Bush administration prepares Defense budget

Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., said Wednesday that the Bush administration had prepared a fiscal 2010 defense budget request that will top $580 billion, adding that he also expects the administration to submit an additional $80 billion emergency supplemental spending request by next month, mainly to cover military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Speaking at a forum on defense priorities given by the Center for American Progress, Sestak said he had been told by the Office of Management and Budget that the Bush administration was preparing to hand President-elect Obama a $581 billion budget request for the Pentagon.

"That's about a 12 percent increase in real terms," said Sestak, a retired vice admiral who serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

"We're also being told that in addition to the $66 billion in emergency supplemental that was supposed to take us to next June and July, prior to this administration leaving [there will be] another $80 billion for fiscal 2009," he added.