Leaked memo shows Obama admin politicizing Pentagon

A May memo unearthed first by Politico that circulated at the highest levels of the Pentagon set a strategy to play “hardball” with House Republicans over defense spending and what they called a budgetary “gimmick” to fund operations. The memo has Republicans in both chambers of Congress seeing red, and accusing the Obama administration of needlessly politicizing national defense.

The memo from Pentagon comptroller Mike McCord and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs Stephen Hedger advised Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to aggressively attack House Republicans over the use of the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds for normal budget items. The White House had already threatened a veto over the proposal, but Carter took the advice and went further. In July, Carter issued what was later termed a “heartburn letter” publicly outlining his opposition to OCO, an unusual step that raised eyebrows at the time.

The memo also advised Carter to try to split defense appropriations Chair Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen from Speaker Paul Ryan, and to coordinate with Democratic leaders of Congress in doing so. “The veto threat is our primary weapon. However, a veto threat only works if it is supported by the Democratic leadership and their caucuses,” McCord and Hedger wrote. “Our job is to encourage and support those efforts.”