OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Study: 600,000 federal workers at risk if sequester goes through

Critics have questioned the AIA’s claim that 1 million jobs
are at stake in sequestration — a figure also touted by the International
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — arguing that the numbers are
inflated.

But the debate over sequestration has continued to gain
steam in Washington as it’s become a debate about jobs as much as national
security.

{mosads}The study is being released one day before four defense
executives testify in the House Armed Services Committee about sequestration,
including Lockheed Martin CEO Bob Stevens, who warned that his company could
issue layoff notices to all 100,000-plus employees before the election. 

The other side
responds: As defense hawks get louder about the dangers of cutting the military,
critics of outsized defense spending are also ramping up their own arguments.

The National Security Network, a liberal-leaning think tank,
wrote a post Monday headlined “Pink Slips are Politics, not Strategy,” geared
toward Lockheed’s threat and calling for a “balanced” approach to
sequestration. A joint survey conducted by the Program for Public Consultation, The Stimson Center, and the Center for Public Integrity released Monday found
that more 70 percent of respondents in both Republican and Democratic districts
supported cutting defense — if they were first given an explanation of the
arguments for and against.

Down, but not out:
Senate Republicans seemingly scored a
serious blow to the White House-backed Law of the Sea treaty on Monday,
claiming to have enough votes to block ratification of the measure when it
comes up for a vote later this year.

“This is Victory Day for U.S.
sovereignty in the Senate,” Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) cheered in a statement.
Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.)
landed the potential fatal blow to the treaty when the lawmakers agreed to
join fellow Republicans in blocking the measure. With Isakson, Portman and
Ayotte, Senate Republicans now have more than one-third of senators needed to scuttle
the treaty, which would have set up a slate of international rules of the road
for the world’s waterways.

But Senate Foreign Relations Committee chief John Kerry
(D-Mass.) vowed to battle on. In a sharply worded statement, the Massachusetts
Democrat warned that Republicans might not be able to keep their majority by the
time the ratification vote is called in November.

“No letter or whip count
changes the fact that rock-ribbed Republican businesses and the military and
every living Republican Secretary of State say that this needs to happen,”
Kerry spokeswoman Jodi Seth said. “That’s why it’s a matter of when, not
if, for the Law of the Sea [ratification].”

New request on
reprogramming: House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) is once
again using the Pentagon’s $8 billion reprogramming request to try to lobby the
Pentagon. McKeon and Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) sent a letter to Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta asking for more information about the Pentagon’s assessments
of Iran’s missile program, as well as strategies against it — in particular DOD’s
“hedging strategy” and consideration of a third missile interceptor on the East
Coast.

“The Committee is in receipt of almost $8 billion in FY12
reprogramming requests, with significant sums of money intended for missile
defense capabilities and capabilities oriented to a potential conflict with a
regional threat,” the lawmakers wrote. “We therefore believe it is appropriate
for our requests in this letter to be answered prior to any decision by the
Committee on these matters.”

McKeon made a stronger, albeit short-lived, threat last week
over the Pentagon’s policy limiting
reports to Congress to 10 pages. The chairman threatened to block the
reprogramming until the report-length policy was rescinded, but less than an
hour later the Pentagon said it had already done so.

Navy carrier group
ships out early: Pentagon
officials are speeding a Navy carrier group into the Persian Gulf four months
ahead of schedule, according to a Defense Department statement. The USS John C.
Stennis carrier strike group will head back to the Gulf after returning from
its most recent deployment to the region in March. The group was originally set
to steam back out to the Mideast at the end of this year, but was bumped up to support
existing naval force requirements in the Middle East, according to DOD spokesman
George Little. The accelerated deployment was not in response to any aggressive
actions by Iran’s military forces, according to Little. The move simply keeps
“with our long-standing [military] commitments to the region,” he
told reporters on Monday.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

— Kerry predicts GOP will
cave on sea treaty

— US lays out legal
case for bin Laden, Libya

— Navy opens
fire on boat in Persian Gulf

— Details emerge on Yemen
counterterrorism

— Poll finds voters want to cut
defense

— Iran makes new
threats toward Strait of Hormuz

Please send tips and comments to Jeremy Herb, jherb@digital-stage.thehill.com, and Carlo Munoz, cmunoz@digital-stage.thehill.com.

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