Navy Offers to Put 2 Battleships in Mothballs to Reduce Budget
WASHINGTON — The Navy is proposing to put two of its four battleships in mothballs and limit purchases of the $1.2-billion Trident submarine to every other year, a senior Pentagon official said today.
But the service, studying proposals for the new fiscal year budget, is fighting to spare at least 14 aircraft carriers from White House pressures to trim the military’s most favored weapons programs.
President Bush, who is slated to deliver his budget to Congress on Jan. 22, may be called upon to make the final decisions on any suggested cuts, given their controversial nature.
“We’re robbing Peter to pay Paul,” the Pentagon official said of the current budget-juggling exercise. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
White House budget planners have told Defense Secretary Dick Cheney that he can spend a little more than $292 billion in the new budget year, which begins Oct. 1. That means Pentagon spending will not keep pace with inflation.
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