05 Dec 14. Statement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the death of Luke Somers. Yesterday, by order of the President of the United States, U.S. Special Operations Forces conducted a mission in Yemen to rescue a U.S. citizen, Luke Somers, and any other foreign nationals held hostage with him by Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorists. There were compelling reasons to believe Mr. Somers’ life was in imminent danger. Both Mr. Somers and a second non-U.S. citizen hostage were murdered by the AQAP terrorists during the course of the operation. On behalf of the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, I extend our condolences, thoughts, and prayers to their families and loved ones. Several of the AQAP terrorists holding the hostages captive were killed in the mission. The rescue attempt took place in central Yemen and was conducted in partnership with the Government of Yemen. I thank President Hadi, the Yemeni government, and Yemen security forces for their assistance and cooperation. Yesterday’s mission is a reminder of America’s unrelenting commitment to the safety of our fellow citizens – wherever they might be around the world. I commend the troops who undertook this dangerous mission. Their service and valor are an inspiration to all of us. (Source: US DoD)
05 Dec 14. Fiscal 2016 Base Budget Request Will Be $36bn Over Spending Caps. The White House is developing a fiscal 2016 defense budget that would align with its long-planned $535bn top line, ensuring that the administration would ignore the congressionally mandated budget caps put in place in 2011, according to a source with knowledge of the deliberations. Administration officials for months have said that the defense budget request would act as though the $499 bn cap that the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) put in place had never happened. The 2016 request, therefore, would be $36bn higher than the cap. This week, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) gave the Defense Department its “passback” budget guidance, which contained the higher base budget number, the source said. The next round of passbacks is expected to happen around Dec. 19. And it’s not only the administration that is looking for more money. The Joint Chiefs of Staff — arguing that they cannot enforce the current national security strategy with the assets they have been provided — have requested an additional $32bn in funding requests in the future years defense plan (FYDP), which covers 2017-2020. The administration had already said that it wants $115bn more than the BCA allows between 2016 and 2019. So these two requests would add $147bn to defense budgets over the span of those years above what is allowed by law. But in real, immediate terms, the $535bn request “is the number that really matters,” said Todd Harrison, a budget analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “All of the future year projection is kind of pie in the sky and getting to the point where it’s not even going to be the Obama administration that executes those budgets. So they can promise them that money in the out years but they won’t be around to deliver on it.” Since the Murray-Ryan budget deal of December 2013, which eased budget caps for the 2014 and 2015 budgets, all eyes have been on the fiscal 2016 proposal, since that was supposedly to reflect the return to full sequestration. The Obama administration will build the fiscal 2017 budget and begin putting together the 2018 request, but both of those budgets will be enacted by the next administration. Harrison was also skeptical that the Pentagon would get that full $535bn, since it is $36bn above the BCA cap. Still, asked on Dec. 4 if the $147bn above the spending caps is something he might support, Sen. John McCain, the incoming head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said “I think given the threats we face that’s not an over-estimate. But we need much more careful scrutiny over these cost overruns.” McCain added that “the