The debt ceiling bill that passed through the House on August 1st, calling for an almost trillion dollar increase in the ceiling countered by similar reductions in spending, could significantly reduce military spending, much to the disappointment of Congressional Republicans. Seemingly backed into a corner to approve the bill in order to avoid defaulting on American loans, Republicans were forced to vote in favor of a bill that could reduce defense spending by almost $1 trillion in the next ten years. .
The military budget will see only modest cuts in 2012 with the spending capped at $684 billion, compared with $689 billion in 2011. The entire $5 billion cut could come directly from the Pentagon or it could be spread out over several government agencies, which could include the State Department, the Department of Security Homeland Security, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and intelligence spending. House Speaker John Boehner assured the House Armed Services Committee that the cuts would be spread out over several agencies. However, Representative Mike Coffman of Colorado admitted that the cuts would be "ugly" for the Defense Department, although Representative Howard McKeon of California and also the committee's chairman said he would not accept any cuts over $350 billion (Alexander).
"There is no scenario in the second phase of this proposal that does not turn a debt crisis into a national security crisis," McKeon argued, refusing to accept anything over the initial $350 billion cut. "Defense cannot sustain any additional cuts either from the joint committee or the sequestration trigger" (Alexander).
Although the bill barely saved the United States from defaulting on its loans, it was very vague on where exactly the spending cuts will be made. Because of this, many Republicans feared they would be taken advantage of in the future and withheld their vote until the very last minute.