--- description: The House Republican budget would keep limits on domestic spending while busting them wide open for military spending. title: GOP Tries to Have Its Pentagon Cake and Eat It, Too image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc067e3d23531810a/698783ef35ba6fba3fc0797e/465885502.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # GOP Tries to Have Its Pentagon Cake and Eat It, Too by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 17, 2015 3:40 PM CUT  The continuing war against the Islamic State is one reason the Pentagon needs more money, Republican lawmakers argue. The continuing war against the Islamic State is one reason the Pentagon needs more money, Republican lawmakers argue.Ali Mohammed—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Mark Thompson](/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 17, 2015 3:40 PM CUT The 2011 budget deal that imposed caps on federal spending has begun to bite. That’s easy to see with the proposed House Republican [budget](http://budget.house.gov/ "undefined") for 2016 that keeps the lid on domestic spending while popping it open for the military—to the tune of more than a third of a trillion dollars over the coming decade. It’s a complicated storyline, but worth following if you’re a taxpayer. For starters, the GOP-controlled House Budget Committee plan pledges to keep the sequestration caps on both domestic and defense spending. But because the nation was waging two wars when Congress wrote the Budget Control Act, it exempted what has come to be called the “overseas contingency operations” account from such limits. Normal folks used to call what became the OCO account “the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” President George W. Bush’s White House called it the “Global War on Terror.” Some in his Pentagon, echoing then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, called it the “long war.” But shortly after President Obama took office, the Pentagon issued an edict changing the name once again. “This administration prefers to avoid using the term ‘Long War’ or ‘Global War on Terror,” it said. “Please use ‘Overseas Contingency Operation.” But one thing didn’t change: the OCO account can ignore the 2011 budget caps that apply to nearly all other federal discretionary spending. That’s why the GOP plan boosts Obama’s $58 billion for overseas contingencies by $36 billion, for a total of $94 billion. That increase brings the total GOP defense-budget proposal to $613 billion, beyond what Obama wants to spend. “The proposed House resolution would constitute the most cynical and fraudulent use yet made of the OCO budgetary gimmick,” says Gordon Adams, who oversaw Pentagon spending in the White House’s Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton Administration. “In effect, the House Budget committee is proposing to have their fiscal discipline and eat their defense increase at the same time.” For four years, the Pentagon and its allies in Congress have fought the defense budget caps. Their inaction has kept the Defense Department from learning to live within them, and the retooling and reforms such an acknowledgement would require. Their fight continues, which is why the service chiefs trekked to Capitol Hill when Obama unveiled his budget and said the caps were hurting national defense. “The number one thing that keeps me up at night is that if we’re asked to respond to an unknown contingency, I will send soldiers to that contingency not properly trained and ready,” Army General Ray Odierno said. The military and its congressional allies argue that the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, continuing troubles in Afghanistan, and Russia’s threat to Ukraine require increased levels of defense spending. The House proposal would add $387 billion to Pentagon spending between 2016 and 2025. Yet even without OCO funding, Obama’s proposed 2016 budget of $534 billion would be the largest base budget in Pentagon history and eclipse Cold War spending levels. Any OCO addition would be icing on the cake. “There is no justification, whatever, for this increase,” Adams argues. “It is utterly unrelated to the reality of any combat operations the U.S. is undertaking.” Even some Republicans didn’t care for the budgetary legerdemain. “I don’t like it,” said Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Armed Services Sommittee. “OCO is a gimmick.” Still, the GOP budget plan, like the President’s, is merely a proposal. Next year’s actual budget will have to be hammered out by congressional committees over the coming months. _Read next:_ [_Republicans to Renew Call for Obamacare Repeal in 2016 Budget_](http://time.com/3747320/republicans-obamacare-repeal-budget/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ### Why Republicans Run in Cowboy Boots  Like a lot of Republican ideas, the trend toward wearing cowboy boots began with Ronald Reagan. Popperfoto/Getty Images  President George W. Bush, showing off boots with the presidential seal here at his inauguration, furthered the trend. Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP  Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, shown here on the stump in Iowa, favored cowboy boots. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  They're also a favored fashion statement for former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. NBC News/Getty Images  Even former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was known to sport a pair. Jose Luis Magana—AP  It's not just men. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been known to put on a pair of cowboy boots. Jeff J. Newman—ZUMA Press/Corbis  Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee also goes for the look. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  Like his predecessor, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry long favored cowboy boots, but he's no longer able to wear them. Tom Worner—AP  Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is also a fan. Charlie Neibergall—AP  Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul also favors boots with blue jeans, a classic Western look. Charles Ommanney—Getty Images  These days, if you're running for president as a Republican, chance are good that you are wearing cowboy boots. Richard Shiro—AP  Even Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin has been known to wear them. J.D. Pooley—Getty Images [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3747575/house-republican-budget-pentagon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3747575/house-republican-budget-pentagon/"},"headline":"GOP Tries to Have Its Pentagon Cake and Eat It, Too","datePublished":"2015-03-17T15:40:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:01.976Z","description":"Budget move would keep cap on domestic programs while easing it on Pentagon","url":"https://time.com/3747575/house-republican-budget-pentagon/","keywords":["Military","Congress","National Security"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc067e3d23531810a/698783ef35ba6fba3fc0797e/465885502.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Thompson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc067e3d23531810a/698783ef35ba6fba3fc0797e/465885502.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Operation against Daesh militants in Iraq's Tikrit","caption":"Operation against Daesh militants in Iraq's Tikrit","creditText":"Ali Mohammed—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3747575/house-republican-budget-pentagon/","name":"GOP Tries to Have Its Pentagon Cake and Eat It, Too"}}]}] ```