The House Armed Services Committee plans to spend more time analyzing U.S. strategic forces as debate about the Pentagon’s jam-packed nuclear modernization portfolio are brimming over the Strategic Forces Subcommittee level into full committee discussions, HASC Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) told reporters yesterday. “I am concerned about the nuclear triad…about all of these systems aging out at the same time—not just the delivery systems, but also the weapons themselves—and so under any budget environment, that’s going to be a challenge,” Thornberry told reporters yesterday. “The lower the budget, then the bigger the challenge it is going to be, and I think we have grown somewhat complacent about the nuclear deterrent that is really the foundation for the rest of our defense efforts.”
The Defense Department has asked for $534 billion in discretionary spending for Fiscal Year 2016, about $35 billion above DoD’s Budget Control Act (BCA) spending cap. The Senate and House budget committees are expected to release budget markups for FY 2016 this week. Thornberry said he hasn’t considered possible BCA-enacted FY 2016 defense authorization cuts, as he awaits the finalization of the budget resolution. Thornberry cited DoD’s Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account as a possible funding source for DoD programs as global stability teeters. “OCO is a potential source,” he said. “Because of the cuts we’ve made under sequestration so far, we haven’t been keeping up with maintenance, with the training that’s required, much less the modernization that’s needed. So some way, we’re going to have to figure out how to move forward in a way that defends this country.” President Obama requested for FY 2016 $51 billion in OCO funding, which is not subject to BCA discretionary caps.
