Pentagon mulling request for additional COVID-19 funds
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon expects to request new funding in the next COVID-19 recovery bill for medical supplies and economic relief for defense contractors, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said Monday.
“We anticipate the likely need for additional monies coming out if there is a fourth supplemental,” Esper said during a teleconference hosted by the Brookings Institution.
The Defense Department has already been using the $11 billion it received from an earlier recovery bill to provide financial incentives to companies to produce protective gear and testing equipment under the Defense Production Act, he said.
The Pentagon has already committed to pushing $3 billion to defense contractors by increasing the amount the department reimburses firms for expenses incurred during ongoing work.
“We want people at work,” Esper said, referring to the defense industry. “We want to continue with payments, we want to help with cash flow. DOD is not an island, we really rely heavily on the private sector.”
Esper did not specify how much the Pentagon would request in a future recovery package, but defense officials have said they need “billions and billions.”
House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., opposes giving the Pentagon more COVID-19 relief funds, suggesting the department may be able to find the money within its current budget.
Speaking more generally about the department’s funds, Esper repeated the need for 3% to 5% annual growth above inflation for the Pentagon’s budget.
“I am concerned of course that the massive infusion of dollars into the economy by the Congress and the executive branch may throw us off that course,” he said, referring to the virus relief packages.
This year’s national security budget totals $738 billion, with the Pentagon receiving the lion’s share. In documents accompanying the Defense Department’s fiscal 2021 request, the Pentagon projected little real growth in its budget over the next several years.
“We do need that sustained topline growth, and if we don’t (get it), we’re just going to have to accelerate the shedding of the legacy force and turning those dollars back into building the force we need in the future,” he said.
That translates into retiring older tanks, ships and planes sooner than planned and spending heavily on more modern replacements. In the coming decade, the Defense Department wants to replace all three legs of its nuclear triad: ground based missiles, ballistic submarines, and long-range bombers.
Esper said he also is exploring creating a more dynamic force that responds to changing circumstances rather than the military’s more rigid, permanent basing plan.
—CQ-Roll Call
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Kweisi Mfume to be sworn in Tuesday as Maryland’s newest congressman
BALTIMORE — Twenty-four years after leaving the U.S. House, Baltimore Democrat Kweisi Mfume returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to be sworn in as Maryland’s newest congressman, succeeding his friend, the late Elijah Cummings.
The swearing-in will occur on the floor of the U.S. House, with a ceremonial session occurring afterward in the speaker’s lounge.
Mfume was expected to be sworn in by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was born in Baltimore as the daughter of Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro Jr.
Pelosi’s participation could not immediately be confirmed. The House floor has been mostly empty as lawmakers take precautions during the coronavirus pandemic and conduct strategy sessions from afar.
On April 28, Mfume won a mostly vote-by-mail special general election to reclaim the 7th Congressional District seat he held for 10 years before he left to head the NAACP. He defeated Republican commentator and nonprofit founder Kimberly Klacik.
The scheduling of Mfume’s swearing-in needed to wait until the U.S. House received a certification notice from the Maryland State Board of Elections.
—The Baltimore Sun
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DeSaulnier released from hospital after month and a half stay due to pneumonia
WASHINGTON — Rep. Mark DeSaulnier was released from the hospital this weekend after a month-and-a-half-long stay due to pneumonia complications from a rib fracture the California Democrat sustained after falling during a run, his sons announced Monday.
“He’s eager to get back to California, but he’ll continue his recovery in Washington, D.C., until his doctors determine it’s safe to fly,” Tristan and Tucker DeSaulnier said in a statement, thanking everyone who has reached out with thoughts and prayers for their father.
DeSaulnier entered the hospital on March 13 and a week later he was in critical condition. He remained in intensive care for several weeks until he was moved out of that unit on April 13.
Now, three weeks after moving out of intensive care, DeSaulnier has been released from the hospital.
“We are also eternally grateful to the doctors, nurses, and hospital staff who helped save our dad’s life,” Tristan and Tucker DeSaulnier said.
“While he’s made truly remarkable progress and has come so far, our dad still has work to do and we appreciate his friends and constituents affording him time and support as the next phase of his recovery begins,” they added.
—CQ-Roll Call
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