The GOP chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is reportedly aiming to slice spending on 28 Defense Department agencies that involve commissaries, combat support and even the military news outlet Stars and Stripes.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, dropped the bombshell Tuesday during a media roundtable, saying his legislation would force $25 billion in cuts over two years on the so-called "4th Estate," which is comprised of 28 Defense Department agencies, Stars and Stripes reported.
He could not estimate how many of the 200,000 civilian personnel and nearly 600,000 contractors would be axed in the process.
Agencies involved in field activities — including Stars and Stripes — would be affected, the outlet reported.
Those agencies have "been largely left untouched by oversight and reform," Thornberry said.
"In the interests of not only saving money but of streamlining decision-making, starting to thin down this 4th Estate and then bring other parts of it into the 21st century will be a major step forward," he said, Stars and Stripes reported.
The 25-percent cut proposed by the legislation would not touch agencies that provide intelligence support and the combat support agencies — including the National Security Agency.
Those that would face the axe would be the Defense Technical Information Center, the Defense Test Resource Management Center, Office of Economic Adjustment, the Defense Technology Security Administration, the Defense Human Resource Activities, the Defense Information Systems Agency and the department's Washington Headquarters Service Agency, the outlet reported.
The effort comes as lawmakers are under increasing scrutiny aggressive spending — and after Congress passed a $1.3 trillion budget.
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