The defense budget will shrink by at least $15 billion in fiscal 2012. That’s compared to the $678 billion that was requested in the 2011 Pentagon budget.

Military Times reports some administration officials want even deeper cuts, though, as they look for ways to pull the federal government out of its record level of debt.

Budget writers in the Senate trimmed the administration’s 2011 defense request by $8 billion – while the House proposed cutting it by $7.2 billion. Several debt-reduction panels have called for as much as $100 billion in cuts, but the Military Times reports the White House has ruled that out.

The now-defeated Senate omnibus appropriations bill would have provided the Pentagon with more than $667 billion for 2011, including war funding. That would have included $157.8 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving almost $510 billion for most other military spending.

Some OMB officials want to cut the omnibus level by another $10 billion. Sources told the Military Times that would mean a $658 billion spending request for 2012.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily DoD Report. For more defense news, click here.

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