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.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed to undertake far-reaching reforms on the way the U.S. military buys weapons, promising a sweeping overhaul of the way the Defense Department determines requirements, handles the acquisition process, and tests its kit. The fundamental goal, which Hegseth underscored in a 1-hour and 10-minute speech…
