Pentagon contracting cuts less than anticipated

Proposed cuts in Defense Department contracting will be smaller than originally anticipated, a spokesman for Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said Tuesday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates in August proposed shuttering the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk and cutting military contract spending by 10 percent a year for three years, sparking bipartisan outrage from legislators in contractor-heavy Virginia. Connolly is part of a task force that met with Pentagon officials early Tuesday.