Todd Harrison
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In an open letter to congressional leaders and to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, a broad array of military scholars argue the cost of running the Pentagon bureaucracy soon will crowd out the spending necessary to fight and win wars.
June 04, 2013 -
Absent structural changes, the combination of 10-year budget caps Congress has already approved and rising growth in personnel costs mean DoD would be able to sign paychecks, administer healthcare benefits and not much more.
April 08, 2013 -
Defense budget watchers say despite abundant evidence to the contrary, the Pentagon appears to believe it will eventually get most of its funding wishes over the coming few years. "Whether [sequestration] stays in place for nine more years is an open question, but it's certainly going to be in place for the foreseeable future," said Mackenzie Eaglen, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
March 25, 2013 -
On the In Depth show blog, you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.
January 28, 2013 -
DoD's operations and maintenance accounts will likely be hit first if sequestration goes into effect. Unlike its procurement and research and development activities, which can continue to function on funds obligated in prior years, O&M dollars generally get spent right away. In preparation for sequestration, the Pentagon has already let go of tens of thousands of temporary hires and is drawing up a contingency plan for one-day-a-week furloughs. Deputy Secretary Ashton Carter says the unpaid furloughs would begin in April and continue through the remainder of the fiscal year if sequestration is not avoided.
January 28, 2013 -
New version of sequestration would reduce overall tab to DoD but compress across-the-board cuts into just seven months. A leading-think tank's "back of the envelope" calculations show the military would have to furlough almost every civilian.
January 10, 2013 -
Certified financial planner talks about Thrift Savings Plan numbers for 2012. Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments sheds light on DoD's recent shopping spree. Jim Treat of the Census Bureau discusses the Web-first approach to the American Community Survey. Attorney Sandy Hoe discusses a recent case in which a contractor sued the Air Force. Dr. Gerald Dillingham of the GAO talks about possible changes in leadership at the FAA.
January 04, 2013 -
Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment talks about possible defense cuts due to sequestration. Attorney Bill Bransford discusses the legal ramifications of lie detectors. Social media expert Justin Herman of the GSA explains how social media is being used in the aftermath of emergencies. John Palguta of the Partnership for Public Service ponders what may be in store for feds in 2013. Paul Verkuil explains what the Administrative Conference of the United States has been up to.
December 11, 2012 -
This past summer, defense experts gathered into teams to map out how to cut DoD's budget by a half trillion dollars over 10 years. The results from the game provide some guidance on ways to make the cut happen in real life based on strategic choices, the organizers say.
November 28, 2012 -
There's a little more than a month to go until sequestration kicks in, taking more than a $1 trillion from agency budgets over 10 years unless Congress finds a way to agree on a Plan B for deficit reduction. In this week's edition of On DoD, Jared Serbu, Federal News Radio's DoD reporter, talks with several defense experts about sequestration and the Defense budget in a second term under President Obama:
November 21, 2012 -
"Fog bank" of threatened automatic spending cuts makes predicting Defense policy under a re-elected President Obama difficult. But experts agree DoD is likely to take more cuts, with or without sequestration.
November 09, 2012 -
On the In Depth show blog, you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.
October 25, 2012 -
Most of the Pentagon's contract spending wouldn't take an immediate hit from sequestration. Conversely, civilian employees would likely be laid-off or furloughed in the few days or weeks after the automatic budget cuts kick in, according to a Washington think tank's analysis of the convoluted laws that govern the automatic cuts
August 27, 2012 -
On the In Depth show blog, you can listen to the interviews, find more information about the guests on the show each day and links to additional resources.
July 13, 2012 -
Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Amy Morris to discuss how sequestration will affect defense managers and contractors. He said the threat of automatic, across-the-board cuts from sequestration will hang over DoD for the next year.
November 23, 2011