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https://breakingdefense.com/2016/05/kendall-warns-sen-mccain-gen-milley-on-acquisition-reform/
Kendall fought a losing battle last year against McCain’s campaign to give more acquisition authorities to the uniformed chiefs of the four armed services. The most enthusiastic about their new powers has been Army Chief of Staff Milley, who recently asked Congress for even more independence from the central civilian policymakers like Kendall.
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Meanwhile, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman McCain has — so we hear — more than 100 acquisition reform provisions in the SASC draft of the annual defense policy bill, which is now undergoing its closed-door mark-up. Not only does McCain have a track record of conflict with Kendall, McCain’s not telling Kendall’s his future plans.
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Admittedly, Kendall doesn’t agree with everything in Thornberry’s draft. The undersecretary shares his boss’s objections to the $18 billion budgeting gimmick that would shortchange the war fund — aka Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) — to pay for new weapons and other priorities not related to Afghanistan and Iraq. This is a “fundamental change” that’s different in kind, not just in quantity, from previous, smaller uses of OCO for “base budget” needs, Kendall said.