{"id":32972,"date":"2021-02-11T21:22:36","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T21:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/02\/11\/how-republicans-might-accept-a-smaller-defense-budget\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:36:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:36:28","slug":"how-republicans-might-accept-a-smaller-defense-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/02\/11\/how-republicans-might-accept-a-smaller-defense-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"How Republicans might accept a smaller defense budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert is willing to meet Democratic lawmakers partway in their reported plans to trim the defense budget: cut back on civilian employees<\/a>, not equipment and modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike everything else in government, personnel is your biggest cost, and the civilian-to-uniform ratio … is at an all-time high,\u201d Calvert, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee\u2019s defense subpanel, said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cOur inability to correct that trend is eating away at our military, our procurement, our readiness, all the above, and so we need to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Joe Biden is expected to release his federal budget plan in April, but battle lines are being drawn on Capitol Hill ahead of what is expected to be a tighter military budget than in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some key Republicans want to protect the military budget increases that came under then-President Donald Trump, or even build upon them, Calvert said he is open to \u201cresponsible reductions.\u201d He is offering civilian cuts as an alternative to cutting end strength and weapons platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRather than reducing [personnel in] uniforms \u2015 and I think there\u2019s some talk about doing that, especially in the Army \u2015 we need to look at the civilian workforce, which is at the highest ratio to uniformed service members than it has ever been,\u201d Calvert said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to cut defense, are you going to cut procurement? People are arguing we need to build the Columbia-class submarine and Virginia-class submarine \u2015 and I agree \u2015 that we [keep the] Space Force, and [that] our satellite program is woefully behind \u2015 and I agree. Where do you make your reductions when your overwhelming cost is personnel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Calvert\u2019s bill, the Rebalance for an Effective Defense Uniform and Civilian Employees Act, or Reduce Act, a 15 percent cut to the civilian workforce overall and a cap for the Defense Department\u2019s Senior Executive Service at 1,000 employees would have to be in place by fiscal 2025 and remain through 2029. The defense secretary would be empowered to use voluntary-separation and early-retirement incentives toward the reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation, which has been introduced several times before, was inspired by a 2015 study by the Defense Business Board<\/a> that illustrated how the Department of Defense could save $125 billion over five years by slashing overhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the proposal to cut civilians would face new optics this year. As civilian voices were muted in favor of uniformed leaders under the Trump administration, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a former general, committed<\/a> under bipartisan pressure to \u201crebalance\u201d Pentagon decision- and policy-making in favor of civilian leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also a different tact than that of the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s new top Republican, Rep. Mike Rogers<\/a>, who plans to guard against cuts and would prefer a 3-5 percent increase in defense spending \u2015 which Pentagon leaders say is required to carry out the 2018 National Defense Strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s still early in the budgeting cycle, and the two may align. But in meantime, Calvert\u2019s approach offers something to fiscal conservatives, and it tracks with past efforts<\/a> from Rogers\u2019 predecessor, former Rep. Mac Thornberry<\/a>, R-Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if Republicans can fend off a top-line cut or win an adjustment for inflation to keep shipbuilding and aircraft procurement on track, Calvert said he supports cutting the Defense Department\u2019s civilian workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, I hope Mike\u2019s right. I mean, he is a good friend, but I think he\u2019s a realist too,\u201d Calvert said. \u201cI worked with his predecessor on procurement reform, I\u2019m trying to do some personnel reform, and we need those reforms on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chairman Ken Calvert, R-Calif., speaks as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, center, testifies on the FY2019 budget during a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, April 11, 2018 in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For their part, Democrats swiftly rejected Calvert\u2019s legislation, making it one of the first skirmishes of the annual battle over the defense budget. The defense subpanel\u2019s new chairwoman, Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said she discussed the matter with Calvert and disagrees with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis proposal could lead to some of the most talented and committed DOD public servants losing their jobs,\u201d McCollum said in a statement. \u201cWhile we agree there is excess defense spending, my focus is on making smart investments that yield demonstrable outcomes by cutting waste and ending subsidies for outdated and unnecessary programs and facilities. In my view, the existing Department of Defense civilian workforce is mission critical to ensuring our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Federation of Government Employees has historically opposed the bill<\/a>, and a spokesman said funding and defense policy legislation passed last year prohibit civilian workforce cuts \u201cwithout regard to impacts on readiness, lethality, military force structure, stress of the force, operational effectiveness and fully burdened costs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 768,000 federal employees working across all Defense Department components, the proposed cut amounts to 100,000 employees. Between 2015 and 2019, an average of just under 82,000 employees left DoD jobs each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calvert contends his 15 percent cut could be accomplished through attrition, not firings, and target \u201cgrowth in middle management,\u201d not the supply depots scattered around the country that have political backing. Previous cuts of civilian personnel have fueled increases in contracting costs \u2015 and Calvert said he is open to cutting those too, in partnership with McCollum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere would be discretion on the part of the people running the Pentagon; there are people you don\u2019t want to lose, they\u2019re in a special category, I get it,\u201d Calvert said. \u201cThere are probably a lot of people you wouldn\u2019t miss, people up for retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats are more apt to take on nuclear modernization, which is projected to cost the Pentagon more than $240 billion in taxpayer dollars through 2028. In the balance is the contract for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, awarded<\/a> to Northrop Grumman<\/a> last year, to replace aging, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico reports<\/a> that progressive lawmakers and disarmament advocates are lobbying allies in the Biden administration for a pause in the GBSD program, while the Air Force and its allies in Congress, think tanks, and defense contractors are sharpening their arguments to preserve the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calvert acknowledged criticism of nuclear spending from House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., but said big cuts to the nuclear triad lack the backing to succeed. (The panel rejected<\/a> a funding cut for GBSD last year.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know Adam has been critical of that, but there\u2019s absolute support for redundancy of the deterrent within the Republican ranks, and so I don\u2019t see that going away. What I\u2019m hearing so far out of the administration is that they feel the same way, so I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Calvert said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks have voiced support<\/a> for nuclear modernization broadly but stopped short of pledging to uphold the current nuclear modernization strategy in its entirety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear modernization cutbacks would \u201cweaken the United States,\u201d Calvert argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just thinking about Russia; we\u2019ve got China, who\u2019s rapidly militarizing space, and their missile capability is improving. Obviously we\u2019ve got countries like North Korea or Iran that are building their own missile capability, so we have to have a strong deterrent to make sure we are ready for any contingency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessie Bur of Federal Times and Leo Shane III of Military Times contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican Rep. 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