@Maj. Bill Martin
Same sort of deal,but even easier to solve. Like the Admirals he serves at the pleasure of the president,but unlike the Admirals,the President can fire the Sec of the Navy by picking up his phone and saying "I want your resignation on my desk by the end of the business day",and it's a done deal. With the Admirals there is a bureaucracy to go through,and Congress can have a hissy-fit.
@sneakypete You're right -- if Obama wanted to fire him, he could/would.
This is kind of a weird issue, though. First, we're not talking about actual
spending -- that's determined by appropriations. This is about the
budget
, which is really just kind of advisory. It has nothing to do with the Navy's ability to spend actual funds, so Mabus can't just spend more just because he refused to submit a budget.
Second, while I absolutely despise Mabus generally, his argument here isn't...terrible. He's being asked to come up with a budget that takes a huge knife to acquisitions, when everyone knows damn well the new Administration won't do that. He wants to come up with something more realistic, because as soon as the budget is finalized, that may have negative effects on pricing of some things the Navy is already committed to purchasing. As the number of units to be purchased drops, the cost per unit increases.
