The top civilian in charge of the Navy and Marine Corps hopes that when President Trump looks at the effect his proposed 5 percent budget cut would have on military readiness, he’ll reconsider.
Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Thursday was careful not the criticize the president’s order for all federal agencies to find 5 percent savings in the fiscal year 2020 budget, to be submitted to Congress in February. But he made clear that the cuts, if implemented, would be painful.
“I’m a tad bit limited on what I can say. It is the president’s budget and the top-line hasn’t been presented to us yet. I will tell you that we are working various scenarios,” Spencer said during a forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
But he added, “Some of the scenarios will make your eyes water with what we might have to do if the numbers are certain numbers.”
Spencer said when he took the job a bit over a year ago, he was shocked how badly the readiness of naval forces had fallen.
“When I arrived August of ’17, and I looked at my aviation readiness at 41 percent, if I was a CEO of an airline, I’d be fired instantaneously and probably sued for malfeasance with a readiness number like that,” he said.
But he said thanks to full funding of the Pentagon the last two years, the trend is just now turning around.
“We have such great tailwind right now, and we’ve laid the foundation and spent this money to get us going in the right direction,” Spencer said, while arguing it’s too soon to declare victory.
“The bicycle is up, we are peddling, please don’t knock us over. The waste would be absolutely stunning,” he said in what appeared to be an appeal both to the president and Congress.
“This is helping dramatically, but boy, when I go up and testify, my line is: All the arrows are pointed in the right direction, please do not be disappointed with the percentage increases because we are just starting.”
The Pentagon has presented Trump with two budget plans for 2020, one for $733 billion, which is what military planners say is required to implement the National Security Strategy. A second plan would trim modernization programs, slow acquisition of major weapons, and fund the Pentagon at $700 billion. That would be a 2-percent reduction from the $716 billion for the current year.
