The presidential election will have little impact on the overall trajectory of defense policy and budgets, panelists said during a Brookings Institution event on Monday/.../
Todd Harrison, a senior fellow for defense budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, noted that rising personnel costs were slated to put pressure on Pentagon spending. Harrison said these costs were already one-third of the budget, and would grow significantly without any reform.
“Personnel costs continue to eat up more and more of the budget, and that reduces your purchasing power for things like modernization programs,” he said. According to Harrison, rising personnel costs would necessitate cuts in other areas of military spending, which in turn would decrease the capabilities and effectiveness of the force -- a serious problem Obama or Romney would face.
Harrison noted that civilian workers at the Pentagon are more vulnerable to budget cuts because they have less bargaining and lobbying power than military personnel. He added that sequestration posed a higher threat for civilian jobs than it did for military ones, which in turn could affect Defense operations.
“If you cut too far, you risk either not getting the job done, not providing sufficient oversight, or you just have to use military personnel who are more expensive per person to do the same job,” Harrison said.