Panetta Meets Warm Welcome In Senate

The Senate Armed Services Committee welcomed CIA Director Leon Panetta with open arms Thursday, increasing the likelihood for his confirmation as Secretary of Defense.

The questions Panetta faced covered a wide array of issues ranging from an impending troop drawdown in Afghanistan, the ongoing struggle in Libya for strongman Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster and the future of the Defense Department’s budget. 

President Obama’s plan to cut defense spending by $400 billion over the next ten years was an issue pressed by Committee Chairman Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) when he told the prospective Pentagon honcho that the Defense Depratment would not escape the wrath of Congress’ budget cuts.

“The Defense budget will not, and should not, be exempt from cuts,” Levin said. “But, this will require Congress, working with the next Secretary of Defense, to scrub every program and expenditure in the Defense budget and to make tough choices and trade-offs.”

Panetta, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget, continually assured the committee that such cuts would not harm the capability of the American military.  

“We must be disciplined in how we spend taxpayer resources [and] I do not believe that we have to choose between strong fiscal discipline and strong national defense,” Panetta said. “The days of unlimited growth in defense budgets are over.”

With regard to managing the depart budgment’s budget, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) suggested to Panetta reworking contracts used to buy weapons systems so that contractors would be required to share the cost of budget over-runs after the department fronts contracts’ base price. Panetta agreed with Graham that such a plan could save money and cut down on delays in delivery.

Panetta dodged questions regarding this summer’s troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“I’m going to leave it up to Secretary Gates and General [David] Petraeus and the president on what it should be,” Panetta said. “That decision really does rest with Secretary Gates and General Petraeus and the president.”

In Libya, Panetta’s suggestion was clear; keep pushing.

“Frankly, I think there are gains that have been made,” Panetta said. “If we continue the pressure, if we stick with it, I think ultimately Gaddafi will step down.”