Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
7/10/2015
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Chair of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, during a speech Wednesday on Capitol Hill said he is “confident” that Congress will support nuclear modernization even if it crowds out other planned defense investments. “Our recent HASC hearing made clear that DoD will fund the nuclear modernization programs everyone here knows we need,” Rogers said during a Peter Huessy Congressional Breakfast, referencing a June 25 full HASC hearing. “I am confident Congress will support it. Spending 6 to 7 percent of our defense budget on our highest priority defense mission is an obvious ‘yes’ vote….As the Deputy [Defense Secretary Bob Work] and Vice [Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. James Winnefeld] made clear two weeks ago: Nuclear deterrence is our highest priority and will be funded, even if it comes at the expense of other capabilities.”
‘Best Way to Fund’ Modernization
Rogers added that the best way to fund those programs would be to lift the Budget Control Act spending caps, and he accused the Obama Administration and House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of holding the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 “hostage” through veto threats. Rogers also expressed doubts that Obama would agree to lift the budget caps and called out Senate Democrats for blocking negotiations on the FY 2016 defense spending bill. “[Obama and Pelosi] are threatening to veto a Defense Authorization Act that fully funds the President’s Budget Request, simply because it doesn’t also fully fund his budget requests for the EPA and IRS,” Rogers said. “In fact, in the Senate, Harry Reid and his party are filibustering the defense appropriations act. So, mark me down as pessimistic that this President will agree to lift the defense caps.” Obama and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter have in recent months threatened to veto the NDAA for FY 2016 mainly because it proposes boosting the BCA-proof Overseas Contingency Operations account over the Administration’s requested level to circumvent the BCA caps.
After returning to The Hill on Tuesday from the Independence Day recess, House lawmakers met for conference on the NDAA for FY 2016, and met with their Senate on Wednesday, Rogers said. They expect to have a “final product” ready for the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget by Friday, he said.
