Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., left, accompanied by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. ranking Republican on the committee.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., left, accompanied by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. ranking Republican on the committee. Evan Vucci/AP

Senators Eye Changes to Military Pension Provision in Budget Deal

The measure could be amended next year, before the pension cuts take effect.

Though the Senate is poised to pass the Bipartisan Budget Act on Wednesday, lawmakers in both parties are already working to alter some of its provisions in the weeks and months ahead.

The measure is expected to pass handily, sending a bill to President Obama's desk that will reduce sequestration cuts by $63 billion and fund the government through Sept. 30, 2015. But that has not stopped lawmakers from making preparations to tinker with it after it passes, most notably with a provision reducing military pensions.

"Nothing is written in stone around here," said Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "This is a budget. A budget could be amended next year."

Levin said Tuesday that his committee will look into nixing the cuts to military pensions before they take effect in 2016. Under the budget agreement, military retirees under the age of 62 will see reductions in cost-of-living adjustments, but the committee could alter or eliminate that change, Levin said.

Republicans and Democrats in both chambers mentioned concerns about the pension provision when Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Paul Ryan announced the budget deal last week. But Levin's commitment to a review eased some of that tension. Republican Sens. Rob Portman and John McCain both said that the possibility of changing the provision played a role in their decision to vote to bring the budget deal to the floor.

"That gives some of us some comfort," Portman said.

But apparently not every senator felt comforted. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., called a vote Wednesday evening that would have allowed Republicans to add an amendment to the budget deal eliminating the military-pensions provision. The measure failed, predictably, on a nearly party-line vote in which only Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., broke with her caucus to support the measure.

Sessions said that he pushed for the vote as a protest of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision to fill the amendment tree on the budget bill, preventing Republicans from filing amendments of their own. The vote also forced Democrats who have said they are sympathetic to veterans facing pension cuts to choose between getting rid of those cuts and siding with their leadership.

With the 46-54 vote, any changes to military pensions will likely be pushed into the New Year when the Senate Armed Services Committee takes up the measure. Levin and McCain cautioned Tuesday that the pension changes may not disappear. "I can't promise that we will repeal it," McCain said. But even Ryan, who worked the pension measure into the final budget deal over Democratic objections, has said that he is open to making changes.

"We delayed this provision so that it doesn't take effect until the year 2016, which gives Congress and the military community time to address the broader compensation issue, including this provision, if people believe there's a better way to solve this problem," Ryan told The Weekly Standard.

The budget bill cleared its biggest hurdle on Tuesday, when the Senate invoked cloture on a 67-33 vote, setting up final passage for Wednesday. A dozen Republicans joined Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold, which was the last chance Senate Republicans had to derail the budget agreement.

A simple majority is needed to pass the measure Wednesday, and it is likely to hit that target easily. All 53 Democratic senators and the two independents who caucus with them support the bill, and some Republicans like Portman have agreed also signed on.

But the budget deal isn't set in stone, and with the specter of another government shutdown effectively off the table, even senators who supported the deal are talking about making changes when Congress returns in January.

Many Democrats cite concerns that the final deal did not include an extension of unemployment-insurance benefits, which expire shortly after Christmas. Reid has said the Senate will take up the issue after the holidays.

Murray acknowledged before Tuesday's vote that not everyone got what they wanted in the final deal. "This deal is a compromise, and it doesn't tackle every one of the challenges we face as a nation. But that was never our goal," she said on the Senate floor. "This bipartisan bill takes the first steps toward rebuilding our broken budget process. And, hopefully, toward rebuilding our broken Congress."

But with lawmakers already plotting to alter some of the provisions that allowed the compromise in the first place, that first step may be on shaky ground. Levin conceded Tuesday that changes to certain aspects of the budget bill could open up a Pandora's box, allowing Congress to re-litigate the entire deal when it returns in January. But the Michigan Democrat said that he wasn't too concerned.

"It's not—you know, there's nothing here that's permanent," he said.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.