House Armed Services Committee

  • Agencies should not change their spending plans for this year or next, but need to start assessing which programs would be impacted by automatic sequestration cuts if Congress doesn't cancel them, OMB acting Director Jeff Zients told Congress Wednesday.

    August 02, 2012
  • Faced with congressional inaction in averting looming across-the-board cuts that take effect in January, the Office of Management and Budget will begin meeting with agency leaders to discuss how the cuts will be implemented. In a memo to agency heads, OMB Director Jeff Zients said his office will consult with agencies to determine which budget accounts and programs are exempt from sequestration.

    July 31, 2012
  • Defense industry executives have spent the last few weeks warning that across-the-board budgets cuts that go into effect in January, could force them to issue notifications to employees in the fall to warn of impending layoffs. However, in a new memo issued Monday, the Labor Department said the lack of clarity about how the cuts would be applied means it would be "inappropriate" to issue Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notifications.

    July 30, 2012
  • The secretaries of the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs testified about how the two agencies are collaborating to make it easier for military members to return to civilian life. Members of the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs House committees questioned them about various programs designed to help the process.

    July 26, 2012
  • House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said a Defense Department report on China was skimpy and late.

    July 12, 2012
  • Congress is demanding more answers about how $1.2 trillion in budget cuts set to take effect in January will be applied across the government. The House Budget Committee Wednesday unanimously approved a bill directing the Obama administration to provide Congress a report that provides specific details about how the spending cuts will affect federal agencies and programs. Meanwhile, the House Armed Services Committee formally requested that the head of the Office of Management and Budget, Jeff Zients, testify before the committee on the "mechanics and impact" of the automatic cuts.

    June 27, 2012
  • The Defense Department had proposed having patients pay up to 14 percent of their health care costs by 2017, compared with 10 percent now.

    May 15, 2012
  • Hours after a key House committee voted to give the Pentagon more money than it asked for in next year's budget, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said thanks, but no thanks. Panetta warned passing a $3 billion increase would set a showdown with the Senate and force sequestration to happen.

    May 11, 2012
  • Ahead of the markup of the annual defense policy bill by key House committee, hundreds of survivors of military sexual assault take to the Capitol to demand change.

    May 09, 2012
  • The Armed Services committee Seapower chairman is tired of waiting for the Navy's ship building plan to come in.

    May 08, 2012
  • Congressmen introduce the Harry Lew Military Hazing Accountability and Prevention Act of 2012, a bill aimed at preventing hazing in the military services.

    May 08, 2012
  • As part of the annual Defense authorization bill, House lawmakers will take up a provision designed to let federal employees gain experience and share expertise while working temporarily in other agencies.

    May 07, 2012
  • House military personnel subcommittee asserts retirees have already paid for their health care via their military service, omits DoD proposal to hike TRICARE fees.

    April 27, 2012
  • The committee will focus on making it easier for small firms to do business with the Pentagon. The military missed three of five small business goals in 2010. The Panel on Business Challenges in the Defense Industry made several recommendations to improve the success of small firms that want to do business with DoD.

    April 23, 2012