'We lied to the American people.' Congress laments failur | MilitaryTimes

TITLE: 'We lied to the American people.' Congress laments failure to fix the military's budget mess
None of the four service chiefs testifying on Capitol Hill Thursday would answer the question, but they all paused uncomfortably before senators in the hearing laughed it off:

“Are Congress and the president the biggest threats to the military today?”

The idea, posed by Air Force Reserve veteran Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., stemmed from the ongoing fight over planned budget caps for federal spending for years to come.

“Is any (enemy) going to ground more planes in the next few years?” he asked the somewhat stunned panel of Pentagon leaders. “How many ships is Congress going to sink?”

Despite five years of complaints and dire warnings over the long-term effects of the so-called sequestration restrictions, Congress and the White House have no realistic plans to fix the final five years of spending restrictions.

Thursday’s hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee was the latest in a periodic parade of military officials before the panel to warn that the budget caps are already harming long-term defense planning and potentially jeopardizing national security.
This time, all four service chiefs repeated past concerns that they will not be able to quickly defeat a foreign adversary if the funding issues stay in place.

“If we get into one of those conflicts, we’ll win, but it will take longer and cost more, in terms of money and casualties,” said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. “So there is risk.”

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said the lower-than-desired defense spending has forced his service to choose immediate readiness over future preparedness. He said end strength will drop below acceptable levels in years to come, training and equipment is already showing signs of shortfalls, and concern is high in the ranks.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said without a fix, “we cannot rebuild and recapitalize our readiness.” Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein said immediate budget patches create compounding problems.

“As aircraft age over time, they become more expensive to fly,” he said. “Then you shift dollars to sustainments from other accounts … it becomes dangerous.”

Committee chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the officers’ warnings should serve as a wake up call for Congress.

“We lied to the American people. The Budget Control Act and sequestration have done nothing to fix our national debt,” he said. “This is just math. And what’s worse, the people we have punished for our failure are none other than the men and women of our armed services, and many other important agencies.”

But Republicans and Democrats remain stuck on the basics of finding a long-term compromise. GOP leaders have pushed for increases in defense spending alone, while Democrats on Capitol Hill have insisted on a full repeal of the budget caps on both military and non-military spending.

The fiscal 2016 budget -- which included temporary relief from the budget caps -- runs out at the end of the month. Lawmakers aren’t close to finalizing the fiscal 2017 defense budget, and are expected to pass a continuing resolution to keep government operations active through the November elections.

The four service chiefs said that’s better than a federal shut down, but means another fiscal year of uncertainty and delayed budget planning. And they said that if a full budget isn’t passed until the next session of Congress in 2017 -- as has been discussed by a number of lawmakers -- they’ll have even more planning problems than ever.

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