Skelton to Gates: Justify your cuts

In a letter to Secretary of Defense William Gates, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike SKelton, D-Mo., says Gates need to provide documents to the commitee justifying its recommened cuts and changes:

(Skelton) said a number of the recommendations in the efficiency initiative would require changes to statute, the “creation of modification of legal authorities” and funding. All would require congressional approval.


Skelton’s letter to Gates comes on the heels of tense congressional hearings over the defense chief’s decision to close Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), headquartered in Norfolk, Va. Lawmakers have criticized the Pentagon for not providing Congress the data and analysis to back the closure decision