Lawmakers Move To Prevent Automatic Defense Cuts

By Adrianna McGinley

Leaders on the House Armed Services Committee said they will look for ways to prevent automatic cuts to the nation’s defense budget from taking effect.

The Pentagon could lose roughly $600 billion over the next decade as a result of the congressional ‘super committee’s’ failure to pass a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.3 trillion.

In a statement released late Monday evening, Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said the cuts would cause “catastrophic damage” to national security. “I will not be the armed services chairman who presides over crippling our military,” he vowed. “I will not let these sequestration cuts stand.”

McKeon announced he will soon introduce legislation to stop the cuts from taking place, citing that nearly $500 billion has already been cut from the military budget and saying, “those who have given us so much, have nothing more to give.”

The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), also said that he was disappointed by the panel’s inability to reach a deal.

“Once again we’ve missed the chance to implement a comprehensive plan that balances revenue and spending reform and puts us on the path toward fixing our long-term fiscal and economic problems,” Smith said.

Smith warned that the cuts to defense would not be based on sound policy or strategic review and would, as a result, undermine national security.

“This is no way to defend our nation, and this is no way to run our government,” he said.

Their efforts, however, will be met by resistance from the administration.

“Already some in congress are trying to undo these automatic spending cuts,” President Obama said yesterday evening. “My message to them is simple; ‘no.’ I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts…there will be no easy off-ramps on this one.”