WASHINGTON — Lawmakers will unofficially begin their annual defense budget work this week with a pair of hearings on military readiness with top officials from each of the four military services.
On Tuesday before the House Armed Services Committee and on Wednesday before their Senate counterparts, the service vice chiefs — Army Gen. Daniel Allyn, Navy Adm. William Moran, Marine Corps Gen. Glenn Walters and Air Force Gen. Stephen Wilson — will testify on the state of the military and the challenges they see looming in the months and years ahead.
Defense officials are expected to deliver their budget request for the second half of fiscal 2017 in March, and for fiscal 2018 in May. But many lawmakers will use these first military overview hearings to start outlining goals for that spending, and arguing for their priorities.
Also this week, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee is expected to vote Tuesday to advance the nomination of Dr. David Shulkin to serve as the next VA Secretary. That meeting will likely occur off the Senate floor, outside of the regular public hearing format. The full Senate could vote on his confirmation by the end of the week.
Tuesday
Senate Armed Services — 9:30 a.m. — Visitors’ Center 217
Closed briefing
Members will receive a classified briefing on cyber threats from administration officials.
House Armed Services — 10 a.m. — Rayburn 2118
Military readiness
The vice chiefs of the four military services will testify before the committee on the current readiness of U.S. forces and how that affects U.S. strategy.
House Veterans’ Affairs — 10 a.m. — Cannon 334
VA information technology
Department officials will testify before the committee on progress made in updating VA IT systems and work still to be done.
Senate Foreign Relations — 10 a.m. — Dirksen 419
ISIS
Outside experts will testify before the committee on U.S. strategy to defeat the Islamic State group and challenges ahead.
House Homeland Security — 10 a.m. — Visitors’ Center 210
Border Security
Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly will testify before the committee on gaps in security at the U.S. southern border and their impact on local law enforcement.
House Foreign Affairs — 10 a.m. — Rayburn 2172
North Korea
The committee will hear from outside experts on threats posed by the leadership of North Korea and new strategic approaches for the White House.
Wednesday
Senate Armed Services — 2:30 p.m. — Russell 232A
Military readiness
The vice chiefs of the four military services will testify before the committee on the current readiness of U.S. forces and how that affects U.S. strategy.
Thursday
Senate Armed Services — 9:30 a.m. — Dirksen G50
Afghanistan
Gen. John Nicholson Jr., commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, will testify before the committee on current security and training challenges in that country.
Senate Foreign Relations — 10 a.m. — Dirksen 419
Russia
Former NATO commander retired Gen. Phillip Breedlove and other outside experts will testify before the committee on U.S. relations with Russia and security challenges in the near future.
Senate Homeland Security — 10 a.m. — Dirksen 342
Federal workforce
Union officials and outside experts, including former Air Force Assistant Deputy Chief Manpower Robert Corsi Jr., will testify on challenges that federal managers face in reforming their agency’s workforce.
Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be reached at lshane@militarytimes.com.
This week in Congress: Military readiness hearings preview budget fights
