The Department of Defense has enjoyed significantly more influence over the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget formulation, U.S. Strategic Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday. Congress last year began requiring the Nuclear Weapons Council to certify the NNSA’s budget, urging it to take an active role in shaping and reviewing the agency’s budget, which has received a boost in recent years from budget authority transferred from the Pentagon. “It isn’t perfect, but I think that, over the last year in particular, there’s been a dramatic change in the working relationship between the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, and NNSA in particular, over visibility in the budget and over influence in shaping that budget,” Kehler said in response to questions from Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), adding: “I think we’re learning a lot about how we can get better at this as we go forward. I think there’s more to do. But I have seen a tremendous change in the way we go about working together through the Nuclear Weapons Council, and I think it’s a tremendous positive change.”
Sessions suggested that DoD had not yet certified NNSA’s FY 2014 budget, hinting at a possible disagreement over priorities. “They must have some concerns about it,” Sessions said. “But it is at the [White House Office of Management and Budget] level already and going forward. So I do think it’s healthy that the Defense Department have real input into the production of the budget for nuclear weapons.”
Kehler was also quizzed by Republicans at the hearing about the potential for future reductions to the nation’s nuclear stockpile, and he did not close the door on any potential cuts. He said any possible cuts should come as part of bilateral reductions with Russia, and not through any unilateral cuts on the part of the United States. “The formula for success has been that we have done this with the Russians, and I think that’s the formula for continued success,” he said. “And I believe that, certainly, Secretary Panetta was very public about that. I’ve seen some correspondence from Secretary Hagel where he has agreed with that. The president mentioned in his State of the Union address that he wanted to work with the Russians. I think that’s a consistent theme that we’ve seen across the board.” He also noted that the impacts of sequestration could begin to take a toll on the nation’s nuclear deterrent in the coming months. “While the immediate impact will vary by command, overall in STRATCOM, the effect is a bit like an avalanche: Seemingly small initial impacts are going to grow,” he said. “As time passes, we will see greater impacts and potential impacts to things like the nuclear deterrent to Global Strike, to missile warning and missile defense, to situational awareness in both space and cyberspace, and to our support for war fighters around the globe.”
