‘Watershed’ $1 trillion defense budget on the horizon

In the House, which has a narrow GOP majority, there’s a recognition of the power of the Freedom Caucus. Some of that group’s members — to whom Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., owes his job — are defying GOP orthodoxy by calling for as much scrutiny of Pentagon spending as of nondefense programs. 

The conservative think tanks, in response, have begun to advocate changes to make the Pentagon more efficient. Their recommendations will hold considerable sway. 

Phony savings 

Meanwhile, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, has endorsed reducing the Pentagon civilian workforce through attrition, though federal workers’ representatives are pushing back hard at any arbitrary civilian staffing targets. 

Real savings will not come from phantom objectives such as those cited by McCarthy and others — most notably what they call woke diversity and counter-extremism efforts at the Pentagon, which in reality amount to virtually no money.

Instead, savings, if they arrive, will have been the fruit of hard choices.