Republicans eye Pentagon savings after McCarthy spending agreement
By Bryant Harris and Leo Shane III
Thursday, Jan 12
WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders say they won’t cut tens of billions of dollars from future defense budgets as part of plans to constrain government spending. But that doesn’t mean all military budget trims are off the table.
At issue are $130 billion in spending reductions that Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., agreed to last week in order to muster the votes he needed to become House speaker. The rightmost flank of his caucus agreed to allow him to take the leadership post after a protracted 15-vote battle.
McCarthy showed the Republican conference a slideshow Tuesday that reiterated his vow to cap discretionary spending levels for next year to fiscal 2022 levels, though a slide specifically singled out “non-defense discretionary spending.”
Immediately after, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters that Republicans “haven’t talked about reducing defense spending.”
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/budget/2023/01/12/republicans-eye-pentagon-savings-after-mccarthy-spending-agreement/
