Gates Called ‘Gutsy’May 13, 2010

 

A Senate Democrat who has great influence in military affairs praised Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as "gutsy" for hunkering down to tame the Pentagon's spending and bureaucracy.

According to an article in The Hill, Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said Gates deserved credit for his attempt to control spending.

Levin added that while Congress would "like to be helpful" in controlling spending, it would not simply accept all the secretary's recommendations. "He is a gutsy guy," Levin told The Hill in an interview. "I think he is on the right track, but the specifics are important. I think Congress would like to be helpful, but it is not going to be a rubber stamp."

Here Levin is likely referring specifically to Gates' insistence that a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is not necessary. Levin, along with many other congressional leaders, has been a proponent of funding the second engine despite Gates' repeated threats that he would recommend that President Barak Obama veto funding, according to the article. "I always thought it was the right thing to have competition," Levin said, adding that it would be worth the investment.

Gates, however, recently challenged lawmakers to stop funding programs that the Pentagon considered irrelevant or unnecessary—like the alternate engine proposed by a General Electric and Rolls-Royce partnership. Gates has maintained that the cost of developing an alternate engine would outweigh the benefits.

A Pentagon analysis released earlier this year, however, contradicts his assessment. The study, conducted by the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, concluded that developing a second engine wouldn't cost more than only buying the primary engine from Pratt & Whitney, according to The Hill.

"There are a lot of different ways to slice it," Levin told The Hill. "I do not understand veto threats when, by their own assessment, using their own numbers, they came up with a 50-50 wash."

The Ohio-class fleet ballistic missile submarine USS Alaska (SSBN 732) transits to her new homeport at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga. (RELEASED))