Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has announced that the 800,000 civilian Department of Defense (DOD) employees scheduled for furloughs will take only 11 days without pay. This amounts to half the originally planned furlough of 22 days for civilians in the DOD. While this reduction may keep the DOD operating …
The United States should leave the hollow force where it belongs—in the past. Defense budget cuts and inadequate strategy are damaging readiness. Heritage’s Baker Spring, along with Colonels Ruchard Dunn and Kerry Kachejian, opened “Protect America Month” at The Heritage Foundation last week, speaking about the potential for the U.S. …
Last week, 16 House Republicans called for including as much as $250 million for the U.S. East Coast missile defense site. This is a step in the right direction. All the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptors that can shoot down long-range ballistic missiles are currently located on the West Coast; …
Tomorrow, President Obama will finally release his overdue budget request, and the next day, the House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on that request. The hearing witnesses will be Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey. It appears likely …
North Korea continues to escalate the situation on the Peninsula, most recently by telling international diplomats it will not be able to guarantee their security after April 10. The ongoing crisis demonstrates the benefits of missile defense for the protection of the U.S. homeland and forward-deployed troops, and the assurance …
After going nearly four years without producing a budget resolution, Senate Democrats today released a plan confirming their mantra about “balanced” approaches has nothing to do with actually balancing the budget. In their view, “balance” is a mix of higher taxes and higher spending, chronic deficits and debt, and a …
Heritage’s newly released Issue Brief “What the FY 2014 Budget Should Do” provides a blueprint for turning back Washington’s unsustainable spending and keeping national defense fully funded. Modernizing the U.S. military is critical. After all, “to provide for the common defense” is one of the primary constitutional responsibilities of the …