The Nation - News from April 14, 1989

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said he has tentatively decided to reduce the size of U.S. forces and to eliminate some weapons systems to cut $6.3 billion from the 1990 defense budget. In an interview with network television correspondents, Cheney declined to provide specifics and said the military services will be able to make their final appeals to him next week before he sends the budget to the White House. “There’s some very tough cuts involved, some controversial issues involved, but I think we’ll be ready to announce those probably by about the 24th of April,” Cheney said. President Bush wants to cut $6.3 billion from former President Ronald Reagan’s $315-billion defense budget for 1990, effectively freezing military spending at this year’s level plus inflation.