Boehner Looks To Obama To Help Curb Sequester

Following the collapse of super committee negotiations, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is looking to the Commander-in-Chief to help curb automatic cuts in military spending. 

Though President Obama has already threatened to veto any bill that aims to soften the impact the nation’s defense budget, Boehner continued Thursday to push for curbed sequestration, citing repeated warnings from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta over the detrimental effects cuts would have on the Pentagon. 

“I really believe the president has some responsibilities here as well,” Boehner told reporters. “He is the Commander-in-Chief, he knows what those cuts will mean to the military.”

Boehner, who agreed to the across-the-board cuts when negotiating with Obama on increasing the debt ceiling, is facing growing pressure from his own conference to curb defense cuts. 

“There are a lot of members who are concerned about the defense cuts,” he said. “I understand the concern, but the president is the Commander-in-Chief… I believe there’s a role he plays in this process as well.”

Bipartisan Bill Would Hasten Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Considering President Obama’s call to bring all troops from Iraq home for the holidays, a bipartisan group of senators is now calling for an expedited troop drawdown in Afghanistan as well.

Earlier in the year, Preside Obama announced that all troops currently deployed in Iraq would return home before the new year. The president also set a similar withdrawal plan for Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Now, Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are amending the Defense Authorization bill with a measure requiring Obama to expedite the transition in Afghanistan.

“It is time to have a clear missive from the President on how he plans to end our presence in Afghanistan,” Paul said. “We cannot continue endless nation-building efforts overseas while here at home we face expounding national debt, crumbling infrastructure and out-of-control spending in Washington.”

The effort to amend the major defense authorization bill will likely face an uphill battle considering the intensified debate over a controversial detainee provision.

The debate over the Defense Authorization bill has escalated within the Senate Armed Services Committee over language that would place future terror suspects into the custody of the United States military, something both the Pentagon and some Democrats have opposed. Despite the support the detainee provision has from Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the White House has since released a statement threatening to veto the bill as it stands.

The Administration’s threat to veto the bill puts a damper on the efforts put forth by this bipartisan group of senators. According to a statement released by the senators, American military presence in Afghanistan costs nearly $10 billion per month, an amount of money they argue is unacceptable at a time domestic economic turmoil.

“With the death of Osama Bin Laden, we have now accomplished [our] goals. It is time to end our presence in Afghanistan and refocus our attention on fighting terrorists wherever they may be,” said Merkley.  “At a time of high unemployment, a wave of foreclosures and growing debt, we need to  concentrate on nation-building here at home.”

The resolution put forth would call on Obama to expedite the transition of military responsibility to Afghanistan and would provide the Commander-in-Chief with 90 days to present a new timeframe and expected completion date for an accelerated troop withdrawal. Considering the hot water the Defense Authorization bill is simmering in with the White House’s veto threat, it’s unclear whether such a measure has much life.

Gibbs: White House May Contact Florida Pastor

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today that the administration is discussing the possibility of directly engaging a pastor in Florida over his plan to burn hundreds of copies of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of 9/11.

During his daily briefing on Thursday, Gibbs would not label the proposed event as a hate crime, but channeled remarks made this morning by President Obama, who warned that it could serve as a boon for terrorist recruitment efforts.

“There is no doubt…that this is a hateful act,” Gibbs said. He called the instigator behind the proposal, pastor Terry Jones, a “desperate man seeking the attention of the better part of the world.”

Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters today that Jones could very well expect to hear from the administration.

“That possibility is currently under discussion,” he said. “That is an active ongoing discussion in which [Defense Secretary Robert Gates] is a participant. I don’t believe they’ve come to any resolution.”

Jones said in an interview with USA Today that he has not yet been contacted by any official in Washington, but that he would listen in the event things changed.

“That would cause us to definitely think it over,” he said. “I don’t think a call from them is something we would ignore.”

Meanwhile, Jones did meet with a handful of FBI agents today about the proposed event. The pastor is expected to make a statement about that meeting later today.

OPINION: The Case For Keeping Gates

With the intention behind the administration’s drawdown date for Afghanistan becoming increasingly hard to pin down, it’s not unreasonable to theorize that the U.S. could have a significant stake in the nation for the remainder of Obama’s presidency. Bearing this in mind, it would be wise to keep the waters as calm as possible. Getting a new defense secretary will not do this.

Robert Gates is the perfect secretary for the perfect time, simply because of the lack of passion he generates. As the most prominent Republican in Obama’s cabinet, he’s not under any particular scrutiny from those on the right hoping to win political points. Democrats, who still harbor fresh memories of the clown who preceded him, are also generally accepting of the Bush appointee. As a result, Gates is free to oversee the country’s two wars and spearhead massive reform efforts, all with a minimum of partisan white noise.

Read more at the Daily Caller.

Pentagon Demands Return Of Leaked Documents

The Pentagon has demanded WikiLeaks to return the more than 90,000 documents obtained by the whistle-blower website, and to expunge copies of the files from their webpage and records.

“These documents are the property of the U.S. government,” Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell said during a briefing Thursday. “The only acceptable course is for WikiLeaks to take steps immediately to return all versions of all of these documents.”

While Morrell did not elaborate on the legal authority behind the request, he said that the Department is essentially asking WikiLeaks to “do the right thing” and warned that specific binding steps to ensure the return of the documents could follow.

Last month, WikiLeaks published 75,000 classified documents, a portion of which identified Afghan informants and revealed other sensitive information, on their website.

The site is withholding an additional 15,000, and claims to have asked the Pentagon for assistance in redacting data that could harm individuals. However, Morrell reasserted Thursday that the Pentagon has not yet received a direct request from the site, nor would it be particularly inclined to cooperate.

“We’re not looking to have a conversation about harm-minimization,” Morrell said. “We’re looking to have a conversation about how to get these perilous documents off the website as soon as possible.”