A group of Senate Democrats warned Wednesday that they will not support any plan to ease military spending cuts without similar relief for other federal programs, reducing the chances that the Pentagon will receive the funds it requested.
“I am not aware of [any Democrat] that I know, who seeks to end sequestration just for defense and allow terrible cuts to go through for working families,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and is the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee.
Sanders led a group of six budget committee Democrats in a press conference Wednesday to discuss what kind of budget they would support: one that boosts hiring, raises the minimum wage and protects federal programs including Social Security and Medicare.
The Senate Budget Committee must decide by next Wednesday whether to follow the sharply cut funding levels for all federal programs under sequestration, including defense, or cut a deal to raise spending beyond the sequester caps for some federal programs through offsets or another compromise.
Each of the military services has outlined the dire consequences under sequestration for its ability to meet a growing array of global threats without increasing the risk to the lives of troops.
On Tuesday Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who sits on both the budget committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee, suggested he would be willing to accept some tax increases if the Democrats would be willing to accept some cuts to entitlement programs.
Sanders said none of the budget committee Democrats had been approached by Graham on the offer.
The discord between the Democrats and Republicans in the Senate does not bode well for defense-specific needs. Any budget resolution likely would need two-thirds support because of Senate rules, and Republicans control only 54 seats in the chamber.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who also sits on both the Senate Armed Services and Budget Committees, said the nation has defense and non-defense needs, and both must be protected from sequester cuts, but not at the expense of federal assistance programs.
“We know there are Republicans out there who understand how devastating the automatic cuts are for both defense and non-defense,” Murray said. “Hopefully it won’t take another government shutdown.”
