Pentagon to draft full 2010 budget plan for next president

[unhappycamper]

Pentagon to draft full 2010 budget plan for next president
By John T. Bennett - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Sep 13, 2008 18:12:41 EDT

Pentagon officials are crafting a full 2010 defense blueprint even though the coming change in administration likely will shift the nation’s defense spending priorities, sources said.

That decision marks the resolution of a debate that began earlier this year among the Bush administration and Pentagon officials about whether to hand the next president a full six-year military spending plan, or do a partial plan that left it to the new administration to fashion its own version.

The situation became more murky and confusing in April, when the White House’s Office of Management and Budget instructed federal departments and agencies to avoid building the standard annual budget requests.

“You are not required to submit a formal budget request in September,” OMB Director Jim Nussle wrote in an April 7 memo. “Most of the policy materials you usually submit in September in support of your budget requests will not be required until after the new administration or transition team is in place.”

Army Times obtained a copy of Nussle’s memo, which told federal entities to prepare 2010 “budget databases” with “current services baselines” and program estimates for the coming fiscal year. Those documents and data will allow the next administration to put its stamp on the 2010 federal budget request to be sent to Congress in February.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_2010budget_091508w/%2e