Not that we need one, but the week before last offered another example of congressional dysfunction, this time on defense. During a hearing on the fiscal 2014 Defense Department budget, Rep. Mike D. Rogers, an Alabama Republican, chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, told Pentagon officials that his panel would not approve $75 million for next year to implement the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) — until it gets a report on what the makeup of the strategic nuclear forces will be in February 2018.
That's when the deployed U.S. strategic nuclear force must be down to 1,550 warheads, from 2,200, and 700 delivery systems.
The Rogers subcommittee is set to mark up the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday of this week.