At a House Armed Services Committee hearing this week, U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos admitted that the Marines will be “very, very strained to be a one-MCO [major contingency operation] Marine Corps” under sequestration budget cuts. MCOs refer to the ability to engage in a major war or …
U.S. international broadcasting strategy again landed under congressional scrutiny in Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. Representative Brad Sherman (D–CA) wanted to know why the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) ignored the congressional mandate to keep broadcasting to Pakistan in several local languages. In spite of a specific $1.5 million …
On the eve of Secretary of State John Kerry’s testimony to Congress on securing American interests abroad, the release of the Chinese defense white paper is a reminder of the significant challenges confronting the U.S. in the Asia–Pacific region. Sequestration may have Washington in knots, but there is no comparable …
Despite John Kerry being confirmed as the Secretary of State for President Obama’s second term two months ago, numerous senior State Department positions remain unfilled with no plans to fill them in sight. Instead, the White House process for political appointees is moving as “slowly as molasses,” according to State …
President Obama finally released his budget yesterday—more than two months late. Heritage experts immediately went to work analyzing the mounds of new spending on education, manufacturing, “clean energy,” infrastructure, and small business. But the President didn’t stop at more of the same failed stimulus and Solyndra-type policies. He also piled …
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 …
On March 28, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual assessment of the performance of the Department of Defense (DOD) in purchasing specific new weapons in a cost-efficient manner and reducing the overall cost to the taxpayers of a wide variety of weapons purchases. This year’s assessment was generally …
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) recently informed its workforce about sequestration cuts to Voice of America’s (VOA) shortwave and medium-wave broadcasting. Ironically, the Board is cutting the most cost-effective part of its organization: radio. It would be more rational to cut the bloated management and administration of the International …
1. Does North Korea have nuclear weapons? North Korea conducted its third nuclear weapons test in February in defiance of international efforts to halt its nuclear weapons program. Although details about the test remain elusive, it appeared to be North Korea’s largest nuclear weapons test to date. In March, North …
