Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to each military service, combatant command (COCOM), and the National Guard Bureau (NGB) on Friday, asking for a list of military requirements that are not funded in the President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 budget request. While the request has been a long-standing Committee practice, in recent years the services and commands have been restricted in their replies by senior defense leadership. News that the President's FY15 budget request will include $26 billion in unfunded requirements as part of an "investment fund" led McKeon to ask the services, COCOMs, and NGB directly for their unfunded priority lists. You can read the letters here:
"Even the President acknowledges that the national security budget is insufficient to meet the threats we face; that is why he is sending us a list of requirements he needs but cannot fund. While I welcome his list, I am more interested in hearing directly from our service chiefs and commanders on their unfunded requirements rather than receiving an edited White House list tailored to scoring political points."
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