President Obama will release the FY2013 federal budget to the public and the Congress on Monday, February 13, 2012. Each year the budget is to be submitted on the first Monday in February. But, this year the president delayed the submission by one week. OMB cited the need for more time to make final budget decisions and technical details as the reason for the delay.
The president’s FY2013 budget request is expected to match the total discretionary funding level ($1.05 trillion) called for in the Budget Control Act of 2011. Some details of the request have already been discussed in public by administration leaders. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta recently announced that the FY2013 DoD budget request would be $528 billion, down $22 billion from the enacted $531 billion for FY2012. The president’s FY2013 request is also expected include a .5 percent federal civilian pay raise.
After the FY2013 budget is released, senior administration civilian and military officials will brief the press and begin testifying before the congressional oversight committees. Acting Director of Management and Budget Jeffrey Zients will hold a press conference on the budget on Monday, as will Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and other agency heads.
Zients is scheduled to testify on the budget before the Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday, February 14. Secretary Panetta and General Paul Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on Tuesday, February 14 and the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on Wednesday, February 15. The Military Service Secretaries and Military Chiefs of Staff will begin testifying on their respective components of the DoD budget in March.
Next week, Highlights will include a brief overview of the FY2012 DoD budget request and identify links to official statements and available budget material.
