A bill introduced in the House would improve efficiency in the hiring process at military bases, according to its sponsors Rep, Steve Russell (R-OK) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK). The Department of Defense Workforce Flexibility Act of 2016 (H.R. 4687) would allow “temporary employees within the U.S. Department of Defense to more easily apply for vacant, permanent [...]
Defense Secretary Ash Carter told Congress yesterday that the biggest concern to the U.S strategically is averting the return of sequestration next year. In his first testimony before Congress on the FY2017 DoD budget, Carter praised Congress for passing a budget deal last December that gave the department much-need stability. Having that said that, Carter [...]
The FY2017 Department of Defense (DoD) base budget request is $523.9 billion for discretionary budget authority, $2.2 billion more than the amount enacted for FY2016 ($521.7 billion). The budget request also includes $58.8 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), essentially the same amount enacted for FY2016. ($58.6 billion). DoD’s five-year budget plan FYDP) for FY2017 [...]
President Obama will release the FY2017 federal budget to the public and Congress on Tuesday February 9, 2017. This is one week later than the usual date for submission of the budget, which is the first Monday in February. After the FY2017 budget is released senior administration officials will brief the press and begin testifying [...]
Today, the Senate approved the FY2016 Omnibus Appropriations and the “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015,” clearing them for the president's signature. The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) supporting both bill indicating the president would sign the final bill. The House passed each bill separately, but the Senate combined [...]
Unable to complete action on a FY2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill before the current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires today, Congress passed a short-term CR until Wednesday, December 16. The Senate passed the CR on Thursday by voice vote and the House approved the bill today by a voice vote. The White House has said the president [...]
When Congress returned in September after the summer recess it faced an exhaustive list of legislative actions before adjourning in December: FY2016 appropriations; Iran nuclear deal; FY2016 Defense Authorization bill; Highway and Transit reauthorization; Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization; Export-Import Bank reauthorization; expiring tax credits reauthorization; and increasing the debt ceiling. Although this Congress has [...]
President Obama signed the FY2016 Defense Authorization bill (S.1356) last week ending a standoff with Congress over spending caps, at least for now. The president had vetoed the bill agreed to by the House and Senate in October because it included $38 billion of base budget requirements in funding for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). The [...]
This week the Senate passed the FY2016 Military Construction(MilCon)/Veterans Affairs appropriations bill by a vote of 93-0. The House passed its version of the bill in April. The bill provides $80 billion for FY2016 MilCon/VA discretionary appropriations, over $2 billion more than the bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee in May and $1 billion higher [...]
Today the House passed by a wide margin (370-58) a revised FY2016 National Defense Authorization bill that meets the parameters set out in the budget agreement. The revised bill aligns FY2016 defense funding with the agreement by adjusting the total DoD amount downward by $5 billion. The new bill provides almost $607 billion including about [...]