Elisabeth Bumiller
Proposed Pentagon Budget Cuts for the Next Decade
After ten years of war and expanded spending, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta outlined a series of military budget cuts for the next decade totaling $487 billion. Among these cost-saving measures are limiting pay raises for troops, increasing health insurance fees for military retirees, and closing bases in the U.S. These proposed cuts would be in […]
Panetta Aims to Cut Billions from Pentagon Budget
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is expected to announce plans this week to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the Pentagon’s budget. The cuts, precipitated by both the United States’ fiscal situation and a deal passed to raise the debt ceiling last summer, will shrink the military so it will no longer be able […]
Drastic Cuts Could Reshape US Military
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is considering drastic cuts in military spending, including slashing retirement benefits and a round of base closings. Panetta has been ordered to cut more than $450 billion of the Pentagon budget over the next decade and has been under intense political pressure to make the cuts. The yearly defense budget has doubled since the 9/11 […]
Two Weeks in the Job, Panetta Changes Tone at Pentagon
Leon Panetta began his term as defense secretary on July 1, 2011. In the less than two weeks since, he’s already visited Iraq and Afghanistan and set a new tone – and agenda – for the Pentagon. Though he was friendly with his predecessor, Robert Gates, Panetta has not been shy about publicly changing the […]