year.”

“Such a course would invite the same disaster we have seen in Iraq: a vacuum filled by instability and terror that would ultimately threaten the United States,” they said.

“History will judge President Obama’s legacy not by the day we leave Afghanistan, but by what we leave behind,” McCain and Graham said.

“Continuing to train, advise, and assist the Afghan security forces and to meet our mutual counterterrorism objectives is critical to sustaining Afghanistan’s security and protecting the United States,” they added.

LAWMAKERS SEEK TO HELP VETS. Members in both chambers on Monday introduced bills aimed at helping veterans.

In the upper chamber, Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) put forward a measure that would eliminate some reporting requirements so that the Veterans Affairs Department can let veterans have greater access to long-term care centers in their communities, including nursing homes.

“Family, friends and community serve as a vital support network throughout our lives, and our veterans should not be forced to choose between being near their loved ones and accessing the care they need,” Hoeven said in a statement.

The proposed bill “will make more options available to our former service members who need long-term care services,” he added.

Veterans “should not have to worry about being denied care solely because of burdensome federal VA contracting requirements,” according to Manchin.

A companion bill was introduced in the House by Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) and Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).

Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) has also introduced legislation that would allow the VA chief to give preference to companies that have high concentrations of veteran employees when awarding agency contracts.

“We have to make it a priority, in government and in the private sector, to fully invest in our veterans, invest in their potential to use their unique training and experience to excel in the civilian workforce,” she said in a news release.

Rep. Paul Cook (R-Calif.) said despite improvements, post-9/11 veterans still experienced higher unemployment rates in 2014 than the national average.

“It’s unacceptable that men and women who signed up to fight for their country are unable to find a job when they return home,” he said in a statement.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

— Obama aide: ‘Makes sense’ to consult Petraeus on ISIS

— House Armed Services chairman opposes new round of base closures

— Week ahead: House puts spotlight on war powers, budget

— Netanyahu vows no Palestinian state if he wins reelection

— Iran confronts US negotiators over GOP senators’ letter

Please send tips and comments to Kristina Wong, kwong@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Martin Matishak, mmatishak@digital-staging.thehill.com.