US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said lawmakers unloaded a "crisis on my doorstep" by failing to approve a military budget for the current fiscal year, forcing potential emergency cutbacks. Gates suggested members of Congress were hypocritical for complaining about planned cuts to programs in coming years while forcing the military to operate under last year's spending levels in the 2011 fiscal year that started October 1.
If Congress fails to approve the Pentagon's requested budget, the Defense Department would have to look at emergency cuts that could undermine important training and maintenance for the military, Gates told reporters before arriving in Ottawa. "It's one thing to talk about FY '12 (fiscal year 2012) and then to express concerns about something that may or may not happen in four or five years, but I have a crisis on my doorstep," he told reporters en route to Canada.
"And I want them to deal with the crisis on my doorstep before we start arguing about the levels in FY '12," said Gates, according to a transcript of his remarks on his plane. The defense secretary said it looked increasingly likely that the 2011 budget request would not win approval, which would force the US military to make do with 23 billion dollars less than President Barack Obama had requested. The possible emergency cuts could affect maintenance related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said.
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