'Nothing Off Table' In DOD Budget Review

By John M. Doyle

Despite news accounts that numerous big ticket Pentagon programs may be coming under the budget knife, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made no decisions yet, the Department’s comptroller said March 18.

Anxious members of the House Budget Committee peppered Comptroller Robert Hale with questions about the continued funding viability of the F-22 Raptor, the Air Force replacement refueling tanker, the proposed long-range strike bomber and missile defense projects.

“Nothing is off the table” in the Obama administration’s defense budget review before it issues the detailed fiscal 2010 budget next month, Hale told a committee hearing. But he added that Gates wants the review completed before he makes any decision. Obama’s $663.7 billion topline placeholder budget — issued last month — includes $533.7 billion in discretionary budget authority and $130 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The discretionary amount is about a 4 percent increase over the $513.3 billion appropriated by Congress for FY ’09, Hale said.

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