Leading House Republicans blasted the Obama administration for playing politics with defense legislation after a leaked strategy memo exposed the Pentagon’s effort to "play hardball" with Speaker Paul Ryan’s defense spending proposal.
The memo, prepared in May for Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his deputy Bob Work, proposed playing "hardball" to squash Ryan’s defense proposal by pitting the House and Senate against one another, Politico reported Tuesday. The document also characterized President Obama’s threat of vetoing defense bills as "the principal weapon at our disposal."
Our troops deserve so much better than this. https://t.co/mTtpeGNzE5
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) September 7, 2016
"For this administration, it’s always politics first, even at the Pentagon," Ryan (R., Wis.) said in a statement. "This memo details with relish a plan to use a presidential veto of a defense bill as a ‘weapon.’ It’s shameless, and it threatens more than five decades of bipartisan cooperation to enact a national defense bill for our troops. The men and women who defend our country deserve better."
House Armed Services Committee chairman Mac Thornberry (R., Texas) similarly criticized the administration for "playing political games."
"It is unfortunate and rather sad that some in the Obama administration spend so much time and effort playing political games, as evidenced by this memo. In a department charged with the security of our nation, the American people and our troops deserve better," Thornberry said in a statement. "Members of Congress in both sides of the aisle are working to meet our responsibilities to our troops and to the nation. I hope that in the next administration we will have a partner who will do the same."
The Obama administration has strongly opposed the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for boosting defense spending by $18 billion by authorizing more funds be shifted from the overseas contingency operations budget used for war operations. The Senate rejected a proposal to boost defense spending in this way in June. The White House has also threatened to veto the Senate version of the bill for other reasons.
The House and Senate, which return to Washington this week, will need to hash out the differences in the their versions of the legislation before sending the final bill to Obama.