Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York exaggerated Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plan to cut military spending during an exchange with Bob Schieffer on “Face the Nation.”
Schumer criticized a group of conservative Republicans for proposing a bill to cut non-defense federal spending by $2.5 trillion through fiscal year 2021:
Schumer, Jan. 23: But for instance, they leave the military totally out. … But everyone knows there’s waste and inefficiency in the military budget. Defense Secretary Gates has proposed cutting a hundred fifty billion dollars out of it.
That’s false. Gates has proposed cutting the Pentagon’s budget by $78 billion, not $150 billion, and the cuts would occur over five years.
In a Jan. 6 speech at the Pentagon, Gates laid out his proposal:
Gates, Jan. 6: In all, this budget proposal anticipates a total reduction of roughly $78 billion to the Five Year Defense Plan submitted last year.
In his speech, Gates also said the Pentagon identified roughly $100 billion in "efficiency savings." This money, however, was reinvested in the military rather than cut from the overall budget.
Gates, Jan. 6: Even with this top-line reduction, we were able to adhere to the original intent of the reform initiative and permit the military services to keep and reinvest the roughly $100 billion they identified for savings.
Where did Schumer get the $150 billion figure? The White House initially sought $150 billion in cuts — but Gates balked, according to a Jan. 6 New York Times article. The Times wrote: “Mr. Gates was also able to persuade the White House to reduce its demands for cuts over the next five years to $78 billion from $150 billion.”
The co-chairmen of the president’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform also called for deeper cuts in the military than those proposed by Gates. A November report issued by the co-chairmen called for $100 billion in cuts by 2015. But, as the Wall Street Journal reported, Gates criticized that plan as "math not strategy," adding that what’s needed is "a scalpel instead of a meat axe."
— Michael Morse