WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- The Obama administration supports U.S. Senate passage of the Defense Department authorization bill, which provides funding for fiscal year 2012.
"The administration appreciates the Senate Armed Services Committee's continued support of our national defense, including its support for both the base budget and for overseas contingency operations and for most of the administration's initiatives to control spiraling health costs of the Department of Defense," the Office of Management and Budget said Thursday in a release.
Obama requested $671 billion. The Armed Services Committee cut $21 billion from Obama's request.
Despite noting many areas of agreement with the committee, the administration it had "serious concerns" about several provisions of the bill, including ones that would constrain the military's ability to carry out its missions; impede the Defense secretary's ability to make and implement decisions to eliminate unnecessary overhead or programs or veer away from decisions reflected in the president's budget request for fiscal year 2012.
"The administration looks forward to working with the Congress" to address its concerns, OMB said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Wednesday warned senators they could be in session during the weekend and into next week if substantive progress weren't made on the appropriations measure.
