GovernmentExecutive.com

The Pentagon may be considering a plan to trim some funding from military programs to pay for the rising cost of operations in Iraq, according to congressional aides who said a list of potential cuts is being vetted internally, and could be delivered to lawmakers in early May.

Pentagon officials would not confirm the existence of such a list, but noted that a regular mid-term budget review is due to be delivered to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld May 10 that could result in some recommendations to shift existing funding.

Last week, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers that the Pentagon is evaluating whether it needs more money for Iraq before the end of this year.

The Pentagon in its fiscal 2005 budget request did not ask for any money to pay for operations in Iraq, and officials have insisted that the military has ample resources to cover war costs until the White House seeks an estimated $50 billion emergency supplemental appropriation in January.

But last week, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the administration would request a supplemental "if we think one is necessary, when one is necessary." Previously, White House and Pentagon officials had said a request for supplemental funding would not come before the November elections.

"We thought before, with what the services were identifying as shortfalls, that we could bridge the gap for the last month of this fiscal year," Myers told lawmakers. "I think we just have to ensure ourselves that's still true, given the higher expenses we have now."

In the meantime, bipartisan support for a fiscal 2005 supplemental appropriation is growing among lawmakers, who increasingly see a need to fund more troops and equipment in Iraq before the administration's anticipated supplemental budget request early next year.

COMMENTS

• The Administration says it does not know how much the "make believe war" in Iraq will cost, and it did not ask for a dime in the budget to fight it. How can it possibly ask for or know it needs more money for it? The King George idiots are telling lie after lie and we need to vote the bums out of office before they spend a trillion dollars and it is all based on "support for the troops." What a bunch of bums we have running our great country. Lies and flip flops is what Bush has given us to live with and I am tired of it. We need to wise up and realize the Republicans are all complicit in this conspiracy against the country. GovExec.com reader Posted April 28, 2004 7:03 AM
• Here we go again! I may not be a budget expert, but what smacks of irony here is we are cutting the funds for the military when it's the military we are trying to fund! The military is not in Iraq because they are looking for a suitable training arena! It's not as if this is an operation that was devised solely by the Pentagon. We are a tool of the civilian leadership, carrying out their foreign policy. That's like hiring a contractor to build your house and then telling him to use his own funds! There is way too much fat in the Federal budget. A lot of wasteful meaningless programs spend millions each year. It seems we have comissions studying whether or not a comission is needed...each one with a million dollar expense account. We have government grants going to studies that reveal that it is unhealthy to play in the middle of a freeway! Let's set priorities instead of automatically going to the military budget everytime there is a need to fund a foreign policy situation. When we've trimmed the military budget down for Iraq are we going to Social Security next? MH Posted April 27, 2004 7:51 AM
• This is a no brainer! Stop the F22 and the osprey! That would provide enough money for Iraq, which we should never have invaded. I think the friends of George are getting enough money to be satisfied and they do not need a supplemental. Stop the waste in the existing programs. tax payer Posted April 27, 2004 6:24 AM