Afghanistan: Pentagon asks to shift $9.6 billion [View all]

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/pentagon-asks-to-shift-96-billion-91574.html?hp=l8



Pentagon asks to shift $9.6 billion
By DAVID ROGERS | 5/17/13 5:18 PM EDT

The Defense Department began forwarding documents to Congress late Friday seeking to shift as much as $9.6 billion within its budget to cope with what it said were large shortfalls in overseas contingency funds related to Afghanistan.

The massive reprogramming is larger than the $7.5 billion cap set by Congress for annual transfers between accounts. But the Pentagon said only $7.3 billion actually applied to that statutory limit and the remainder could be moved by tapping other transfer authorities available to the department.

About $1 billion, largely to pay for fuel costs, would be moved under transfers related to a working capital fund. To fill the remaining gap, DOD is apparently also tapping into transfer authorities it has under the so-called “foreign currency fluctuations account.”

How all this will sit with Congress is not certain yet. The very size of the transfers pose a challenge for the Appropriations and Armed Services Committees which must review and sign off on the requests, which are sure to entail taking money away from priority programs lawmakers have supported in the past.



unhappycamper comment: "overseas contingency funds" = occupation cost

Keep in mind that all this posturing is over a lousy five percent budget cut. Five fucking percent.