Defense budget being hammered out in relative quiet as outside scandals flare

Posted by John Keller

THE MIL & AERO BLOG, 28 May 2013. Heard much about defense spending over the past couple of weeks? Yeah, me neither.

There's so much going on in the Washington Swamp that defense spending -- and about everything else of substance, for that matter -- is taking a back seat.

There are far more questions than answers about why U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens was killed in a terrorist siege last September in Benghazi, Libya, with apparently no U.S. military intervention.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reportedly is harassing conservative political groups asking for tax-exempt status, while giving political groups on the left a free pass.

Now it appears the U.S. Department of Justice and its Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) may be spying on newspaper and TV reporters who are asking hard questions about President Barack Obama and his administration.

It's more than enough to toss the fate of hundreds of billions of dollars in proposed government spending off the front pages, most likely for the rest of the summer and perhaps into the fall, as Congress and the Obama Administration level accusations, launch investigations, and make as much political hay as possible out of this latest wave of chaos.

Related stories -- The defense budget is here: time to get to work -- Military spending for communications and electronics down one-fourth over two years -- Presidential election will not stave-off declines in U.S. defense spending, executives say at Farnborough.

This couldn't come at a worse time for a U.S. defense industry that is trying to find its feet after months of sequestration-induced uncertainty. What the industry needs now is a calm, clear, open discussion in Congress about defense priorities, so that industry leaders have solid information they can use to plan ahead.

This isn't likely to happen, however, as defense spending as an issue gets drowned out amid shrieks of points, counter-points, scandals, and partisan wrangling.

While this sounds bad on the surface, things actually might turn out better than we think. It's an old maxim that the best way to do REAL business is quietly, and nowhere is this more true than in Washington.

Congress and the U.S. Department of Defense actually might do well if they can negotiate next year's spending levels outside of the media glare. Politicians like to operate under the radar -- particularly if they have politically sensitive issues to hammer out -- and this just might be the time.

We'll have to keep a close eye, however, because you never know what can happen in Washington when backs are turned.