Such calculations may seem bizarre, but our best protection against a nuclear war is to convince potential aggressors that no matter what they throw at us in a surprise attack, we can respond by causing unacceptable damage in their country. Loren Thomp…
Another short term CR hurts effort to secure/eliminate bomb grade material
Last week the Senate rejected both the long-term House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR) (HR 1) and the Senate Appropriations Committee version. This week Congress will again consider a short-term CR extending spending to April 8. The text of the proposed three-week measure can be found here.
The newest proposed short-term CR continues the status quo on funding for NNSA’s Defense Nuclear Non-Proliferation account, the Defense Department’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program, and a host of important nonproliferation programs at the State Department. These programs continue to be funded at the FY2010 level, as has been the case since the start of the fiscal year on October 1, 2010.
Looking for some numbers to focus on? How about these:
- $2.1 billion – spending level for “Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation” since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2011 that began on October 1, 2010. This is $551 million less than the Administration’s request for Fiscal Year 2011. The Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation account has been funded at or very near the FY2010 appropriated level since October 1, 2010.
- $7.0 billion. – spending level for “National Nuclear Security Administration – Weapons Activities” (Nuclear complex modernization). This is $624 million above the Fiscal Year 2010 level. Unlike the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation account, the Weapons Activities account has been funded at the FY2011 requested level since October 1, 2010.
Meanwhile, we’ve created a website with information about the current fight about the budget and proposed cuts to nuclear security spending over at the mothership. My favorite resource? A handy chart on the impact of the various short and long term CRs on NNSA’s nonpro and weapons activities accounts. Check it out.
FY 2011 and FY 2012 Budgets for Nuclear Security
by Kingston Reif By Kingston Reif and Patricia Morris The international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials and keep our nation safe from nuclear terrorism is at a crossroads. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, the President’s budget request and Congressional appropriations for threat reduction programs did not reflect the urgency of the threat. Funding […]
House Votes to Cut F-35 Extra Engine
The saga continues in the fight to fund the F-35 extra engine. Today, the House voted 233-198 on an amendment that would cancel the program.
The vote split both Republicans and Democrats, with over 100 Republicans and around 130 Democrats voting yes. Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) took the lead on the amendment, crediting House GOP leaders with allowing a vote on the issue despite Speaker John Boehner’s opposition.
Freshman Republicans in the House were initially hesitant to trim military spending, but have since broken ranks with their party’s speaker to include $16 billion in military cuts in the current spending bill. Cutting the F-35 extra engine would save an additional $450 million.
House GOP leaders hope to pass the overall spending bill later this week, which would fund the government through the end of the current fiscal year, but the buck does not stop there. The bill then goes to the Senate. Funding for the extra engine could be among the many changes that are made.
Fiscal Year 2012 Briefing Book Now Online
For Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, which begins on October 1, 2011, the Obama Administration has requested a base budget of $553 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD). This is $13 billion below the Pentagon’s Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) estimate, released last year, but represents about 3 percent in real growth over the funding the department would receive for FY 2011 under the current continuing resolution, which expires on March 4.
In addition, the Administration has requested $117.6 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is a 26 percent decrease from last year’s request of $159.4 billion and represents the administration’s commitment to reduce troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan and place more strict rules on what can and cannot be included in the war spending request. In the past, additional funding has been made available through emergency supplemental appropriations, when needed. This remains a possibility for FY 2012. This brings the FY 2012 defense budget request to a total of $670.6 billion.
These numbers do not include nuclear weapons related spending in the Department of Energy (DoE) or other defense related funding.
In addition to an initial $670 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Administration has requested $18 billion for nuclear weapons activities at Department of Energy and $7 billion for additional non-Pentagon defense related activities. This brings total non-Pentagon defense related spending (053/054) to $25 billion, an increase of about $200 million over FY 2011.
