The White House will delay the release of the Fiscal 2012 budget by at least one week until the week of Feb. 14. USA Today reports that the delay likely is the result of two factors: Congress’ inability to finalize the Fiscal 2011 budget and the six-week hold-up in confirming Jacob Lew as Office of Management and Budget director. The 111th Congress was unable to pass Fiscal 2011 appropriations bills for the individual federal agencies. Instead, the government, including the Pentagon, is running on a stopgap spending measure that runs through March 4. As for Lew, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) held up his confirmation because of objections to a White House moratorium on offshore oil drilling. The Defense Department requested $549 billion in Fiscal 2011, not including war funding, and last year said it planned to request $566 billion for Fiscal 2012, reports Reuters.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.