Pay and Benes commission to release recs this week

For those of you watching opay and benes developments, there will be some news this week. This from POLITICO today:

DRIVING THE WEEK - PAY AND BENEFITS COMMISSION TO RELEASE ITS LONG-AWAITED RECOMMENDATIONS: The independent commission created more than two years ago by Congress to come up with recommendations for overhauling military pay and benefits will release its findings Thursday afternoon, setting the stage for what could be the biggest defense policy fight of the year. Commission member Dov Zakheim said any proposed changes to pension plans for retired military personnel will grandfather current service members, only affecting those who join the military after a certain date. He declined to discuss other details, noting the commission was trying to prevent media leaks. "It's going to be very comprehensive," he told Morning D.

- BUT WILL CONGRESS ACT ON THE COMMISSION'S FINDINGS? POLITICO's Jeremy Herb writes there's major skepticism Congress will do anything: "For two years, members of both parties in the House and Senate - particularly those on the Armed Services committees - have repeatedly said they wanted to wait for the congressionally mandated commission to complete its report before making cuts to rising military personnel costs. But defense analysts and even some lawmakers are concerned that the commission won't change Congress' tune of protecting pay and benefits."

Says Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments: "The politics of this hasn't really changed, and what Congress has been doing is going out of their way to avoid dealing with this issue because they fear the backlash of the veterans' lobby."