Panetta Muzzles Communications With Super Committee

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Washington: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has moved to gag communications between the Pentagon and Congress on the highly sensitive issue of the congressional Super Committee.

In an Aug. 18 memo to all senior officials, Panetta ordered them to "coordinate any contact with the 'Super Committee' through his assistant secretary for legislative affairs, Elizabeth King.

We sent a copy of the memo to the House and Senate Armed Services committees, and some other congressional sources, for comment. It being mid-August on a Friday we were happy to hear from the HASC's spokesman.

"The Committee certainly understands why Secretary Panetta would want to have visibility on such a vital issue. However, every senior member of our Armed Forces, including the chiefs of staff for every service; swear to support Congress' oversight role with their unvarnished professional opinion as part of the Senate confirmation process. A memo from the Secretary of Defense is not sufficient to relieve them of that obligation," spokesman Claude Chafin said in an email.

The secretary's spokesman rejected the idea that this memo constituted any kind of gag. "It's simply wrong to suggest that the Secretary is restricting communication with Congress on budget matters. The point of this memorandum is solely to ensure that the Department adopts an orderly approach to our engagement with Congress on these important issues. That's called sound management, and we look forward to discussing future national security funding with the Hill," George Little said in a very promptly returned email.

While we understand the desire to "manage" the process, when you order people to stop talking to someone else, that's a gag order. Of course, the Pentagon isn't a democracy, but unvarnished advice and information must flow between the Congress and the military for both to work effectively. And restricting who can communicate is pretty likely to mean the advice won't be unvarnished.

This post originally appeared on AOL Defense.

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Biden Says Debt Super Committee Faces “Very, Very Difficult” Odds, As Talks Begin

The "Super Committee" of congressional lawmakers tasked with finding $1.5 trillion in savings from the federal deficit has begun informal conference calls and staff meetings according to one member, as Vice President Joe Biden expressed skepticism that the group will be successful.

Rep. Frank Upton (R-MI), selected selected by Speaker of the House John Boehner to serve on the committee, told WNDU in South Bend, IN, that members have spoken by conference call to discuss their plans for the committee.

"We've had a good number of discussions already. Our staffs are working together, and there's a lot of documentation that we can look at already," he said. "We really do feel like folks across the country are pulling for us to get it together. Now is our chance to focus on a long term result."

Meanwhile, while traveling to Japan, Vice President Joe Biden said lawmakers on the committee face “very, very difficult” odds, but maintained that the 12-member panel must strive to reach the required cuts by the November 23rd deadline.

They have “a shot of getting a deal that would be viewed by Wall Street, be viewed by everyone, be viewed by the international community as a significant alteration of a trajectory of long-term debt," he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. 

If the deal is not reached by the deadline, significant cuts to both Medicare and defense spending would take effect — cuts Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called "dangerous" to national security.

"We still may end up with the trigger being pulled,” Biden added aboard Air Force Two.

According to administration officials, President Barack Obama is preparing to push the "Super Committee" to take up job creation legislation as part of its mandate to cut the federal deficit.

The committee was created as part of the deal to raise the debt ceiling, and its recommendations must be voted on by up-or-down vote in both chambers of Congress by December 23rd.

[h/ts POLITICO, The Hill]

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