Gen. Martin Dempsey said Thursday that the across-the-board budget cuts implemented by sequestration are leaving the U.S. military "out of balance" already.
Testifying before the Senate, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military will be unable to meet the cuts as time goes on "without a dramatic impact in our readiness." Reuters reports:
Army General Martin Dempsey, speaking to a Senate panel considering his nomination to a new two-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said one of his key jobs was to ensure U.S. forces are ready and balanced to address any challenge, but "so far we are getting it wrong."
"We are already out of balance due to the magnitude and mechanism - not to mention the steep descent - of budget cuts," Dempsey told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He urged them to help relieve the department's budget uncertainty.
Dempsey's remarks came as the Pentagon is facing nearly $1 trillion in cuts to projected spending over the next decade, including $37 billion in across-the-board reductions that were imposed earlier this year as the department was already months into its fiscal year.
