Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), head of the House armed services panel, have echoed the call of a group of lawmakers to reverse the sequestration policy for defense programs, Defense News reported Monday.
“Sequestration is an act of sheer political cowardice, because you let a meat ax act without any discrimination, judgment or value – it’s disgraceful,†McCain told reporters.
A group of 141 lawmakers wrote a May 2 letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) urging him to bring to the House floor a bill that would repeal defense sequestration, which they say impacts military readiness and hampers the U.S. government’s ability to deter adversaries.
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) organized the letter and introduced in March a measure that seeks to eliminate budget caps for defense.
Thornberry and McCain said they would support the move to repeal defense budget caps by approximately $90 billion.
The Trump administration’s proposed $603 billion defense appropriations go beyond budget caps by $54 billion, the report added.