Carter: Congress Must Address “Irrational” Sequester

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Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter this week urged Congress to prevent the Budget Control Act’s sequestration mechanism from kicking in, which will occur on January 1 and impose additional significant spending cuts on the Pentagon unless something is done beforehand. “Sequester was supposed to be the trigger, a trigger so irrational that the prospect of it would drive and force the leadership to do what was needed”—put together a federal budget package which could win wide support, Carter told attendees of his American Enterprise Institute-hosted talk in Washington, D.C., on May 30. He called sequester an “awful prospect.” He also reiterated that the Defense Department is taking a “strategy-driven” approach to transition from an era dominated by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a far more complicated environment. “Every dollar [DOD] spends on old and unnecessary programs is a dollar we lose from new, necessary strategic investments,” stressed Carter. (Carter transcript)

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org