A total of 141 Republican members of the House signed a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) Tuesday urging him to “bring a measure to the House floor that repeals sequestration for national defense.” The letter originated from the office of Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), who said, “the sequestration of national defense is a senseless budget tactic that continues to threaten the readiness of our military and our national security,” according to a press release. The letter says sequestration “greatly diminishes our ability to defend our global position” and calls on Congress to “take immediate action to reverse this harmful trend.” US military leaders have called again and again for Congress to lift the spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011, but Democrats have long refused to do so for defense spending without also increasing non-defense discretionary spending proportionally.
The Air Force kicked off one of its biggest exercises this week with the latest edition of Bamboo Eagle, featuring combined virtual and live training scenarios focused on test the command-and-control “nervous system” leaders need to operate on a complex joint battlefield spread over vast distances.
