Hagel, Pounded on Israel and Iraq Surge By Some, ‘Likely’ To Win Confirmation
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CAPITOL HILL: Former GOP Senator Chuck Hagel absorbed some tough criticism today from some fellow Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee but he looks likely to win confirmation. Whether he is confirmed may not matter very much in terms of when and why and where the United States might go to war or in… Keep reading →
Sen. James Inhofe, Ranking Member of SASC, Will Vote Against Hagel For SecDef
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CAPITOL HILL: We have confirmed that Sen. James Inhofe, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will vote against the nomination of Chuck Hagel to serve as Defense Secretary. Inhofe, a tough partisan known for his positions sometimes outside the consensus of his fellow committee members, labeled Hagel as the “wrong person to lead… Keep reading →
Air Guard Cut, More Ships OKd, Satellite Exports Eased In Defense Policy Bill
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[Updated Friday 12/21] CAPITOL HILL: It looks like the country’s getting a defense bill for Christmas, with provisions on everything from boosting cybersecurity to sanctioning Iran to loosening export controls on satellites. In what passes for high efficiency in Congress these days, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees completed their conference on the National… Keep reading →
2012 Elections: Fiscal Cliff Looms Large, Senate Shuffles
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UPDATED: Added Comment By GOP Strategist John Ullyot About Obama Being In Strong Spot To Negotiate End of Sequestration If Reelected. WASHINGTON: All eyes are on the presidential vote tomorrow, with the country seeming to thrum with anticipation, fear and relief. What will all this sturm und drang mean for defense? Before we reveal our… Keep reading →
Sen. Levin Schedules SASC Confirmation Hearing For Lame Duck
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Levin calls SASC hearing 11/15 to confirm Dunford, Allen — assuming he’s still chairman…. This was Panetta’s agenda: http://aol.it/RAUAoq SydneyFreedberg
HASC Chair McKeon To Senate: Stop Talking & Pass Bill To Fix Sequester
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WASHINGTON: House Armed Services Committee chairman Buck McKeon seethed with frustration at Senate Democrats today when asked about Senate Armed Services chairman Carl Levin‘s proposals for a “grand compromise” to avert sequestration. McKeon doubted any kind of grand bargain could happen this year, before or after the election, and said that the best plausible scenario… Keep reading →
Hill Must Craft Sequestration Deal By Fall, Says Sen. Levin
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WASHINGTON: Congress must act by fall — before the election — and pass some sort of answer to sequestration, says the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Sen. Carl Levin told reporters that his colleagues are beginning to focus on the fact that layoff notices for hundreds of thousands of defense and government jobs… Keep reading →
U.S. Companies — Not China — Pose The Real Counterfeit Parts Problem
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The Senate Armed Services Committee turned its spotlight last November on the problem of sup-par and counterfeit Chinese-made parts used in U.S. weapons programs, including Boeing’s new P-8A aircraft, the Marine Corps’ V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and the Navy’s Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine. Sens. Carl Levin and John McCain hammered away at China’s involvement and… Keep reading →
SASC NDAA Freezes Air Guard Cuts, Pakistan Aid; Rejects Tricare Fee Boost
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THE CAPITOL [updated 9:40 pm with details from Senate press release]: The Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously passed its mark-up of the annual defense spending bill, rejecting all proposed cuts to the Air National Guard, cutting the Defense Department’s civilian and contractor workforce by 5 percent over five years, and restricting aid to Pakistan. The… Keep reading →
Cut American Troops Or Afghans? Governors Want Guard Jobs
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WASHINGTON: State governors are complaining to Congress about Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s offer to give the Air National Guard two dozen C-130 aircraft and add back almost 1,200 jobs, saying it isn’t enough. The president’s budget originally proposed cutting 5,100 Air Guard jobs; last week, Panetta offered to restore 1,179 (by the governors’ count) and… Keep reading →