House Republican “budget hawks” are about the hit a pretty solid wall—Rep. Huncan Hunter (R-Calif.). They are proposing a wide-ranging two percent cut in so-called “discretionary spending” in order to free up federal funds for hurricane relief. (The term “discretionary,” in Congressional parlance, means everything except entitlements and interest on the debt. The biggest part of it is the Pentagon budget) Hunter, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, takes a dim view of this proposal because it would impose an unduly harsh cut on defense. “At a time of war, we would fight anything that would diminish the resources of the warfighter,” a Hunter aide told The Hill, a Washington newspaper used as a kind of bulletin board for Congressional political messages. Hunter is joined in his opposition by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, so the intended message is loud and clear.
A massive contract to manage thousands of PCS moves failed because U.S. Transportation Command did not adequately oversee the results, according to the Government Accountability Office.
