White House wins key victories on defense budget

The White House scored key victories on its fiscal 2005 military spending request in both the House and Senate Wednesday.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, was scheduled to mark up a budget resolution Thursday containing $819 billion in fiscal 2005 discretionary spending, including the full Pentagon defense spending request, while the Senate continues to slog through amendments on its version totaling $821 billion after $7 billion in defense cuts was restored on the floor Wednesday.

Nussle agreed Wednesday to restore $2 billion in proposed cuts from the Pentagon's $421 billion request, in a win for House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who had threatened to defeat the budget resolution on the floor next week if the cuts remained.

In exchange, Hunter's panel will be directed to find $2 billion in savings within the Pentagon budget, he said. "We've got the biggest rotation of troops since World War II" in Iraq, Hunter said, stressing the need for full military funding.

That would bring Nussle's fiscal 2005 discretionary spending total to $819 billion, sources said -- after the $2 billion in Pentagon funds was restored -- including an overall freeze on domestic discretionary spending at last year's level and a 0.5 percent cut in homeland security funds from the president's budget. That would represent a $4 billion cut from President Bush's request of $823 billion in discretionary spending.

The Senate voted 95-4 Wednesday to restore $7 billion in proposed reductions from Bush's military request, bringing that chamber's defense total back up to $421 billion and overall budget resolution up to $821 billion in discretionary spending.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles, R-Okla., had included the cut in order to bring the budget back under the discretionary cap set by last year's budget resolution. To increase spending above that level requires 60 votes.