This 4th of July Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who just took over at the Pentagon on Friday, has a lot more on his mind than patriotism and fireworks.
Panetta is already being forced to walk a fine line between those in his party looking for even bigger defense cuts than his predecessor Roberts Gates recommended and critics who worry that too much streamlining will produce a hollow force.
After assuming office on Friday, Panetta issued a statement acknowledging the dual pressures, but argued that imposing fiscal discipline does not mean national security will be compromised in any way.
“Even as the United States addresses fiscal challenges at home, there will be no hollow force on my watch,” Panetta said in a statement released after he was sworn in. “That will require us all to be disciplined in how we manage taxpayer resources.
“Throughout my career in public service … I have focused on achieving that balance,” Panetta said. “I will continue that approach at the Pentagon.”
Fiscal conservatives and budget hawks are already peppering him with detailed questions about his commitment to budget reform.
Taxpayers for Common Sense put out a release Friday questioning his predecessor’s commitment to fiscal restraint.
“Gates leaves behind a reputation as a budget hawk, but that claim proves a bit thin when held up to the light,” the release said.
Although the group praised Gates for waging “hand-to-hand battles” with Congress over the F-22 raptor aircraft and the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine, it pointed out that the Department of Defense’s budget rose by more than 20 percent during Gates’ tenure and is set to continue growing while those of other federal agencies face cuts.
“The $330 billion in savings Gates touts as falling before his budgetary axe are due mostly to weapons already targeted for termination and ‘efficiency’ reforms that aren’t likely to materialize at their projected rate,” TCS wrote in the release titled Panetta’s Proving Ground.
Panetta certainly has the background and “budgetary street cred” to tackle the behemoth defense budget and wrestle some spending cuts to the ground, TCS acknowledged. His service in Congress included a stint as chairman of the Budget Committee and he went on to become director of the Office of Management and Budget before becoming chief of staff to President Clinton when the administration slashed defense spending.
But he also faces a coterie of critics – many of them House GOP members – who worry that his new marching orders are too find deep defense cuts that will weaken the military.
Former Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld voiced the concerns of those on the right in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Friday. He called on Panetta to avoid terminating weapons programs lest he risk hindering future military operations.
“It will be tempting to accede to the White House’s proposal to carve out $400 billion, if not more, from the national security budget by 2023,” Rumsfeld wrote. “It would also be a grievous mistake … The penalty for being ill-prepared tomorrow when the unforeseen occurs — whether another terrorist attack at home or a major crisis abroad — can be measured in American lives lost.”
Instead, Rumsfeld urged Panetta to find savings by slashing Congressional earmarks, continuing to shut-down outmoded Cold War-era bases and reforming the military healthcare.
Panetta on Friday called the argument between budget cuts and weakening national security a “false choice.”
“We must preserve the excellence and superiority of our military while looking for ways to identify savings,” Panetta said. “While tough budget choices will need to be made, I do not believe in the false choice between fiscal discipline and a strong national defense. We will all work together to achieve both.”
