Dr. Bucshon’s Statement on Pentagon’s Political Strategy on Defense Bill

“It’s clear the Obama Administration is more concerned with planning partisan political fights than funding our military and operations critical to the security of this nation,” said Bucshon. “The details of this memo are troubling, below the dignity of our troops, and should not be tolerated by the American people.”

Earlier this week, a secret memo surfaced detailing a political strategy circulated among Pentagon officials to undermine legislation to fully fund our national defense, including bases like Crane in Southern Indiana and a pay raise for our troops.

Following the release of the memo, House Speaker Paul Ryan stated, “For this administration, it’s always politics first, even at the Pentagon. This memo details with relish a plan to use a presidential veto of a defense bill as a ‘weapon.’ It’s shameless, and it threatens more than five decades of bipartisan cooperation to enact a national defense bill for our troops. The men and women who defend our country deserve better.”

 According to POLITICO, the news organization that first obtained the memo, “It [the memo] provides an unusually clear window into the tactics the Defense Department’s top officials are using in an increasingly partisan feud over their budget — particularly striking for an agency that seeks to avoid the perception of involvement in election-year politics.”

Furthermore, the Washington Examiner Editorial Board cautioned, “But it’s not as though the Obama administration is arguing in good faith for tighter controls on defense spending. Their only objection is that by funding defense in this way and not in another, Congress can indefinitely avoid a corresponding increase in non-defense spending. That’s what makes the Pentagon memo so appallingly cynical. If Democrats keep this up, many service members could end up going without their paychecks.”